This last post is super-long! But I figured y’all wouldn’t appreciate me cutting it in any way. So, here you go. Do soldier through to the end! Ty!
06/15/09
I started out by telling you that I was letting you in on the secret of me. But I have found myself speaking recurrently about love: how I [...]Read Full Post
Represenatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Ed Royce (R-CA), longtime champions in the U.S. House of Representatives for human rights in Africa and for an end to Joseph Kony's attacks on children and families, are currently circulating a Congressional letter addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge the Secretary to take immediate action to protect civilians from LRA violence and to seek Kony's apprehension.
Broadly speaking, in official ‘Uganda’ as shown by Minister Nsaba-Buturo, and Ssempa, the law and rights enshrined in the constitution do not apply to gay Ugandans. Because they are gay, their rights should be denied. No right to assembly, to advocacy, to presenting their point of view. In a country where the stigma is very much tilted against any gay person who speaks out and embraces his or her sexual orientation, the good minister wants it criminalized to speak out. Because when we speak out, we are promoting the gay agenda. We are doing sin. But this ‘official’ Uganda forgets that it is a nation in a global village. FUFA, the Ugandan football association, suspends a coach because of allegations that he made a pass, ‘allegations of sodomy’. And they go ahead and put in place a ‘code of conduct’ to effectively ban homosexuals from the beautiful game. Why? A ‘good’ Ugandan will exclaim indignantly, ‘we don’t want homosexuals in our game Read Full Post
FUFA has slapped an indefinite suspension on tactician Charles ‘Mbuzi’ Ayieko over sodomy allegations.
The suspension comes at a time Police in Lira is investigating the Horizon FC coach on allegations he attempted to sodomise brothers Isaac Omara and David Doii two weeks ago.
Ayieko denied the accusations in Lira.
FUFA coaches commission secretary Stone Kyambadde announced the clampdown on Ayieko at the weekly PostBank FUFA press conference at Mengo yesterday.
The move means Ayieko, who was said to be joining Super League side Iganga TC will not proceed with negotiations with the club.
“I was in Lira. I saw what happened and as a way of protecting our profession, we thought it right to suspend him pending investigations,” Kyambadde said.
SECOND FLOOR - I really must find time to blog a bit more frequently. Anyway, here is a piece of my Thursday column in the Daily Monitor. The more I wrote the angrier I got but anyway, here goes:
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The government, the opposition and Buganda Kingdom are all up in arms over the Kampala Capital City Bill 2009 tabled before Parliament last week.
The central government claims that it wants to appoint a team of professionals to run the city better and plan for its future expansion. Buganda Kingdom officials say proposals to take over two town councils currently in Wakiso District are a ruse to grab the kingdom’s land. The opposition, on the other hand, says that, having failed to win control over the city for many years, the central government is finally winning the game in a draconian fashion – by uprooting the goalposts and taking them away.
So, who’s right and who’s wrong? Buganda’s claim has historical and emotional a Read Full Post
Ongoing attacks by Kony's LRA fighters
remain a tragic reality for communities in the DR Congo and South
Sudan, but this week our attention is focused on the situation within
northern Uganda. For three years communities there have been free from
LRA attacks, allowing thousands of displaced families to return to
their homes. Though so far they've received inadequate support to help
them rebuild their lives, this week provided a ray of hope.
An unprecedented number of Senators have signed onto a letter to Secretary Clinton drafted by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) to express their concern over ongoing violence being committed by the LRA and to inquire as to the US's plans (if any) to help bring an end to the conflict now affecting four countries.
You are right about Eggie hating surprises. He is so cold towards me these days. He says whenever I disappear from him, it makes me appear unfriendly his resort to be equally hostile and indifferent towards me.
Cucumber is one guy I do not understand. I am always the one who looks out for him. I am tired of forcing myself to be his friend. Let him get crazier for all I care. I have decided to ignore him completely.
I found something totally funny and decided to blog it.
An Open Letter to James Thatcher, Brand Manager, Proctor and Gamble.
Dear Mr. Thatcher,
I have been a loyal user of your Always maxi pads for over 20 years, and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core™ or Dri-Weave™ absorbency, I’d probably never go [...]Read Full Post
I found something totally funny and decided to blog it.
An Open Letter to James Thatcher, Brand Manager, Proctor and Gamble.
Dear Mr. Thatcher,
I have been a loyal user of your Always maxi pads for over 20 years, and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core™ or Dri-Weave™ absorbency, I’d probably never go [...]Read Full Post
There's a new lady that brings lunch for me and is she interesting. Me and the one who used to bring lunch jazz in Luganda so no one had a problem. So me I speak Luganda coz I'm comfortable with it and I speak it with whoever I am sure is comfortable with it. So this lady comes; one look at her and I am sure she can speak the language. Not only that the one who used to bring the food has brought her for introductions- she will be taking over. Me I delve right into my Luganda and guess what, she turns to English! Hmm? Odd! Why speak English when Luganda is obviously easier. For you. I first heed and speak with her in English but after some time go back to Lugy. No sooner have I spoken two phrases atleast than she interjects in English! Eh eh...laba omuwala!
