December was the month that I really experienced feeling homesick. [For my Ugandan friends, homesick is when you feel sad and miss the people & places where you have come from.]
One Sunday, early in the month of December, I met a gentleman named Ahimbisibwe James. Gentleman. Quite a good word to describe a man who would become a very good friend to me. He was dressed smart [smart: A word used when someone is very fashionable, neatly dressed, and well-groomed] in a suit and tie, wearing polished dress shoes. He approached me after church by offering me a sugar cane he purchased at the church auction. I gladly accepted. He walked me part of the way home that day as we talked a bit. Before parting in separate directions that day, I felt comfortable enough to exchange phone numbers with him.
Within a week or so we decided to go footing together [“Footing together” is another way to say “go for a walk together.”] I was interested in trying to find a transparent lake that I had heard about, and James was willing to try to find it with me. Neither of us knew exactly where we were going, but we had an idea of the direction we needed to head towards, and we both knew it would be a far walk. I kept teasing James, asking him if he was certain he was up for the long walk. I kept teasing him because I knew he lived and worked in Kampala, but was just visiting his family in Nyakasharu for the holidays. I wasn’t certain that he would be able to handle walking such a long distance, but he kept assuring me he was a local. He grew up in the area, so he would be fine.
My big brother, Bazurizi Vicent, had heard of my plans to go footing with James, so he asked me some questions about him (how I met him, where we were going, etc.). Bazurizi said he knew most people in the area, and once I mentioned the approximate location of where he lived, Bazurizi seemed to have a familiarity with who he may be. He suggested I stop by the COVOID office as we began so that he could meet him, if possible. Sounded good to me. No problem. (That’s what big brothers are for. Right?)
So as James and I began our exploration together, we stopped by the COVOID office and were able to greet Bazurizi. Bazurizi didn’t seem bothered by me continuing on with James, so we went and had a fun afternoon together.
Looking for “The Transparent Lake.” So many people told me about the awesome transparent lake (and I STILL can’t remember the name of it). I was so excited to go looking for it. And it was nice to have someone to go exploring with me. It was good to be out of the COVOID office. My daily program slowed down drastically since the football camps and the first trauma healing workshop were complete. At that point, I had no outreach planned until after the first of the year.
James and I were having fun walking, talking, and greeting old friends of his along the way. We had walked a long distance and reached a certain trading center when we decided to ask the locals how to find the transparent lake. They told us we needed to turn around and move down a different road other than the one we were walking on. According to James, they also seemed to mention something about a church.
We thought we found the other road we were told about, but the locals told us we were going the wrong direction and pointed us in the direction that we had originally come from. Some of the local children were following us to make sure we were going the right way. After walking a little further, we were directed up a path with a slight incline that had what appeared to be a house at the top. It was a house alright. A house of God.
Church. The locals were not guiding us to the transparent lake. They were directing us to a church of Saved people (a charismatic church). For some reason they must have thought I was looking for a church to visit that day. Several people in the Nyakasharu Trading Centre knew that I was a Christian and that I was doing some Christian ministry. And since Nyakasharu is a hot spot for its market day and location along a major sub-African highway… perhaps that’s why they thought I was looking for a church that day.
James and I just sort of shrugged our shoulders and decided to enter the church. It was starting to become late afternoon, and we knew we weren’t going to reach the transparent lake that day.
We met a very nice pastor… Pastor Moses. Pastor Moses didn’t speak English, but James was able to translate our conversation. After exchanging greetings with one another, the pastor and I somehow entered into conversation about our passion to minister to other people. We discussed how a challenge for Christians in ANY culture is to understand that Sunday is not the only day we are to set aside for worshiping God; we are to worship God EVERY day of the week. After some discussion on this, Pastor Moses invited me to come speak to his congregation some Sunday. He said they would listen more to me since I was a special visitor – the people get tired of hearing the same person talk about God all the time, so when visitors come [especially white people] they tend to listen and believe more. I told Pastor Moses that I would be willing to come some Sunday, but only if I could find an interpreter. [Eventually, my friend Scovia and her husband Ibra were able to visit the church with me and interpreted a brief message I spoke to the congregation.]
James and I concluded our visit with Pastor Moses by praying with him. We then headed for home and called it a day. [To this very day, I have never reached the transparent lake.]
