Living in Kisaasi

Ben, Holly, and I are doing well in Dick and Betty's apartment in Kisaasi.



Kisaasi is about 30 minutes from downtown Kampala. We go to and from by the public transporatation taxis. For 800 shillings, or about 50 cents, you cram into a 14 passenger minivan and bump along the road to Kampala Road.

Our home is very nice. It's located in a residential neighborhood by the St. Peter's Church of Uganda Kisaasi. Behind the church, there is a field where the kids play soccer everyday. We have gotten into the habit of walking out to watch them around 5PM, so we now know many of the local kids. Our favorites are Fred, a 10 year old who doesn't miss a beat and gets our jokes, Melissa, a cranky 2 year old who is always crying and getting naked, and Arthur, a 1 year old who walks around in nothing but a t-shirt. Arthur isn't afraid of us like most of the babies, so we pick him up and carry him around.

The house itself has two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. We've been cooking for ourselves, and every night we go to bed I feel accomplished that we've survived another day. Holly and I share one bedroom and Ben has the other. It's very cozy and the neighbors are very friendly.







I'd like to thank Dick and Betty again for allowing us to live in their home. It's been such a blessing to have a place that is ours.



Over the weekend we caught up on our rest and went shopping at the supermarket in Ntinda. We attended a primary school graduation ceremony in our neighborhood that lasted 4 hours. It was incredibly long, and the kids hardly received any recognition. It was mostly adults talking and high schools recruiting. The pressure must be very intense to go to prestigious private high schools. The caliber of the primary school in Kampala is so different from the schools I've seen in Nebbi and Gulu up in the North.

They introduced us several times as their friends from the states. They didn't even ask us what we were doing in Uganda, and we were invited through a pushy teacher we met at the soccer fields the day before. I know they wanted us to give them money and support the school, but they didn't know that we are here to advance programs in the North.

We saw musician and friend from Gulu Jeff Korondo last night! He traveled to Kampala for the week and is staying with family nearby. He is picking up new tracks here in town and is working on a new album. It was so great to see him. We caught up for hours and listened to music. We even met his younger brother Robert who just finished his A levels and is hoping to go on to the university.

This morning we went to Parliament to start our internship, but they need more time to create our programs. We are going back on Thursday, and hopefully everything will be in order then.