Anyway, that is the least of my week's crazy moments. Nga I declare Tuesday evening Transformers' night at cineplex. I even call my ka friend mbu I take her out for a movie. I hooked up with Safyre and headed to Garden Ci Read Full Post
A friend sent the following stanzas from East Coker (4 Quartets). As a wounded, dying healer I resonated with sharp compassion, and the inevitability of all our sicknesses growing worse, until Good Friday's cure is complete: The wounded surgeon plies the steelThat questions the distempered part;Beneath the bleeding hands we feelThe sharp compassion of the healer's artResolving the enigma of the fever chart. Our only health is the diseaseIf we obey the dying nurseWhose constant care is not to pleaseBut to remind of our, and Adam's curse,And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse. The whole earth is our hospitalEndowed by the ruined millionaire,Wherein, if we do well, we shallDie of the absolute paternal careThat will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere. The chill ascends from feet to knees,The fever sings in mental wires.If to be warmed, then I must freezeAnd quake in frigid purgatorial firesOf which th Read Full Post
….the dark cloud has passed over my silver lining, I see it, i see it its there, theeerre, hehhehehahahahaha. Now I even the sun coming out, the damn yellow thing is here, muhahahahaha. I feel for those who are still hating their mornings, breaks, lunches, afternoons, evenining, nights and all the days. Its F**)*^&(&KING HELL [...]Read Full Post
yesterday, the unthinkable almost happened, but trust me never to disappoint.
so, a lovely pretty young (she will kill me for this) thing called me up last evening. apparently there was a pig leg that was specially being chopped up for us over at some fancy restaurant. never one to disappoint in such cases, i had scooted over to where she was in no time and off we set.
we tried to make small talk as we waited, but my mind was on that leg. suffice to say my rumblings were incoherent. when the leg finally arrived where my salivating drooling incoherent self was, the pork greed in me pompously declared how it must have been just half a leg coz it looked katono katono. little did i know, little did i know that the unthinkable would almost happen. see, in my entire life i have never, ever, EVER EVER left pork on a plate. not once, only bones go back to the kitchen. you ask DK. he would know, i mean dude falls under the same category. but last night, my world almo Read Full Post
KAMPALA (AFP) — Uganda will resist pressures from donor countries to soften its stance on homosexuality and plans to pass a new law that significantly clamps down on gay rights, a minister said Wednesday.
"I have been receiving a number of friends from outside Uganda telling me that we should go slow on the rights of people who promote anal sex," Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo said.
"And I'm telling them, 'well, if you in your countries you've chosen to promote anal sex that is your business but leave us alone."
He said that donors have threatened to withhold financial support if Uganda does not alter its position.
The minister added that the government was finalising a draft law aimed at curbing the promotion of gay rights to be tabled in parliament.
Referring to a recent press conference by gay rights campaigners, Buturo said: "That will soon be impossible for them to do... It will impossible for them Read Full Post
A SCOTTISH football manager could lose his job leading an African football team unless he signs a form condemning gays.
Bobby Williamson, the former Rangers and West Bromwich star who is now head coach of the Ugandan national squad, has been asked to take part in an anti-sodomy offensive in the country, where homosexuality is illegal.
y other football coach in the country, must sign a code of conduct which "denounces any support or involvement in sodomy related acts".
The game's ruling body acted after Isaac Omalla, a player with Horizon FC, reported his manager, Charles Ayeko, to the police, claiming to have been sexually assaulted by the older man following a match during the inter-regional championships in Lira.
There’s some mighty fine advice in these words… you might wanna try them
1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have [...]Read Full Post
So some fella felt the need to send this to me….Have no idea why…
Now am sharing it with you all…Do you agree with anything mentioned?
The Guys’ Rules – At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down
Finally , the guys’ side of the story.
( I must admit, it’s pretty [...]Read Full Post
Warning; I am not very mentally organized right now so expect a certain degree of rambling.
Have you ever been mind orgasmic? I am mind orgasmic right now, I am listening to ACDC’s “For Those About to Rock”, over and over again, I feel like I am about to lose my mind, but in an enjoyable [...]Read Full Post
The Daily Monitor’s head honcho, Daniel Kalinaki, makes one of the best arguments against the Central Government’s proposed takeover of the running of Kampala City.
Kampala does not need anyone to manage it. The city manages itself by the grace of God and the fortitude of its residents. We pay private companies to collect our garbage; [...]Read Full Post
Ken Banks, the one-man team behind kiwanja.net, is a powerhouse. His output of interviews, blog posts, Twitter updates and other social media tricks speaks to his determination to contribute to the emerging realm of information ...
Related posts:
I went to London today, I put the theory that, 'Black people absorb the heat and the white people reflect heat', to test and as much i am Ugandan for once i was afraid to represent my country- the heat was unbearable. It was too much that it got to my brain and i started thinking it was Friday, and then thought it was Monday only to realise it was just Wednesday. Now, i can hardly find sleep and my feet seem to be on fire.
On Tuesday, I watched this dude talking about the 'end of love'. He claimed that the end of love is like the beinging, it should be celebrated with suits and champagne. I decided to disagree simply because I think love should never end. If it ends then you never loved, love is not something you have today and lose the next day. It’s something that should stand the test of time. Hence love never ends.