About a week later, James invited me to go to Katunguru with him. Katunguru is a fishing village located along the main highway about half the distance between Nyakasharu Trading Centre and Kasese Town. The Kazinga Channel flows through Katunguru, and it’s known to be a great place to purchase fresh fish and view wild hippos.
Katunguru is only a 25-30 minute ride by public transportation, and James and I were only planning to go for a morning – NOT an entire day and NOT overnight.
Before going to Katunguru with James, I texted my friend Justus. Justus is a COVOID employee who was like the head of my security while I stayed in Uganda. You may recall how I’ve referred to him as CIA/Secret Service. I never really moved [went] anywhere without first informing or clearing it with Justus. He had called me to let me know that he received my text and it was okay that I went with James.
Just as James and I were about to catch a taxi to Katunguru, my friend Scovia, from the COVOID office, called. She was aware that I was going to Katunguru, but was now grilling me about who I was going with. I tried telling her that Bazurizi Vicent had already met him, that I already spent an afternoon footing with him, and that Justus was aware that I was moving to Katunguru with him for the morning. She said, “But no, we don’t know who this man is!”To which I replied, “Bazurizi met him the other day when I went footing with him and he didn’t seem to have any problem with my friend James.”But Scovia was persistent and said, “We need to meet him. Robert wants to meet him.”
[Ugh.]
Robert is the Program Coordinator for COVOID. He’s in charge of the COVOID office unless the President/CEO, my friend Ben Bataringaya, is in town. Out of respect for Robert and the concern for my safety, I asked James if it was okay if we went to the COVOID office so that some people could meet him. He understood the concern for my safety and agreed to move to the COVOID office with me.
Upon reaching the office, we had brief greetings with a few COVOID staff, and I made sure to find Robert. I introduced Robert and James, and explained to Robert how Bazurizi had already met James, I had already gone footing with him, and that Justus had already given the green light for me to go to Katunguru with him. A friend of COVOID, Murugahara Ben (aka Master Ben from Unique High School) had also stopped by the COVOID office that morning and upon recognizing James, he testified that he knew James, and that James was a gentleman. Robert seemed fine with everything, so James and I headed back towards the stage to catch public transport moving towards Katunguru.
James and I were halfway to Katunguru when my phone rang. It was my friend Grace (Ben Bataringaya’s wife). She was calling to ask where I was going for the day and who I was going with.What?!? She rarely called me. She was 7 hours away in Kampala, and how did she know I was going ANYWHERE that day? As I tried to explain the “situation” yet again, we lost connection because of lack of network. I didn’t bother calling her back because of poor network connection in the area, and because people back at the office knew where I was and who I was with. I was a little annoyed and vented to James about it, but thought, “Oh well. Whatever.”
James took me on a nice walking tour of Katunguru. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we ended up meeting a few friends James has there, and even a relative. It was fun going down to the fishing boats to see the fresh catches for the day, and greeting the locals.
We made our way to a place where we could take sodas and overlook the Kazinga Channel. It was an awesome view. One of James’ friends from his primary school days was with us. Fun times.
My phone rings again. This time it’s my friend Ben Bataringaya calling to investigate about my whereabouts and traveling companion. [Seriously?!?] I did my best to calmly explain the “situation” yet AGAIN. But by this time, I was REALLY annoyed. Ben works in Sudan, so he was calling me FROM Sudan… concerned about something that should have already been a cleared issue. And I felt like they were assuming my friend James could have been some sort of high profile criminal. I vented to James a little bit again, and this time even HE seemed a little annoyed. But we both shrugged it off as a security issue. We weren’t planning on spending much longer in Katunguru anyway.
One of the highlights of Katunguru is the people who will jump off the top of the bridge. [For those of you from the Sandyville, Ohio area… imagine a bridge similar to what the old Sandyville bridge used to be like.] People won’t jump for free. They’re risking an encounter with the hippos and the locks below. But James’ friend offered to jump for free (he must be a REALLY good friend). He said he never jumps for less than 5,000 Uganda shillings (about the equivalent of $2.50 US dollars). But since James was a good friend, he was willing to jump for us for free. Also, he didn’t want James to hire a young boy to jump, fearing someone who had not trained to jump might become seriously injured. Especially because of the locks below, you have to be a VERY strong swimmer. It was a very interesting sight to see him jump. Mostly because I thought, “He’s CRAZY!!!! Wow, he made it!!!!” Personally, I would never hire someone to do that again, even if they were willing to do it for free.
