BBC World Service

Recently started listening to BBC World Service. 'The World today' is great for current affairs on a global scale.

listen here: BBC World Service

The Latest from Gaza

I sure hope Obama can at least begin to sort this mess out. The Bush Administration has done far too little, way too late.

see article here:

SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL

The terrifying true story of the genocide in Rwanda, told by the man responsible for keeping the peace.

I recently read this story and its fair to say it consumed me for months. I've never read a book quite like it and don't think any other book will come close.

Before reading this book, I knew precious little about the UN. I assumed it was an upright organisation that followed the goodwill and values it was built on. This book really made question those views, but I'll touch on that later.

I had seen the films 'Hotel Rwanda' and the much better (in my opinion) 'Shooting Dogs' so knew the gruesomeness and level of hate involved in the genocide. Those films give little sense of perspective, though, and do not explain why the Belgian soldiers pull out just before the massacre. The ongoing civil war is not discussed so I did not realise the two sides (ethnic tribes, Hutus and Tutsis) were at war while the killings took place. They also do not reveal the scale of the genocide which 'Shake Hands With The Devil' does. Just one fact I learnt from the book is that it was the fastest genocide in history with 800,000 to a million Rwandans slaughtered in just 100 days. That was 10% of the population, the equivalent of 25 million Americans or 6 million British.

Hopeful Realism

I'm currently reading Barack Obama's 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope"....
Its an interesting read, especially since he's now the new President of America (I started it at 4am the day he was elected) . Anyone who heard one of his speeches during the campaign should know he has a way with words and is very good at manipulating language. He comes across in the book as being very intelligent but also has his feet firmly on the ground, he has ideals but also common sense and realism.

Here's a quote from a chapter entitled 'Values':

"At times our values collide because in the hands of men each one is subject to distortion and excess. Self-reliance and independence can transform into selfishness and license, ambition into greed and a frantic desire to succeed at any cost. More than once in our history we've seen patriotism slide into jingoism, xeonophobia, the stifling of dissent; we've seen faith calcify into self-righteousness, closed-mindedness, and cruelty toward others. Even the impulse toward charity can drift into stifling paternalism, an unwillingness to acknowledge the ability of others to do for themselves.
When this happens - when liberty is cited in the defense of a company's decision to dump toxins in our rivers, or when our collective interest in building an upscale new mall is used to justify the destruction of somebody's home - we depend on the strength of countervailing values to temper our judgement and hold such excesses in check."

Barack Obama, 'The Audacity of Hope'

Its also an interesting insight into life as a US Senator (he wasn't yet nominated for president back in 2006). After winning his seat in the senate he meets George W Bush for a dinner in the white house, here is a conversation between him and Dubya:

'"Obama!", the President said, shaking my hand. "Come here and meet Laura. Laura you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours - that's one impressive lady."
"We both got better than we deserve, Mr President," I said, shaking the First Lady's hand and hoping I had wiped any crumbs off my face. The President turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the President's hand.
"Want some?" the President asked. "Good stuff. Keeps you from getting colds."
Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.
"Come here for a second," he said, leading me off to one side of the room. "You know," he said quietly, "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."
"Not at all, Mr. President"
He nodded. "You've got a bright future," he said. "Very bright. But I've been in this town awhile and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't neccarily be coming just from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip, know what I mean? So watch yourself."

'The Audacity of Hope'

I find this funny. The hand sanitizer is an amusing little detail, suggesting Bush is very hygienic. Bush can see there's potential in Obama ("You've got a bright future...Very bright") and obviously likes him. But what he doesn't know is that he's giving advice to a man who in only two years time will be President. I don't think Bush would have guessed that Obama's rise to power would be so swift, expecting him to come good in 15 to 20 years time. His warning or "advice" suggests Bush thinks Obama a little niave and he wonders whether he's tough enough for Washington politics. The last bit, "So watch yourself", sounds like the hint of a threat. I reckon that Obama can handle "people gunnin' for him. He got through the election campaign and dealt with some pretty negative stuff (like the allegation that he was a muslim). I think he's stronger than Bush thought back in 2006 and has the mettle to be President.

It seems a shame that such a bright young mind has to tackle the economy before he can get on with other more important things (in my opinion helping the poor and sorting out education, the health system, and foriegn affairs are more important than money. But I would say that as its not my money. I also know none of these would be possible without a strong economy).

I have only read two chapters of the book but so far its been brilliant.
I'll write more when I've read more!

'Waltz with Bashir', an incredible film

I was excited after hearing about this film and after watching it in the cinema a month ago was not disappointed...