On Monday, I was in this neighbourhood....it’s one of those place that you guard you handbag with your life and everything seems to happen in s Read Full Post
I’m bored. Think I’ve been cooped up in this house too long. Bloody heat, bloody exams!
To ditch the exam or not to ditch the exam? To run headlong into battle and die or retreat to build the troops?
I should be hungry. Maybe I’ll go find something to eat.
Hey. Love In The Time Of Cholera is [...]Read Full Post
Always start well, with team prayer meeting, and the opportunity to play our little keyboard piano and sing, which I love. The last two weeks in particular, those team mates leading prayer have taken admirable risk to confess sin and ask for prayer in deep and real ways. 2 Cor 4 keeps coming up, faith, looking clearly for that which can not be seen. Yogurt, granola, coffee, tea, making sandwiches for lunches, checking email, thinking through the day, greeting workers and making sure they are set, gathering a few supplies to restock at the hospital, getting on bikes to head off to school and work . . .. Wednesdays are usually pretty full, with rounds on the over-crowded ward and then mid-day in the HIV clinic. Today was no exception. Sometimes the nurse coming off of night shift tells us whom she thinks is the most critically ill, so Heidi and I begin there, then proceed slowly, bed by bed. Checking labs, counting out pills, examining Read Full Post
And then I had to have a gap. Some reasons, why I was away, that is.
Its kind of stressful, this ‘fight’ for gay rights. One has to write because one cares. And if you care, then the various twists and turns kind of take it out on you. I may not be the one being arrested, or accused, or denounced, directly, but all these things matter. And day in, day out, the toll is considerable.
Sometimes, for a while I didn’t consider it. But I am only human. Consider that toll I have to, and must. And then I have to draw back and rest and wonder.
Thanks people, for pulling for me, for us. We cant do it without you. As Obama said of Iran, you watching and keeping note is important.
I have gone through the comments to the RRR post. Well, interesting. Anon, you can sign your name here. You don’t have to remain anonymous. You know, you can put a name to your hate and ignorance. (Or w Read Full Post
The Union has a chance of visitors who have managed to visit The Uganda Skateboard Union at first,and they normaly visit us for the secound time to teach the kids international tricks and skills of skateboarding. These young boy known as Yann Gross and he is based in Switizland, he came when the kids are [...]Read Full Post
Blessed are you, oh Lord our God.
Thank you, Abba, for this moment, for this time, for this life.
Thank you, Father, for friends, for family, for miracles.
Thank you, Abba, for enemies, for trials, for tough times.
Thank you, Abba, for your goodness love mercy grace kindness faithfulness.
Thank you, Father, for the tears pain hunger anger.
Thank you, Father, [...] Read Full Post
Calloused hands,rough hewn featuresbroody eyes, a sunburn.He said he found it strange that the manner in which i talkedreminded him of herlife had once been kinder to himthere was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke of long lost dreamsa smile skirted across his lipsand in an instant it was gone his face fell back intoit's a calm resigned state.He said the only thing worse than tragedy, was owning it and refusing to let it go. Today I saw a man for a man,trying not to be the bitter kind.Read Full Post
I never thought she’d last, I’d have been willing to bet my right hand that two weeks was all she’d be able to take before finally calling it quits and retreating to her comfortable home in Ntinda. She looked aloof at first and didn’t seem to be in that much of a conversational mood every [...]Read Full Post
Posting this single line here, to connect with all of blogsville, is all i can do right now to stop the tears lingering just beneath my eyelids from rolling down my cheeks.
But Life can suck!
i need some love or i'l buy a rope i swear. i'm not threatening. walayi. tinkubiha. muga katonda mugulu.....i swear.
You’re probably thinking i was saved from a pile of dirt lurking under the toilet seat because one of the employees at the company could not flash? Ok, been saved from that, but thats for another time. This probably puts me in the cleaner’s debt even after eternity in hell, and incase i forget to [...]Read Full Post
There is a body of African Union known as the ‘Panel of the Wise.’
Panel of the Wise. Sheesh.
*
The AU Panel of the Wise is two years old and so I probably shouldn’t admit that I just learnt of its existence today. Shame, yes, I know.
However given its mandate and how much work it has done [...]Read Full Post
1. when was the last time you went to a bar, looked at a couple and the dude was the one sipping on the hard stuff?
2. when was the last time you went to a Home Cell meeting and the cell leader wasn’t a woman?
3. when was the last time you were at a seminar/workshop/retreat [...]Read Full Post
Jesus, I need to get in touch with the sensitive me. Invite her to move in. I think I hurt some one yesterday. This business of avoiding depth is not as user friendly as I thought it would be. Yeah, my mantra this morning is, " I'm a shit, I'm a shit, I'm a shit". I throw in some token, " No, you aren't-s " But the prevailing opinion is thus.
Was looking through my journal last night and it seems that I know what to do, I'm just not doing it! It's right there, at the top of every page: Slow down, slow down, slow down... But am afraid to slow down. Whirl wind works for me, doesn't it?