Before we left Katunguru, James went to purchase some fried fish to take home to his mother. We actually got to see a few huge pots of boiling fish. We even met a 15-year-old boy who was married (not sure how legal it is, but hey… in the fishing villages?).
Upon returning to the COVOID office in the afternoon, James and I briefly parted ways. He didn’t care to stick around a place he wasn’t trusted. And I was now on a hunt to figure out what all the fuss was about. “Why did Ben call me from Sudan?”
Unfortunately, the brunt of my anger was unleashed on Justus and Resty. After communicating all that had happened throughout the day, they both laughed and said they didn’t see what the problem was. They didn’t think there was anything wrong with me spending time with James since he had met co-workers at the office. Justus was not in the office that morning, so he had not been able to explain how he had already stated it was fine for me to travel with James, and he wasn’t certain why no one tried to call him to find out what was going on.
But Justus and Resty did caution me to try not to be too upset regarding concerns for my safety. They said there are many con men in Uganda, and people were most likely just making sure I was not going to be taken advantage of during my stay in Uganda. Upon winding down my conversation with Justus and Resty, we began walking back into the office when Justus reassured me, “You just need some time to cool down.” (Boy, did I ever.)
This was my worst incident of feeling homesick during my stay in Uganda. I no longer had the freedom and independence I had in the United States… to be able to freely befriend people I wanted to be friends with… to journey by foot or by public transport without asking 5-10 people for permission. It made me miss my freedom and independence in the United States. And I so badly wanted to make friends with more people… people who were not neighbors, co-workers, etc…. people who I didn’t have to see EVERY day. My privacy was feeling seriously invaded at that point. I couldn't be sick without at least half the town knowing it. Anywhere I went, many people knew before I even got there. I threw trash away and the neighbor children were searching through it before I had a chance to walk away.
Within a week or two I think I finally had a peace in my heart about all that had happened that day. I was able to truly forgive for the reasons that I felt hurt, and life moved on. And eventually, I was able to spend some more time having fun with James again.
During the first few weeks of December, one particular thought kept recurring to me: I’m not in Kansas anymore.
One Sunday, early in the month of December, I met a gentleman named Ahimbisibwe James. Gentleman. Quite a good word to describe a man who would become a very good friend to me. He was dressed smart [smart: A word used when someone is very fashionable, neatly dressed, and well-groomed] in a suit and tie, wearing polished dress shoes. He approached me after church by offering me a sugar cane he purchased at the church auction. I gladly accepted. He walked me part of the way home that day as we talked a bit. Before parting in separate directions that day, I felt comfortable enough to exchange phone numbers with him.
Within a week or so we decided to go footing together [“Footing together” is another way to say “go for a walk together.”] I was interested in trying to find a transparent lake that I had heard about, and James was willing to try to find it with me. Neither of us knew exactly where we were going, but we had an idea of the direction we needed to head towards, and we both knew it would be a far walk. I kept teasing James, asking him if he was certain he was up for the long walk. I kept teasing him because I knew he lived and worked in Kampala, but was just visiting his family in Nyakasharu for the holidays. I wasn’t certain that he would be able to handle walking such a long distance, but he kept assuring me he was a local. He grew up in the area, so he would be fine.
My big brother, Bazurizi Vicent, had heard of my plans to go footing with James, so he asked me some questions about him (how I met him, where we were going, etc.). Bazurizi said he knew most people in the area, and once I mentioned the approximate location of where he lived, Bazurizi seemed to have a familiarity with who he may be. He suggested I stop by the COVOID office as we began so that he could meet him, if possible. Sounded good to me. No problem. (That’s what big brothers are for. Right?)
So as James and I began our exploration together, we stopped by the COVOID office and were able to greet Bazurizi. Bazurizi didn’t seem bothered by me continuing on with James, so we went and had a fun afternoon together.
Looking for “The Transparent Lake.” So many people told me about the awesome transparent lake (and I STILL can’t remember the name of it). I was so excited to go looking for it. And it was nice to have someone to go exploring with me. It was good to be out of the COVOID office. My daily program slowed down drastically since the football camps and the first trauma healing workshop were complete. At that point, I had no outreach planned until after the first of the year.
