On the way to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda I played a little game with myself, I spy with my little eye Africa style. It is hard to imagine that the things I’m seeing here are starting to become “normal” where as a month ago I would be in shock. Africa is so beautiful and although the trees and wide skies are beautiful that isn’t what I mean. I mean that Africa is full of God’s natural creating. The beauty of Africa is the simplicity of it. People in their raw form utilizing everything they have and not living in abundance but in the bare necessities. It is incredible the resources that I have at home and take for granted. I get excited over a bar of soap now and hot water is only used for tea.
So here is what I observed and experienced while on a 14 passenger bus filled with 18 people driving on a very busy highway:
An elderly man walking with a cane on rocks, barefoot.
A cow grazing on the grass 5 feet away from the road.
A little girl peeing with her skirt up as the mitatoo (taxi) continues to honk so they can keep going.
Very bumpy roads.
Young man fixing his only form of transportation- a bike.
Wild turkeys.
Women cooking in their kitchen, which is located outside in the dirt.
An infant putting dirt in his mouth.
Young children playing in the trash piles with big smiles on their faces.
Boys playing soccer with a rock.
A hard working man resting in the shade drinking cold water out of a plastic bag.
An abundance of children packed on a school bus.
Wheel barrels filled with crops.
Women doing hair in beauty shops.
People carrying heavy bags and baskets on top of their heads while their hands are holding other items.
Children yelling an waving “mazungu, muzungu” (white person) as we pass by.
Health clinics advertising circumcisions on Fridays only and HIV/AIDS testing daily.
Markets set up selling plantains, pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, cassava and chipati.
Bagged sliced fruit for sale.
Rolex (chipati and a fried egg with veggies).
People in the middle of the road selling seasoned and cooked grasshoppers, soap, tire covers, gum and board games.
Backs bent over in hard physical labor.
Whole department clothing stores set up outside.
Policemen with huge guns.
Babies tied to their mothers backs.
Mitatoos starting to drive before the conductor is in the taxi and the door is shut.
Signs for fresh water and the importance of drinking clean water.
Holistic education and health care advertisements.
Muslims dressed very nicely.
No stop lights anywhere. Free for all traffic.
Women breastfeeding their child right next to me on the bus.
And as I stared at all these things- big brown eyes fixated on my white skin watching my every move looking at me as if I might be able to help them. The soul purpose of me being here is to encourage the people that I meet and interact with that I can’t help them but Jesus Christ, our savoir is the one person that can provide anything and everything we need whether it is food for the table or school fees. The dramatic change of lifestyle has made me evaluate my way of doing things at home in America and how blessed I am with how much I have. Yet I’m starting to believe what my dad has always told me, “less is more.” The joy and happiness these people have is unlike anything I have ever experienced and I want to live a life that every day is a blessing for the simple fact that I’m alive and living. I want to serve more than be served and recognize everything I have comes from God.
Xoxox Katie Koplow