Right. I'm...slowing...down.
PS: I need a new self hep book. Can anyone hook a sister up with The Secret?
In life, there are surprises. Some are the heartache type: “How could she fool me for all these years when she had another man?” Or the betrayal type: “Kale, she was such a snake, pretending to be my friend when she was stabbing me in the back”. Then of course the upbeat type; after ages, meeting this guy you went to school with and “Oh God! As you’ve changed. That tummy and flabby cheeks, you must be working with URA!” These, colleagues, are the surprises we are used to. But how do you explain it, when a politician, one of the few you Read Full Post
“Africa: High Speed Internet is Key to Economic Development”
The title of a press statement announcing the release of a new World Bank Group report. It says:
… for every 10 percentage-point increase in high speed Internet connections there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points. It also identifies the mobile platform as the [...]Read Full Post
For those of you who may not know, there is a community of crazy people who spend time blogging and interacting on the Internet. They meet once a month in Kampala and to keep themselves amused till the next meeting, they make up games and challenges and visit each other’s blogs with these challenges. They have considerable brains and it is dangerous to leave big brains unattended for too long, you see.
The latest game was to take a story and have each blogger add to it bit by bit and see where the wind would blow the tale. They called this latest game Blogger’s Whispers, and someone whom I previously thought was my friend has whispered the tale to me. So I have to read his chapter, add to it my own and then choose another hapless blogger to continue with the madness. For the story to make sense you must start at the beginning, so follow the link brick road.
No two people love each other alike. I look at couples professing endless I-love-you-toos, the liars, and think of how crazy they are to dare speak of such profanities. Did I get your attention? Good. Let’s veer for a bit.
Why is so much time spent in our world today trying to hide what we feel? [...]Read Full Post
“You rocked my world, you know you did And everything I own I give (You rocked my world)
The rarest love who'd think I'd find Someone like you to call mine (You rocked my world)”
You should have seen the way i bent my back ,lifted my shoulders and loosened my hands dancing to that tune back in 2002.
Well this pop star is now gone .We will surely miss him but my major prayer is that we won't miss the lessons from his not-easy-to-understand lifestyle
Acceptance
Lets learn to accept ourselves.We are wonderfully designed.The consequences of us att Read Full Post
Indy fight:
One Indian. One French.
French screams:
“And next time you better have a watch before you say anysing!”
From afar, the Indian:
“You mean vatch out before I say anyting, you idiot?”
French retorts:
“Who are you calling you idiot?”
Distant retort from Indian:
“Vat do you mean who am I calling? And who are you calling an idiot, nigga hater!”
Frenchman not [...]Read Full Post
Derrick couldn't understand the disappointment that immediately flooded through him. He should be relieved. He had Julia, his girlfriend of almost three years, beautiful sexy Julia, Julia who'd met his family. Julia who was happily settled in the belief that he intended to marry her. Another girl being in love with him was not a good thing. So he should be happy with Ann's "no" right? Relief would be appropriate since a bullet had just been dodged, correct? Unless he wanted Ann to like him? What did that mean? He shook his head to clear the thoughts swarming inside his head and took a deep breath.
He was being ridiculous. Of course he didn't want Ann to like him. He didn't do drama. It was just that he'd dealt with a lot more than he'd expected this morning. He hadn't prepared for any of this so it was taking a while to get his mind in the right place. If he wasn't happy or relieved now then it was just a matter of time.
I received a press statement today announcing the eighth AGOA Forum will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on August 4-6, 2009.
The theme? “Realizing the Full Potential of AGOA through Expansion of Trade and Investment.”
The Forum will focus on a number of crucial trade and economic issues, including but not limited to how countries can take [...]Read Full Post
Ben Wikler of Avaaz.org is at the Berkman Center today to talk about new models of online organizing.
Wikler begins by explaining net-centered vs. broadcast-centered online activism. The Internet is a little bit like the Brazilian butterfly flapping its wings, causing a thunderstorm in Belgium — except we are all butterflies, and it can be hard to tell how we can act together to (for example) bring rain to the hypothetically drought-stricken Belgium.
One of the things I have most come to cherish, living here in Uganda, is my diverse group of friends.
For the first six months I was here, I barely made any friends. This is highly unusual for me as I tend to be fairly outgoing but I had somehow convinced myself that everyone here fell into one of two categories: Married ex-pats who spent their free time in doubles matches on the squash court; or, Twenty-something year old Peace Corps volunteers who I wanted to bathe prior to befriending. The married couples invited me over for lawn tennis, the Peace Corps volunteers passed me a joint and tried to convince me that staying up until 4am at the bar every night was a fantastic idea.
Not feeling any desire to relive my early twenties, nor feeling any particular fondness for lawn tennis, I largely stuck to the two or three Ugandan friends I had made here...which was fine...but I did sometimes find myself desperately missing other Westerners with whom I could share stori Read Full Post
One day in the midst of my phase of teenage rebellion, I got into an argument with my uncle. I told him that despite his statement to the fact, I did not think he understood how I felt because he had never known how it feels to lose a mother. Angered beyond reason he calmly told me "Raymond let me tell you something, I owe you nothing, the world owes you nothing. I only do this because your mother was my sister and I loved her."