Its a docu-animation (the first of its kind as far as I'm aware of) about the involvement of young Israeli soldiers in two massacres of Palestinians during the 1982 war with Lebanon. Stories of the war are told by the ex-soldiers and their memories are painted vividly for us in animation, showing us what they recall as we hear them speak.

The idea of the film came about when Ari Folman, the director, was told by a friend that he had a reocurring nightmare of being chased through the streets by 26 dogs. It turns out, during the war he could not bring himself to kill men so it was his job to shoot the dogs as the soldiers entered a town so as not to wake up the enemy. After hearing his friend mention the war Ari Folman realises he can remember very little of the conflict. So in an attempt to remember he tracks down old comrades and hears their stories. Slowly he realises that guilt has been blocking his memory. We find out at the end of the film why he feels so guilty. Its an incredible journey. The animated scenes depict the horror of war perfectly and, unexpectedly, are very realistic. You quickly forget you are watching an animated film and become engrossed in the dreams and memories of war. A must see film. Watch it!

Icelandic Lullabies

I haven't found any other music quite as soothing, uplifting, or beautiful as Sigur Ros. I went to see them not far from where I live in north London. They were incredible live, completely mesmerising...

Sigur Ros are most well known for hoppípolla, which was used on the intro to the BBC Planet Earth series and many other adverts on TV. Its taken from their 5th album, Takk which is great. Their new album, með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, - which translates as "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly"- is even better. Their older material has its own beauty, particularly the 1999 album ágætis byrjun, but it can be a little unapproachable. The new album is a good mix of upbeat and joyful tunes mixed in with haunting and heartbreaking tracks. Ara bátur for example is very sad. Starting with slow piano it builds up to a full orchestra and choir. That track was recorded at Abbey Roads studios with the London Sinfonietta orchestra and the London Oratory School Choir.

I've seen the album on a few 50 best albums of 2008. It's easily one of my favorites of the year. Simply brilliant.


Above: Cover of new album með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

for free downloads and more on Sigur Ros see here, eighteen seconds before sunrise

KENYA! and other things

Dear all,

Apologies for the delay! I got stuck in North Uganda for 3 weeks. No. Not really but it would have been exciting. It's dangerous up there, don't you know.

I will give you an overview of the last 2-3 weeks, as usual in very high detail. This is High Definition guys. Prepare for crisp imagery with vivid colours and some glowing metaphors. It'll seem so real you'll think you can touch it.

The Weeks Before The Holiday (check out this new layout! I want feedback)

Not an awful lot happened that's memorable. That’s why I didn't email two weeks ago..

We said goodbye to one of the schools because we're on holiday for 2 weeks and when we come back we just miss them. The school is called Nansuse Bright and has around 100 children. It was a strange affair. The kids were ordered to perform for us like circus animals! Mind you we're used to this and they enjoy it. There were 3 choirs and they sang about 6 songs and did a drama about fires in schools. Its a huge problem in Uganda right now. 43 schools have been burnt in 3 months after a school called Budo Primary was burnt down and 20 girls died. Apparently its mostly school kids angry at the school/teachers after harsh discipline. Its something Ugandan churches should be praying against. Any how, the kids singing was enjoyable and they were pretty talented. Later we ate lunch which was an awkward affair. We ate with the teachers most of which we don't know (we only know Maria who translated for us and teaches P1 to P3 classes). So we all sat in silence, about 12 of us around a rather old table. The table promptly collapsed, slowly, sliding away from us like something out of Mr Bean or Chaplin. and threating to fold up. Luckily some of the male teachers caught it on the way down and the food was saved. They rigged it so it wouldn't fall again but it stayed at a slant. No one else found this amusing and we continued in silence. And the food was pretty bad. No, most of it was fine. Just far too much. Normally you wouldn't get beans, posho, potato, beef and rice all in one meal! We'd have posho and beans or irish and cabbage. So I was stuffing myself with food (we were also in a rush because we had to go to another school at 2pm- we went to 3 schools on a thursday) and keeping quiet about really fatty meat with lots of gristle (we're to getting bad quality meat but I still leave it). It was awkward because I felt they were spoiling us. The teachers were eating the same as us but had half as much. I finished and felt sick. Then we went to the next school, running rather late but not running, more of a slow march of duty.

