Uganda

So, i guess i kinda jumped the gun sending out the massive message on facebook telling everyone about  this life changing blog that im writing, only then to leave you all waiting for a week with no post. Sorry about that.

So i flew into Entebe and was greeted by  pouring rain. It was a bit disconcerting not only because of the floods in the north, but also because i figured that since i was going to africa i wouldnt need any protection for the camera from water and scoffed at the guy who suggested it.  what did he know…. well a hell of a lot more than me about uganda apparently.

The first day in i met with the people from TASO about their AGM which was the next day. TASO stands for The Aids Support Organisation. They are on of the best aids support organisations in the world and are in part one of the main reasons thatr |Uganda has been the most successful countries in combatting the spread of HIV/Aids. I had agreed to film the event for them so that they didnt have to hire a videographer. I met with them quickly and we went over what they wanted to cover and how the meeting would proceed.

 I was suppossed to be there at 7am to set up and the event was to start at 9. I was very worried, because we couldt get there on time and i didnt arrive until just after 8. I felt a bit better when i got there, however, because the people that were supposed to be there at 6 to set up had just arrived. have you ever heard of africa time? uh huh. so had i. but what i didnt know i that when they say they are going to  start at 9 and be done by 130, what they actually meant was that they say that it starts at 9 so they can get started by noon, and be done by 5. There were 3000 attendees in the room and it was the first day that was actually sunny.

brent in jeans and button-up shirt, with a camera in 30 degree heat running around trying to film the AGM being told by 5 different people to cover 15 things at the same time and no extra deodorant… interesting.

I finished at about 6pm, completely corss-eyed. I was trying to decide weather or no id look good with coke-bottle glasses. I figured i could pull them off.  

Yesterday we went up to Jinja which is a town to the east of Kampala. the architecture is largely indian and was built by indian settlers in the 50’s. It is also clos to the source of the nile and where ghandi’s ashes were sprinkled in the nile.

we leave today to head into the rural areas and visit TASO care centres, then will go into Kenya for meetings and visit placements in Kibera.

talk soon, B