I have gone through life with those words seared in my memory. One of my uncle's long lasting lessons is that I should expect no kindness because I am not owed it. For a long time those words taught me that I should do all in my power to expect any sort of kindness. I should start the process by being kind and I guess that is what they will always mean to me. My uncle was not the kind of person to say something that mean. We parted ways at some point after that. I saw him many years later at my grandmother's funeral. He got up to gi Read Full Post
"An open letter to the parasites I managed to pick up in West Africa this summer," from McSweeney's:
Anyhoo, just wanted to let you know there are no hard feelings over your unwanted breach of my lower tract. Aside from the occasional cold and a sinus infection once in high school, I've never actually had a real disease before, and I think this counts. Well done. This way, at cocktail parties for the rest of my life (or at least until something better comes along), I'll be able to nonchalantly mention that bout of hookworms I had in West Africa once. People will be intrigued by the suggestion of exotic adventures in my past. They'll think I'm very interesting and want to be my friends. It might go something like this:
STRANGER AT A COCKTAIL PARTY: These shrimp croquettes are a little overcooked, don't you think?
ME: Obviously you've never dealt with a case of in Read Full Post
I went to attend some church thing recently. Now bro starts talking to me about God and how I view my life. Now to those of you who don't know the Spartakuss very well, I don't do church. Haven't been in a long time. I had made this trip to check out a certain beauty who had floored my wingman.
I walk in, do the tour and then they say 'one-on-one' time.
I look at this guy and say
"So……….." he smiles perches himself on a stool and peers at me through a rimless set of glasses. Looks mindless too.
"What do you want to do with your life?" he asks, seemingly amused. I tell him. I am working on a good master plan, to be the best Spartakuss can ever be and thus shatter the Spartakuss mould; which is based on the premise that i will live a valiant life and die an unrecognized death or be an unsung hero.
"I'll do whatever it is that will make me the best I can be," comes the clipped reply.
I believe dumping in this case rubbish is one of the worst habits one can possess. As any human being i aint perfect but i try not to dump just like many Ugandans do. I chew alot but make sure i always throw the gum whose sugar is finished in a rubish dump after properly wrapping it. When i was still a smoker i always made sure i had an ashtray at hand and properly dispossed off the butt in this case that of the cigarette or threw it away in a rubbish can. However, last weekend on my way to work i diverted from my normal practices. After loading my fon, i threw the scratch card on a heap of rubbish an old lady had compiled around The New Vision offices. This wasn't so bad as the old lady was going to properly dispose off the rubbish. Imagine my shock when a few steps forward i realise the airtime hadn't loaded. Two things run through my head; go back and search for the scratch card or simply move on and regard it as one of the day's losses. The first option looked the best for me Read Full Post
Yes, the technology already existed before humans discovered it. Search Engines- information retrieval systems designed to help find information stored on a computer system are alive in the life of a Christian!
Check it..most people think that this verse "1Co 2:9 But as it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," nor has it entered into the heart of man, "the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." means that it is impossible to know the expanse of the treasures available in God.
The people who come to that conclusion usually fail to make it to the next verse which says "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Now, see..God's Spirit knows all the things concerning God like a man's spirit knows all the things concerning the man. So when he sent His Spirit shortly after Christ ascended, it meant that all those with His Spirit would know of all the treasures ava Read Full Post
no he aint but i had a bleak Friday, watched CNN and BBC plus channel O and etcs to know what had happened- all day all night.
i was in shock, and in still more shock that i was actually touched by a man i never met, never knew, anyway it was too much for me. i was up for about 24 hours watching and waiting and feeling heavy within.
i am still mourning, investigating, reading , listening. if y'all have anymore info than what i have gotten on all the news networks and internet. pass it on.
The worst time for a writer, or should i say blogger is when they ask for someone’s opinion on a piece they have worked so hard to pen, and the person looks them straight in the eye and truthfully tells them it is no good, that is if they are face to face.
It is even [...]Read Full Post
Recently, I have had to once again confront the fact that I am just not a "kid person."
It started yesterday when I awoke at 7am to bone-piercing screams originating across the street from my apartment.
"MOMMY!!!! I WANT MOMMY!!!! WHERE IS MY MOMMY?!!!! I WANT MY MOMMY NOW!!!!!!" followed by a wail that went on so long that I actually started to believe they were skinning the kid over there.
A new daycare facility for the children of ex-pats has just opened directly across the street so, for the past two days, I have been serenaded by the same "I WANT MOMMY!!!!" wake-up call in about 10 different accents and languages between 7-8AM. It is, to me, on par with torture.