The Safari

We had chosen to start our holiday with a 4 day safari in Uganda then move on to a beach in Kenya for 8 days. We had checked prices for a safari in Kenya but had been quoted $12,000 for 7 of us. We laughed and promptly left the travel agency. So we decided to do it ourselves, finding a cheap safari guide in Kampala. The director of Oasis Uganda, a pleasant soul called Gill, has married a huge Ugandan body builder called Carlos. Now Carlos runs a safari business with his brother so he was first port of call. The girls wanted Carlos to be our guide because he was so strong but we ended up with his brother (this was really good as I really liked his brother) who was called Steve (that classic African name). The safari cost only £200 for 4 days with travel, food and accommodation (camping) all included. We left on Monday morning but the night before we had a mini party to say goodbye to a few close friends. Then I stayed up til 3:30am writing a list of all I'd need for 2 weeks packing. We woke at 5am to leave at 6. The journey to Queen Elizabeth Park took about 6 hours. I got used to weeing by the side of the road. We made it there around 6 and I realised we'd be doing proper camping and our guide had brought tents (I thought we might have tents like carroty wood). There was no fence around the campsite. It was just a piece of land. So the hippos, hyenas, elephants, warthogs and lions could wonder in and kill us in our sleep. But we had a secret weapon...fire! Our guide said we would have a fire every night which excited me and Elias (who was a scout). I love fire. so we built big fires every night out of huge logs collected by the rangers. Each day would be spent mostly chasing Lions and breaking down. The lion chasing wasn't that fun because we didn't actually see any. We spent the first day searching for the famous tree climbing lions but they were hiding. Then we broke down 2 hours from anywhere (Steve forgot to fill up on petrol). We had to drive 4 hours to another part of the park to see the lions and he didn't realise we'd spent so long on the unsuccessful lion hunt. He then walked off, leaving us in an African wilderness. I remember watching Steve walking down a dusty road without saying a word to us. We wondered if he'd come back before nightfall. After 2 hours he arrived on a motorbike and said he'd get a jerry can of diesel. It came half an hour later and we were back on our way. I love the casual and carefree manner in which Africans operate in. There was no safety briefing at the campsite just be careful of the elephants and the hippos. When asked what do if you were confronted by a hippo/lion/elephant he said - "just stay still and quiet until you can think of something better to do". I found this highly amusing along with many other things Steve said. So the safari rolled on (literally- we were sitting in the minibus nearly all day everyday) and we didn't see any lions. Then on the second day we broke down again. This time it was a little more serious. The switch between 4 wheel drive and 2 WD broke locking the wheels. Loads of other safari jeeps were driving past us and they had all seen lions! So frustrating. Steve had followed a bad tip off that the lions were on the move and his friend knew where. So we missed em and had to wait an hour before his friend could pick us up. We met some other tourists from New York in the back of the jeep and were really friendly and kind. Chatted to them for a while- we shared the same political views (Democrats: I took a risk and openly criticised the war in Iraq -they were young and arty and from New York so what are the chances?) So then we went on a boat cruise which was fun. The next day was the last day. We woke at 5:30 (same as every morning, it was killing me) and were supposed to go on one last game drive but it was raining quite heavily. So the idea was to head back to Kampala. But the roads leading out of the park were dirt roads. Dirt plus water = mud. So pretty soon, with only 2WD we were sliding all over the place and we got stuck half on half off the road. So everyone out and push. Well that didn't work so we waited for help- the Cavalry were on their way. Soon enough about 3 Jeeps full of friendly tourists. Some were Flemish. They got out, greeted us and seemed to enjoy the drama. Five minutes later about about 6 of 7 vehicles were waiting behind us full of whites starting their day of safari. Eventually a jeep pulled us free and very carefully and after 3 hours Steve drove us out of the park (we had only driven 10miles). We arrived back in Kampala at 7:30pm throughly exhausted. The girls had done a good job of booking an ok hotel right next to the coach park where we needed to be at 6:30 the next morning. That night we went to a very posh Chinese restaurant because it was Poppy's 21st birthday. We had fun. The food was ok. Not as good as Chinese in London. I felt ill after the meal and had been feeling all day in the car-headaches and dizziness and temperature. This would continue throughout the 24 hour bus journey the next day.