James and I were having fun walking, talking, and greeting old friends of his along the way. We had walked a long distance and reached a certain trading center when we decided to ask the locals how to find the transparent lake. They told us we needed to turn around and move down a different road other than the one we were walking on. According to James, they also seemed to mention something about a church.
We thought we found the other road we were told about, but the locals told us we were going the wrong direction and pointed us in the direction that we had originally come from. Some of the local children were following us to make sure we were going the right way. After walking a little further, we were directed up a path with a slight incline that had what appeared to be a house at the top. It was a house alright. A house of God.
Church. The locals were not guiding us to the transparent lake. They were directing us to a church of Saved people (a charismatic church). For some reason they must have thought I was looking for a church to visit that day. Several people in the Nyakasharu Trading Centre knew that I was a Christian and that I was doing some Christian ministry. And since Nyakasharu is a hot spot for its market day and location along a major sub-African highway… perhaps that’s why they thought I was looking for a church that day.
James and I just sort of shrugged our shoulders and decided to enter the church. It was starting to become late afternoon, and we knew we weren’t going to reach the transparent lake that day.
We met a very nice pastor… Pastor Moses. Pastor Moses didn’t speak English, but James was able to translate our conversation. After exchanging greetings with one another, the pastor and I somehow entered into conversation about our passion to minister to other people. We discussed how a challenge for Christians in ANY culture is to understand that Sunday is not the only day we are to set aside for worshiping God; we are to worship God EVERY day of the week. After some discussion on this, Pastor Moses invited me to come speak to his congregation some Sunday. He said they would listen more to me since I was a special visitor – the people get tired of hearing the same person talk about God all the time, so when visitors come [especially white people] they tend to listen and believe more. I told Pastor Moses that I would be willing to come some Sunday, but only if I could find an interpreter. [Eventually, my friend Scovia and her husband Ibra were able to visit the church with me and interpreted a brief message I spoke to the congregation.]
James and I concluded our visit with Pastor Moses by praying with him. We then headed for home and called it a day. [To this very day, I have never reached the transparent lake.]
About a week later, James invited me to go to Katunguru with him. Katunguru is a fishing village located along the main highway about half the distance between Nyakasharu Trading Centre and Kasese Town. The Kazinga Channel flows through Katunguru, and it’s known to be a great place to purchase fresh fish and view wild hippos.
Katunguru is only a 25-30 minute ride by public transportation, and James and I were only planning to go for a morning – NOT an entire day and NOT overnight.
Before going to Katunguru with James, I texted my friend Justus. Justus is a COVOID employee who was like the head of my security while I stayed in Uganda. You may recall how I’ve referred to him as CIA/Secret Service. I never really moved [went] anywhere without first informing or clearing it with Justus. He had called me to let me know that he received my text and it was okay that I went with James.
Just as James and I were about to catch a taxi to Katunguru, my friend Scovia, from the COVOID office, called. She was aware that I was going to Katunguru, but was now grilling me about who I was going with. I tried telling her that Bazurizi Vicent had already met him, that I already spent an afternoon footing with him, and that Justus was aware that I was moving to Katunguru with him for the morning. She said, “But no, we don’t know who this man is!”To which I replied, “Bazurizi met him the other day when I went footing with him and he didn’t seem to have any problem with my friend James.”But Scovia was persistent and said, “We need to meet him. Robert wants to meet him.”
[Ugh.]
Robert is the Program Coordinator for COVOID. He’s in charge of the COVOID office unless the President/CEO, my friend Ben Bataringaya, is in town. Out of respect for Robert and the concern for my safety, I asked James if it was okay if we went to the COVOID office so that some people could meet him. He understood the concern for my safety and agreed to move to the COVOID office with me.
Upon reaching the office, we had brief greetings with a few COVOID staff, and I made sure to find Robert. I introduced Robert and James, and explained to Robert how Bazurizi had already met James, I had already gone footing with him, and that Justus had already given the green light for me to go to Katunguru with him. A friend of COVOID, Murugahara Ben (aka Master Ben from Unique High School) had also stopped by the COVOID office that morning and upon recognizing James, he testified that he knew James, and that James was a gentleman. Robert seemed fine with everything, so James and I headed back towards the stage to catch public transport moving towards Katunguru.