Normally, I might have a little more patience but I am still dealing with some serious jet-lag issues a week after returning home from the States so my sleep, and establishing a normal sleeping pattern, is particularly precious right now. Screaming children just DO NOT fit into t Read Full Post
Watched Slum Dog Millionaire (again) this weekend, and this time noticed an unusual scene. At the very end, when Jamal kisses Latika's scar, suddenly there is a rewind-like camera shot of the scene in which she receives the knife cut to her face. We go backwards from the struggle to a moment of expectation and happiness, when the two lovers look at each other unwounded, with joy. A striking visual of Revelation 21. Tears wiped, death becomes life, the act of love reverses the ravages of hate. Perhaps in the context of the struggle for healing and justice for my rape patient, this image is particularly poignant, since Latika was also sexually abused. Not just a covering over of evil, but an actual un-doing. All things new.Read Full Post
Ann hesitated. That was the million dollar question wasn't it? Could she say, no, she didn't like him? She wanted to say that. It would be so easy if she did. That would put things back where they had been once. But wouldn't that be choosing limbo? Isn't that what she was supposed to be coming out of right now? No. Yes. Maybe. Ugh. She fought the urge to bite her nails as she battled with herself.
Be honest with yourself! She thought biting her lip. Ok, fine. If she was going for honesty she might as well admit that she deep down, she was secretly hoping he would realize he loved her. She cringed as she accepted that. So saying no was simple because she got to go back to that gray area, a place filled with enough ambiguity for her to keep him in her life without feeling like she was sacrificing her pride.
I am weak, she realized weak enough to believe in a fairytale that is never going to come tr Read Full Post
Last week someone sent me an email reminding me that it was Heroes day in the Republic of Uganda. It came at a time when I was writing another article on the way forward for our great republic. With this in mind I have decided to write about both issues in this article.
I read the [...]Read Full Post
Fellow Ugandans,
I cannot imagine going to Mbarara or Gulu and taking over such perimeters without expected push back. President Museveni and his administration have become a very strange bed fellow when it comes to Buganda property, not only land but other revenue generating properties that seem to have been targeted to render defunct or non [...]Read Full Post
Fact:
There are more than 6 billion people on this world, but only one you. So why the heck are you acting like everyone else? Your failure to appreciate and develop your uniqueness is an insult to yourself and your creator. Yeah I said it. Sue me.
Fact-ish:
Apparently, everything you’ve ever seen, heard, touched, said, experienced, thought, [...] Read Full Post
We surveyed media coverage of the extractive sector and interviewed African journalists who had training in business and economic reporting. Our goal was to identify the training practices that are most helpful in teaching journalists how to encourage Read Full Post
Mudamuli…Mudamuli! How shall I describe you? Your words are feathers that catch their target by surprise because…they sting!
And you seem to know the quickest formulae to provocation.
Otherwise, are you well? Do tell.
You seem to have a special liking for Eggie these days but let me warn you. He hates surprises. If you want to be his friend, don’t keep making disappearing acts. As for Cucumber, he loves attention. The more you ignore him, the crazier he gets. As for me, I get bored easily and when I do, I move on to the next exciting thing or person. I don't kwelumya. I like to enjoy life to the fullest without any qualms. Especially when it comes to women. Like the gorgeous lady I met last week. She had the perfect manicure and pedicure. We had a good time but Pepper is still the one I want.
By the way, who is this Tamzel? Is she your sister? I found her post about me very amusing. How did she know I loved baking? Hmmm. Ma Read Full Post
WordPress blocked. Guatemala follows China's exampleCrossposted on the OpenNet Initiative blog
Guatemala's ongoing political crisis, which began with the murder of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg and has been fueled largely by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs, reached a new level over the weekend when several ISPs began blocking access to WordPress.com.
Reports of the blocking first reached Twitter on June 26, when user Read Full Post
As the global race to bridge the digital divide between the North and the South is given impetus and incentive by the growth of southern economies, today this need is nowhere greater than in the emerging sub-Saharan markets. Seemingly trapped by illiteracy, overpopulation, breakdown in infrastructure, lack of access and soaring internet costs, the challenge to harness technology to aid Africa leap frog the divide seems even more daunting. Uganda serves as a microcosm for this African dilemma.
Another part of this complex conundrum is the fact that although women are substantially part of the business environment today, most of them know little or nothing about ICT and its potential to alter/or exponentially increase their access, use and leveraging of information technologies to help their businesses.
The Makerere University Faculty of Computing & IT (CIT) under its Community Outreach program has just finis Read Full Post
Two children, ages one and one and a half, sit on our hero’s veranda with a brightly primary-coloured toy microphone that they will take turns speaking into in front of them. One wears large blue toy headphones. That’s Lizzie. The other wears pink ones with fluffy edges. That’s Evans.