Kenya

Our journey to Kenya started off OK and with relative comfort. We had wisely chosen to go 1st class which was ok. The first bus -Kampala to Nairobi- was pretty old but the Kenyan driver (there were two, they switched after 6 hours- very safe, I was impressed) stuck some old Japanese film on which was strange/amusing/slightly fascinating. It was very retro with poor special effects but quite cool. For those interested its called " Cyber Ninja " 1988. He had no idea what it was. I asked him and he shrugged and pointed me towards a blank black video case (I found out the name later). It was a film and so worth watching. Weird- No respect for decent cinema. We arrived in Nairobi at 8:30pm after 12 hours. Then we had a free meal voucher for Antonios, an African fast food chain (its like a bog standard english cafe but rougher). I had beef and chips. It wasn't very nice. Then back on another coach for another 12 hours. This one was brand new but felt more cramped. I put my chair back and the man behind me made a fuss. We came to a compromise. I felt pretty ill for the next 10 hours. Twice I had to get up and go to the front of the coach for some air. I told one of the drivers I had a fever and he replied, "what do you want?" With a bit of attitude (I was disturbing his sleep) but How Rude! How dare you speak to me like that! Firstly I am white, secondly I am sick. In Uganda the first thing they would have said is "Sorry!" I soon realised being white isn't such a special thing in Kenya. Also I had got used to the attention (mostly positive) which is given to mzungus in Uganda. I think white people are rarer there. Being back in Britain where my skin colour means little will be strange. It may take a while to get used to.
Anyway we finally arrived in Mombasa at about 8am. I felt much safer there than waiting with all our bags on the streets of Nairobi . It felt dark and grim and hostile. Like London. We checked into a big hotel which was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to East Africa (get it if you come here). Strange place. Seemed to be some grand colonial house at one time. Now its quite run down and run by some friendly Muslim Kenyans. I told them Kenyan money smells like fish and they laughed. I also showed them fishy Ugandan notes and they said "hey, it's African money". What did I expect? Our room was large and comfy but in need of some fresh paint and new furniture. We crashed and got 3 hours sleep then woke at 11am and went to find some lunch.

We left Mombasa the next day to head to Diani beach where we had booked a cottage called Lobster Pot (Vindigo Cottages- the site is very basic). I was blown away on arrival. The beach is so close to the cottages. The sand starts about 10m down the hill from our front door. The beach is beautiful- white sand, lined by palm trees and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore brings to mind the word...serenity. Ah, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. So I spend most days lazing around, swimming in the sea, looking around the touristy shops and chilling in the internet cafe (I've spent 10 hours in here! I made friends with a friendly Kenyan called Alex (who just told me he is a cannibal!?) and the owner Jeff. I've had lots of fun in here, swapping music on YouTube and Alex has given me a CD of East African beats and also a West African singer called Alpha Blondy.
Yesterday we went snorkeling on a reef out by an island. It was 57 pounds for: breakfast, a tour of some slave caves, snorkeling on the reef, a yummy lunch (crab for starter and fish for main. see full menu here- http://www.wasini-island.com/charlie_claws.htm ) and swimming in an idyllic salty pool. I also did Scuba Diving. Wow! Oh yes, Scuba Diving! It was amazing. I've never done it properly in the ocean before but this time we went down to 9 metres. When we first jumped of the ship I panicked. I was sinking and couldn't stay afloat with all the extra weight. The waves were chucking salt water in my mouth. After 5 minutes I had become accustomed to breathing underwater and we started to slowly descend. After every metre or two you had to pop your ears by holding you nose and forcing air out through it (try it now your ears will pop). After 10 minutes I touched the sand at the bottom with my hands. It was so strange feeling to be calmly swimming under the sea with the fishes. I saw a stingray. We discussed Steve Irwin's death and came to the conclusion it must have been a misunderstanding. He was very polite, a true gentleman. We didn't spend long with the fishes but had over half an hour under the water- not bad for 10 pounds! (If you have time to spare heres more on Diving- http://www.wasini-island.com/snorkel_dive.htm ). The rest of the day was also nice.

Tonight we are going to one of the poshest restaurants in the area! Woo! It's called Ali Barbour's and looks pretty special. It's set in a cave (see- http://www.dianibeachkenya.com/cave_restaurant.html for a few pics) and is also pretty pricey. I may end up spending 15 pounds! Which is what you'd pay in London but compared to Uganda its really expensive. In Kampala you can spend 6 pounds on a whole meal in a nice restaurant- drinks included. Besides we usually only do this on a Monday, our day off. So the whole team is shocked at how much they're spending here.


Other Bits and Bobs

I am trying to tell as many Africans as possible about how bad crime is in the UK. They are all shocked. I call it counter-tourism. Many want to come to UK and think its the promised land. I tell them how hard it is for illegal immigrants and even legal ones, telling them they will be exploited as slaves. I feel it is my duty.

I've been reading Walking with God, new book by John Eldredge (Wild at Heart, Waking the Dead). Its very good, at first I was a little skeptical that he actually hears from God clearly but now I believe its possible for all of us. I've not spent a lot of time with God this week but before we went on holiday my faith was pretty strong. Strangely the more spare time I have, the harder it is to put time away for Him. I think also I feel like I don't need him as much becasue I'm on holiday when really I need him all the time. I will put some time aside this evening.

Tomorrow evening at 9pm- 7pm UK time -we leave for Kampala (24hrs in buses again). Another tortuous journey, on awful roads, in the dark, with dodgy drivers. The seat belts don't work and at times its quite nerve racking. Ugandans fear traveling by road and believe its very dangerous (which it is). Please pray for our safety!