James and I were halfway to Katunguru when my phone rang. It was my friend Grace (Ben Bataringaya’s wife). She was calling to ask where I was going for the day and who I was going with.What?!? She rarely called me. She was 7 hours away in Kampala, and how did she know I was going ANYWHERE that day? As I tried to explain the “situation” yet again, we lost connection because of lack of network. I didn’t bother calling her back because of poor network connection in the area, and because people back at the office knew where I was and who I was with. I was a little annoyed and vented to James about it, but thought, “Oh well. Whatever.”
James took me on a nice walking tour of Katunguru. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we ended up meeting a few friends James has there, and even a relative. It was fun going down to the fishing boats to see the fresh catches for the day, and greeting the locals.
We made our way to a place where we could take sodas and overlook the Kazinga Channel. It was an awesome view. One of James’ friends from his primary school days was with us. Fun times.
My phone rings again. This time it’s my friend Ben Bataringaya calling to investigate about my whereabouts and traveling companion. [Seriously?!?] I did my best to calmly explain the “situation” yet AGAIN. But by this time, I was REALLY annoyed. Ben works in Sudan, so he was calling me FROM Sudan… concerned about something that should have already been a cleared issue. And I felt like they were assuming my friend James could have been some sort of high profile criminal. I vented to James a little bit again, and this time even HE seemed a little annoyed. But we both shrugged it off as a security issue. We weren’t planning on spending much longer in Katunguru anyway.
One of the highlights of Katunguru is the people who will jump off the top of the bridge. [For those of you from the Sandyville, Ohio area… imagine a bridge similar to what the old Sandyville bridge used to be like.] People won’t jump for free. They’re risking an encounter with the hippos and the locks below. But James’ friend offered to jump for free (he must be a REALLY good friend). He said he never jumps for less than 5,000 Uganda shillings (about the equivalent of $2.50 US dollars). But since James was a good friend, he was willing to jump for us for free. Also, he didn’t want James to hire a young boy to jump, fearing someone who had not trained to jump might become seriously injured. Especially because of the locks below, you have to be a VERY strong swimmer. It was a very interesting sight to see him jump. Mostly because I thought, “He’s CRAZY!!!! Wow, he made it!!!!” Personally, I would never hire someone to do that again, even if they were willing to do it for free.
Before we left Katunguru, James went to purchase some fried fish to take home to his mother. We actually got to see a few huge pots of boiling fish. We even met a 15-year-old boy who was married (not sure how legal it is, but hey… in the fishing villages?).
Upon returning to the COVOID office in the afternoon, James and I briefly parted ways. He didn’t care to stick around a place he wasn’t trusted. And I was now on a hunt to figure out what all the fuss was about. “Why did Ben call me from Sudan?”
Unfortunately, the brunt of my anger was unleashed on Justus and Resty. After communicating all that had happened throughout the day, they both laughed and said they didn’t see what the problem was. They didn’t think there was anything wrong with me spending time with James since he had met co-workers at the office. Justus was not in the office that morning, so he had not been able to explain how he had already stated it was fine for me to travel with James, and he wasn’t certain why no one tried to call him to find out what was going on.
But Justus and Resty did caution me to try not to be too upset regarding concerns for my safety. They said there are many con men in Uganda, and people were most likely just making sure I was not going to be taken advantage of during my stay in Uganda. Upon winding down my conversation with Justus and Resty, we began walking back into the office when Justus reassured me, “You just need some time to cool down.” (Boy, did I ever.)
This was my worst incident of feeling homesick during my stay in Uganda. I no longer had the freedom and independence I had in the United States… to be able to freely befriend people I wanted to be friends with… to journey by foot or by public transport without asking 5-10 people for permission. It made me miss my freedom and independence in the United States. And I so badly wanted to make friends with more people… people who were not neighbors, co-workers, etc…. people who I didn’t have to see EVERY day. My privacy was feeling seriously invaded at that point. I couldn't be sick without at least half the town knowing it. Anywhere I went, many people knew before I even got there. I threw trash away and the neighbor children were searching through it before I had a chance to walk away.
Within a week or two I think I finally had a peace in my heart about all that had happened that day. I was able to truly forgive for the reasons that I felt hurt, and life moved on. And eventually, I was able to spend some more time having fun with James again.
During the first few weeks of December, one particular thought kept recurring to me: I’m not in Kansas anymore.