They realize the problem and switch headphones, then they go back [...]Read Full Post
On July 15th, my teacher and mentor, Sr. Dr. Dipio Dominic, the head of the Makerere University Literature Department, will launch her first feature film titled “A meal to forget” at the National Theatre. Based on a true story of a man who killed his two children after failing to fend for them, the film explores issues of child welfare in the context of the challenging economic situation. For the amiable Dr Dipio, with whom I worked as a respondent in the shooting of the documentary “Etiquette in Makerere” in 2006, the launch of her first feature film should be a cause for joy and celebration. And indeed it will be, albeit briefly. For any movie-maker in Uganda, the nightmare of producing a work that you know will be pirated the next minute has never been any less. Ugandans have made it a habit to look for movies on the black market. Last week, our NMG training honcho, Dr Peter Mwesige, recommended that I watch “State of Play”, the Russell Crowe movie on Read Full Post
i survived yesterday and my fingers are crossed for the next 7 days of hell. i nearly cancelled all plans yesterday because i didn't want a repeat of breaking down at a friend's wedding that took me back to that very spot i stood at watching the boats search for you... 8 first anniversaries for 8 ugly days. 8 days of no appetite, no sleep. 8 ugly days. day 1: yesterday: the phone call telling me Read Full Post
Blogging on this site is going to be much lighter in future with the launch of Uganda Talks, the new current affairs blog of The Independent magazine. It's been a while coming but we finally launched today and for the time being I will be editing the site. I hope that you have a look and I would really value any feedback you have. There are bound to be teething problems in the first few weeks but it is my hope that we will soon be established as the best place to find cutting edge opinion and analysis related to Uganda. We will also be running guest spots so if anyone has something to get off their chest please contact me either through the comments here or: joepowell at independent.co.ug
When I lived in the so called capital city, I was subject to occasional bouts of road rage. My driving instructor said to me I should drive as if everyone on the road was mad, except me. These days, driving in Kampala gives me less of an angry feeling - I find that I just pity the urbanites and suffer from what I will call Road Bewilderment.
The fact that you can run over cats, dogs, chickens, goats and even cows on urban roads is disturbing. But nothing has caused me to feel more pity in the past few months than that atrocity of a situation at the roundabout next to Garden City. Every time I venture that way there is someone trying to run me off the road because they were on the inside lane of the roundabout and suddenly decided they had to get into the new mall. Alternatively, I feel pity for the people trying to get out of the mall and back into the roundabout, especially the women. You can see in their frustrated faces that they are thinking whatever bargain item they bou Read Full Post
“I want someone to fight for me. No scratch that. I want people to fight for me. Chicks to be exact. Im a 23 year old guy, been to all those nice schools everyone talks about, but i have never had that opportunity to be fought over. Usually i get a girl, stay with her [...]Read Full Post
Sleek: Once upon a time…
Children: Time…(all giggling excitedly)
Blogren: (Blank looks…reaching for their drinks…gulping them by the liter…)
Sleek: (undeterred by the Blogren…carrying on for the sake of the children of the world…) Once upon a time, a long long time ago (read last weekend), I went for a retreat in a far far away land so I missed BHH, which I am told was the bomb. Why? Why have a bomb when I am not there? Why? (holding back tears).
There were no elves in the far far away land. No ogres. No gremlins. No werewolves. No B2Bs. No mermaids. Yes, I was near the lake. But no mermaids…there were maids though, but they aren’t as good as mermaids. I would know. But I had a good time…and while all the other fake people I went with were having a ball, getting high on free alcohol, dancing to worldly music, playing pool, dipping in the pool, enjoying the sauna, gorging food with str Read Full Post
I hate you. I love you. If I was never to see you again, it would be too soon. I have no more goodbyes left. Please let me be myself. This pillow smells so much of you. Go away. I need you here by me. My intrepid fingers point you away. Bring back yesterday. I [...]Read Full Post
Tumbaavu
We used that word to ridicule boys who had angered us. Boys, not girls. Girls were a precious commodity so we used the much softer stupid, bogus or shit you (You didn’t want the P.7 class monitor reporting you for saying ‘fuck’. You could get expelled or worse, get looked at by the cross-eyed headmaster, [...]Read Full Post
The Act of Parliament that established the Uganda National Theatre in 1959 says the goals of the institution are:
To provide and establish theatres and cultural centres in the country
To encourage and develop cultural and artistic activities
To provide a home to societies, groups and organisations that deal in art and culture
Considering that the National Theatre (correct [...]Read Full Post
Opened,Knifed,Lying uselesslyon this cold floor. Flattened outrolling alongmeaningless-sobbingUncontrollably-Pain in my hearthas found a homethe sorrows of the soulhave come to stayi searched for my selfoutside my loneliness-yetI should never have left this void.Read Full Post
Saturday we went to a water park with Becky, our dad, Ella, Becky's foster daughter and a little nine year old friend from Oregon. We all had a BLAST!!!
Ella amazed me at her fearless attitude. She is a die hard water baby so it wasn't too much of a surprise that she liked the water so much as she was confidently charging up, down and through the water slides by herself! Dad, Becky and I rotated parking ourselves in the nearby hot tub where we could keep a bit of an eye on her and she'd check in occasionally. So impressive at how confident she has become! SUCH a different child than she was a year ago...
Ella got to attend her first birthday party Stateside last week, in Laurel. It was at the coolest park - I'd never seen anything like it before! She thought she'd died and gone to heaven :).