Please pray for team unity (the 3 boys) . I find both of them hard work and don't always have the love or patience I need. Please pray that as I spend time with God he would fill me with his peace and love, that loving them would not be hard work but it would come naturally. Thank you for your prayers.

The next email may be my last! Then I'll be home and will be able to talk to you all. I could still send you updates though- I know how much you adore spending hours reading about other peoples experiences.

Hope all is good at Newlife and the church is moving into greener pastures/fields flowing in milk and honey. Boy do I miss you all on a Sunday morning.

Blessings to those that made it through this one! It was a mammoth email and took me 5 days to write (I am not deceiving).

lots of love,

Jonny x

well...a little more from Uganda (struggling to think of new titles)‏

Dear all,

Thanks so much to those who replied this week. Your emails are so encouraging and good to read.

It's been a hectic weekend. On Thursday we headed off to Pallisa district which is north east of Uganda to the small village of Kamuge (You may find Pallisa on GoogleEarth). Fred Wakida our overseer from Grace High was born in the village and many of his family still live in the area. Past teams have always visited and stayed in the famliy home.

The journey down was good fun. Charles, our minibus/taxi driver, had a homemade christian best of album. So we listened to this continually for 3 hours. We heard "These are the days of Elijah" about 12 times (and I still rather like it...strange) and the classics "We wanna see Jesus lifted high", which the whole bus clapped along too (the Ugandans enjoyed the triple claps). We were delighted by many more golden oldies.

So this played loudly while we dodged potholes and admired the beautiful flat landscape of rice plantations and other shrubbery. The open countryside was idyllic and peaceful and calming and serenity.

I suddenly realised this was real Africa- Dusty roads, round mud huts with thatched roofing- and westernised Kampala was far behind.

In Kamuge we met up with the rest of the team of local christian friends who were going to be helping out. I felt like I really bonded with these people even though we only spent 3 days with them. We shortly began going to local primary and secondary schools. Overall we did 2 on thursday and 5 on Friday. We sang songs with them, played games and did our gospel drama. This began at creation and ended at reconciliation. The dramas went down well as they are not used to people acting but also love a good story. We gave a football to each school. This caused some stress. The pumps kept on failing and up to 3 schools were meeting at each one we went to. At a small primary school, while they were introducing teachers I glanced at the minibus and saw Charles (the driver) furiously pumping up balls. He did well and most were given fully pumped. (it seemed harsh to give them a new ball which was flat and not many have pumps).

Above: a little girl at one of the schools

Above: The welcome at the first Primary school we visited

On Saturday we held a rally (they call it crusade, we call it rally) on the field in Kumuge. We were expecting up to 1000 children and had a team of 12 altogether. This seemed madness but we were well prepared. There were 4 teams each with animals. The group leaders, 2 per team and our local translators wore different coloured t-shirts which we designed prior to the event and had our names on them. I was a crocodile and wore a green t-shirt. the others were Red Eagles, Blue Elephants and Yellow lions (We won haha!) This was largely down to a recruitment drive. The children were each given a band on their wrist made of wool of the same colour as the t-shirts. It became a battle to gain the most members and we thrived. Me and Semusam, our cheeky and strangely childlike Ugandan friend had an ongoing battle and would race to new kids-he was an Eagle. I had such fun with Sam on the trip and felt like I got to know him so much better. We hadn't seen much of him due to a bout of Malaria and a mysterious shipping container arriving from Australia.

The day went without a hitch until lunch ran late, about 2 hours late, and we were faced with hundreds of hungry, young African children. We feared for the worst- a riot. But somehow, due to the hard work of our local friends we managed to keep some kind of order and a queue was formed. The local translators were so vital. there are many languages in Uganda so the little Luganda we knew was deemed useless. They knew the local dialect and so could comminucate with the kids. Everyone got rice eventually and the day was a success.

On sunday I was preaching. This was in a small church in a village I didn't know and had never been to. The church was small with about 20 people. It was made of wood and palm leaves and had one side of the roof in metal. The praise was similar to most here but during the offering goods were sold. I found this quite amusing. An auction in church!? Blasphemy! I liked the look of some maize (corn on the cob) and started bidding with another woman. We started at 200 shillings and ended at 800 (which is about 25p). She didn't go any higher- I had won! I felt excitement mixed with pride then realised I had probably taken cheap food away from the woman. Later afterthought -"Why did I do it? I didn't need the maize. I don't want the maize". I tried giving it to one of our new friends- a lovely man, Pastor Godfrey -before we left and he didn't want it and gave it back. It joined the other gifts we had been given on the minibus floor. (By the way my talk went fine after much nervous build up)
After saying our goodbyes we left with 2 extra local pastors, 2 chickens, a turkey, some maize, all of us (11) and half a tonne of luggage. It was a tight fit. They only seat 14 and 3 seats were taken up by bags.
The christian cd was on repeat again in all its full glory. Hallelujah.