Dr Muwanga-Zaake,
1/6 You seem not to be sure whether to condemn or to condone so-called witchcraft. And by the way, witchcraft is but a euphemism for rubbish. Why? Even when you peer into the kit bag of a “witch doctor”, all you see there is absolute rubbish: scales of a pangolin, snail shells, teeth of [...]Read Full Post
messages on witchcraft are outright unbalanced? Some people focus on witchcraft – but is it more heinous than burying people alive, by, I presume, religious people? So, possibly, another important question is ‘ Has religion affected some of these people?’. Obviously, the murders believed in witchcraft although their religious backgrounds are not clearly stated.
what qualifies as witchcraft
[...]Read Full Post
Fellow Ugandns,
I believe that all Ugandans are focused towards the 2011 elections, with much anticipation for eventual everlasting peace in our country. While many think that the change of government from the governing NRM/O to another party will bring peace to Uganda, others think that a mere change of the governing party will not bring [...]Read Full Post
Elle must have known something about me. I was waiting for her to whisper to me and as if on cue, she did and so here goes..
The instructions:
1. You take the story, and give it your own unique twist.
2. Link back to the blogger who whispered to you and or include their name in your post.
3. Whisper the new challenge into the ear of a blogger of your picking.
4. Let them know by leaving a comment at theirs.
Pass it on with the instructions!
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Read Full Post
Heidi, my hero, taught me to upload pictures to my blog (yes, all that you've seen up to this point was Scott). So here is my lovely prayer-breakfast table, which began the day on the Masso's porch:Here, our team, including Craig and Dick from the Mariner's Church (Pierce home church in Annapolis) and our intern Doug . . Tim it seems was pushing the timer button and didn't make it. Sorry Tim!
The reason I am surviving here without Scott: cheery kids and a hard-working team. This is the pizza production on my Bday. And it proves that Tim (blue shirt) is Read Full Post
One day they hold you in the Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you Were the last raw egg in the world. Then they tighten up. Just a little. The first squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
When she called to tell me she was sitting at home bored on a saturday night watching re-runs of friends I knew she wanted me. But then i am presumptous. Her boyfriend has gone to the Glastonbury music festival, they are having a fight. Something about him "being an inconsiderate selfish brute who only cares about his playstation football game and his mates."
I asked her to come over for coffee. I said I make it black, with no sugar, no cream. She said it was not a good idea as she was getting ready for bed and so she cou Read Full Post
Here in Montana one of the favorite activities of my four year old is cleaning sticky raccoon blood off of a live trap with a scrub brush and soap :). It's cheap entertainment (totally free actually) and gets an otherwise nasty job, done (Mommy gets a little wild with that gun)! Sure can't beat the enthusiasm and energy of a four year old :)
We've caught (and disposed of) raccoons two nights in a row. You know it's time to start clearing out the charming creatures when not only do they eat you out of house and home in the cat food department, but when they then poop all over EVERYTHING. THEN when they get just too confident and start chasing people who are walking through the barn at night to close in the chickens. Yup, time to go for sure.
31 days of nothing but time on my hands.
31 days is all we have left.
31 days with no plans to make.
31 days to call my own.
31 days, the month of July.Read Full Post
I feel you in the brush of the wind, I smell you in the fruity cocktail of spring, I hear you speak in the recesses of my mind, I remember the touch of your hand on mine, I miss you, with everything that I am.Read Full Post
When all the world is young, lad, And all the trees are green; And every goose a swan, lad, And every lass a queen,— Then hey for boot and horse, lad, And round the world away; Young blood must have its course, lad, And every dog his day.
When all the world is old, lad, And all the trees are brown; And all the sport is stale, lad, And all the wheels run down,— Creep home, and take your place there, The spent and maimed among: God grant you find one face there You loved when all was young. .............................Charles KingsleyRead Full Post
My friend, Janice, who has become my guardian angel here, called last night while I was in the middle of watching a movie.
"Are you crying? Why are you crying? What are you watching?" she asked.
"The Bucket List," I responded.
"Yeah, I know that one...Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson doing everything they wished that they could do when they were living but are now doing when they are facing death...that one, right?" she confirmed.
Yep, that one.
"So why are you crying? You, above the rest of us, have lived the 'Bucket List' while you're still alive so why the tears?" she insisted.
"Do you think I am selfish? I was watching all of the places the Freeman and Nicholson go in that movie and thinking, 'been there, been there, too.' Do you think that I travel so much makes me selfish? Do you think I am going to run out of places to see and end up wandering around Central Park in ten years feeling lost?" I asked, feeling Read Full Post
At the start of the How It Ends lobby day this week in DC, Michael asked the 2,000 people gathered if any of them had read stories in their newspapers about the 135 people who had been abducted by the LRA the week before. No hands went up. While the media may not want to cover what's happening to innocent families in central Africa, it seems that they will pay attention when thousands of US citizens descend on DC to demand that their leaders do something to help. Here's a sampling of some of the news coverage that has started to roll in:
Read Full Post
An unprecedented number of Senators have signed onto a letter to Secretary Clinton drafted by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) to express their concern over ongoing violence being committed by the LRA and to inquire as to the US's plans (if any) to help bring an end to the conflict now affecting four countries.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker <a class="item_url" href="http://thenextquarter.blogspot.com/2009/06/couchsurfer.html">Read Full Post</a>
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Hi all,<br />Needed some time off. That is what happened, so I went kind of absent...<br />But I am around. And, hopefully, back now.<br /><br />gug<img alt="" src=)