Would like to write more but out of time.

I do read your replies! We only have 1 hour though and the internet is usually pretty slow.

Love you all,

jonny

x

Greetings from a land far, far away‏

Good day one and all!

This last week has been jolly good fun.

 We're halfway through our time here so we went for our 4 day retreat out in Jinja, east of Kampala.
The place where we stayed was so beautiful with luscious gardens, green green grass and exotic trees
(there was also a trampoline). It was on the banks of the river Nile and the grassy hill sloped down to
the water. We swam a couple of times in the calm water and it was glorious. For those on Facebook
I'll try and put some photos up.

Here's the website there are a couple of photos on it-    http://www.mto-moyoni.org

On Saturday we went white water rafting which was INCREDIBLE. So much fun. We had the craziest guide.
He was a Ugandan called Jeffrey and was hilarious. We started off on a grade 1 rapid which was like being
out at sea. That seemed pretty rough. Jeffrey came out with some high pitched squeals of "Yeah baby!" and
kept coming out with mock kiwi and aussie like "whats up buddy?", "how you doing bro?" and saying
"gooday mate" to the other Ugandan guides. We went on to do much bigger rapids of grades 3,4 and 5.
Boats can't do grade 6 only experienced kyakers. There was a grade 3 rapid called 50-50, meaning the chances
of the raft flipping over were 50-50. Well guess what, ours flipped over and we all ended up floating in the middle
of some really strong rapids. There was a group of about 7 or 8 Ugandans in kyaks who followed us all day and
would wait on standby at the bottom of the rapids in case a raft flipped. I got a ride with one of these guys by
hanging on the back. It wasn't what I expected- a narrow river with constant small rapids. This was lots of open
water like lakes until the next huge rapid. At one point we went down a 3 metre waterfall. During the open
stretches of water Jeffrey kept us entertained. One of the rafts was full of Sikhs. Jeffrey shouted "where are you
from?" and they replied "India! There are two from Ireland but they are overboard!" Sure enough two white men
were bobbing about beside the raft.(We found out afterwards the Indians were actually soldiers who were
serving with the UN in Congo) Later after giving out lollipops Jeffrey told us we'd creep up on the Indian raft
then when he shouted attack! we were to splash them with the paddles. Good fun! But we got soaked. We did
with all the other rafts aswell and ended up a bit cold. It was such a good day. If you're ever in Uganda or in the
area I highly recommend it. We went with a company called Adrift and they were very good. It cost around 60
pounds for the day including lunch. For photos see-->   http://www.surfthesource.com/raft.htm              

Last wednesday we said goodbye to Ian and Tom. Ian had been to Grace High a year ago also with Oasis and
Tom had been with another charity called Crosslinks. They came for a couple of weeks and were working with
the street kids in Kampala. Thanks guys! You were a breath of fresh air and so good to be around. It was great
to have someone who's done it all before and knows the ropes. I will not forget my party for a long time!
(Ian can you forward this to Tom?) Hope to see you again some time in the future. Live long and prosper.

On the journey into Kampala today, sitting in a taxi full of Ugandans, I felt really challenged by God. I was listening
to the MP3 player and a Hillsong United song came on. The chorus goes:
"Jesus I believe in You and I would go, to the ends of the earth, to the ends of the earth, for You,
alone are the Son of God and all the world will see, that You are God, You are God".

I felt like God was asking me "how far will you go for me?". Would I really go to the ends of the earth?
We heard a really good talk on Friday evening. Brian Kelly -an American pastor from one of the churches in
Kampala- talked on Discipleship and how those that give up everything gain the most. He talked about
sacrifice, service and humility. I'd like God to really use me but I don't know how or where. I'd be happy
if he wanted me to go to uni next year. I want to give the year I've got free to him.            

This week we're going to do a children's rally out in Eastern Uganda. It's the village where the headmaster
grew up and is very rural and the people are very poor. On the Saturday we'll have around 1,000 kids to
look after, entertain and try and keep under control. There's a team of 10 of us altogether but its a huge job.
If you could pray for that that would be great. Also on the sunday each of us will be going to local churches
to preach on our own. I'm a bit worried about this partly because I haven't preached yet and also just going
to a new church on my own will be scary. We've always gone as a group with our Ugandan friend and
translator, Sam. So please pray I'm a blessing to the church, that I bring the right message and that I don't
freeze up in the pulpit. Thanks. I 'll be preaching around 9am uk time on Sunday. 

I only have 9 weeks left in Uganda. This seems like quite a long time but we have 5 weeks of work then 2
weeks of holiday then 2 more weeks of work. So only 5 weeks til we go away. We've decided on Mombassa,
Kenya for the holiday. I say we but it was more like everyone else. I wanted to go to the island of Zanzibar
but got out voted...save it for the honeymoon.     

Meanwhile...

• Jonny has discovered the joys of peanut butter and jam. His breakfasts are now enlightening.
• Jonny enjoyed 4 birthday parties over 9 days (it was June 5th)
• Jonny saw monkeys running over a hill
• Jonny is contemplating what to do with his life...Pray for that please

Love to all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I miss you all very much. Sorry for never saying how much you mean to me.

Until next time!
farewell,

Jonny x

Letter from Uganda

First Impressions of a little place called Uganda


To everyone I know, love and hold dear- I miss you all. This is very long and highly detailed so please give it some respect. Do not exclude it from your busy lives but save it for a rainy day, bedtime story or if you're privileged enough to own a Blackberry a dull work meeting. If you would not like to receive these fortnightly blessings please reply to this address with the following message:
"Hi, you've mistaken me for someone who is interested in your foreign escapades and, I simply am not" - I shall not take offence.
Otherwise, enjoy! I will go through each subject of daily life one at a time.

Daily Washing

Washing here is really quite difficult. With only a flannel and a bowl of water you have to first soap yourself up and then splash it off using your hands to scoop up the water. Some mornings I'm ready for the cold water, others I'm not.( I haven't washed my back yet-it's too cold) It's a far cry from the hot showers of home.

The Pit Latrines

Hmmm. Pretty stinky- think concrete portaloo with just a hole. There are flies all the time and at night cockroaches. Haven't got used to them yet. They don't seem friendly. Squatting for a poop is quite awkward and making sure everything goes down the hole is a challenge. There's a 2 second delay before the business hits the bottom. I'm getting used to these though. After the first week of them I went to the western loo in the internet cafe and it was a bit weird. It's funny how quickly you get used to things. I still won't do poohs at night though, for obvious reasons.

Ugandan Transport   

Mad...completely mad. The road surfaces are the worst I've ever seen, with potholes which are half a foot deep and span the width of the road. The driving is also pretty awful. A car might try a three point turn on a busy road while everyone else tries to go around it. Drivers overtake each other on main roads at high speeds and appear to randomly veer across the road (dodging potholes). The traffic jams are terrrible with everyone cutting up everyone else. No-one is patient and all are selfish. (Mind you if you weren't selfish you wouldn't get anywhere) But it's also quite fun; why queue up in single file for miles when you can bunch up. The city centre reminds me of films I've seen of India- pretty messy and chaotic. The two main forms of transport are taxis and boda bodas. The taxis are small minibuses made to hold 14 but can hold at least 20 if need be. There's a conductor and a driver who work together. To get a taxi out to Guyaza and Grace High School we have to negotiate the old taxi park in Kampala which is the size of a football pitch and packed tight with taxis. This can be quite stressful when you're tired, especially at rush hour and you've got an hour of waiting in traffic ahead. We also use the boda bodas which are pretty fun. They're basically motorbikes with an extra seat on the back. Some have small engines; others must be about 500-800cc. I like the bigger bikes. Tearing down the country lanes at 60kmph is quite a thrill. We're not allowed to use them in Kampala which is a little annoying but probably wise. We take them from the main road to the school. The lanes are in even worse condition than the main roads in Kampala; similar to english country lanes with big ruts. Me and Elias thought we were going to crash on a boda as the driver lost control and we went into a rut. It should cost 700 shillings (20p) for two people on one bike and 500 (15p) for one. Its strange that when we have to bargain down from the white price of 1000 to 700 we're arguing over 10p.

Muzungu Prices

There's Ugandan prices and Muzungu (white man) prices for everything here. In the small supermarkets which are like off licenses a lot of the food is imported. These shops are pretty expensive. I had my eye on a jar of Nutella chocolate spread but it cost 8,000 which is 2 pounds forty. You can get a portion of chips for 1,000 and a t-shirt for 2000-4000 in the market. I ended up buying a raincoat I don't even like (it looks like a fisherman's coat- long, it goes down to my knees) The conman started at 30,000 which is 10 quid and I panicked and settled at 25,000. Never again. Next time I'll get an umbrella.

The Food

Actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Our weekly menu is quite varied; though rice and beans is a regular feature. There's a lot of carbs but I don't miss the meat too badly. I thought it would be very plain and bland but there's usually a sauce which is yummy and keeps us sane. We usually have bread and jam for breakfast with black tea. Porridge is twice a week and is always an exciting occasion (we have many laughs over a bowl of porridge). Lunch is usually rice and beans or posho. Posho is hard to stomach. It's pretty much just cornflour. Faced with a plate full with some beans and a little sauce my heart sinks. Its very bland, tastless and cheap. Posho is the most popular food in Uganda because its even cheaper than rice. There are some highlights at dinnertime. These include roast Irish (potatoes) with cabbage, spaghetti with beef (mixed in like chow mein) and fish which meaty and really scrumptious. The fish is probably my favourite dish. Western food is available in Kampala and is pretty good. We went to an Italian last Monday on our day off. I stupidly had burger and chips which wasn't great but the pizzas looked really good. Eating out is expensive (not compared to London). A meal can cost 20,000 which is actually only 6 pounds but an awful lot for a Ugandan.

The People

When I fisrt got here I was pretty freaked out but I'm beginning to fall in love with the Ugandan people, their culture and the ensuing madness. I think you have to embrace it and relax or leave the country. People are very friendly- if a boda driver or taxi conductor is trying to rip you off chances are he'll have a wide grin on his face. So you just smile and joke with them. We get a lot of attention as Muzungus which can be quite irritating and awkward when people ask for money. In the country where we're living the locals stare but are also friendly. In Kampala they don't care too much and are used to whtie people. They always ask "how are you?"- Oliotiya and the reply is always "jendee" or "bulungee" which both mean I'm fine. Strangers will ask you this which is strange as in the UK the most you would say to a stranger is hello or good morning. At home only friends are asked how they are.

Church

I've learnt to yawn with my mouth closed. Services are very long. We went to a small church yesterday with around 100 in the congregation. The service started at 10:30,we got there late at 11 and the preaching didn't start til 1pm. It finished at 2pm. The services are very lively with lots of praise and dancing. Last week we went to Eden Revival in Kampala. There were around 1,000 in the building so it was pretty big. This week we went to a church plant from that church so also called Eden. I preffered the smaller church as it reminded me more of Newlife. The building was very basic- pretty much a shed made of corrugated iron. There was a great atmosphere and the worship was good. They carried on throughout the powercuts (there were 2) as if they were normal which they are during the day.

Grace High School

This is where we're staying. We live in the teachers block and have our own living room, bedroom and a basic bathroom (just a room with a drain). We eat at the headmaster and his wife's house and spend a bit of time there watching tv. They're a lovely family and have an open house policy. Quite often we'll be watching TV with someone who we don't know but assume they should be there. They're called Fred and Juliet and their children are called Joshua (aged 7), Joy (4) and Joel (2). Joshua is football mad (like the whole of Uganda) so I like watching games with him. He supports Man U which are very popular (Arsenal are also popular too- During games with the kids at the slum about 100 kids was chanting/shouting Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal! It was quite amusing). Joy is well named- she is literally a joy. She's the one in the Snow White costume in the last lot of photos. Very cheeky and quite coy, she's always got a smile on her face but usually hides from us or orders us to do things from afar. An example is- " Jonny, come and assist me with the ball or I will beat you!". Joel is pretty mad. He will babble wildly in his own language or shout things he hears e.g. a Colgate ad on tv and he starts shouting COLGATE!, COLGATE! .Strange. He's very cute. We spend a lot of time spinning Joy and Joel around, chasing them and playing football with Joshua. There are currently holidays in Uganda so the school is quite quiet. Its very green with a small field/ football pitch surronded by low buildings which are spaced out. Its like a small college campus. The teenage students are very dignified, friendly and joyful.

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit

I feel peaceful that this is where God wants me at this time. These last few days I 've managed to take a quiet time in the morning to read some of the word and listen to some worship music on the mp3 player. Its been good to find some structure. Living here is like spiritual rehab. Please pray that I would have a servant heart, and put the children and my team mates first. That God would humble me and make me lowly so I fully rely on him and give him all the credit. Also pray that I would have plenty of energy and not feel fatigued after a hard days work. Pray that I would be built up as a powerful man of God. That as I read the Word He would give me understanding but that it would not only stop there but lead to action. That my walk with God would rub off on those around me and that I would be a light to those around me. We're currently studying Ephesians as a team (3 boys) and these verses struck me. I pray them for myself but also for all of you!

"16 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,

17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people."

Ephesians 1 v 16-18

Thankyou for reading! Please pass this on to anyone you know who knows me and would like to hear how things are going?

I send blessings from Kampala!

Lots of love,
Jonny x