Flight, Kampala, and Kabale

Journey to Uganda

Our journey to Uganda began with a brutal 15 hour plane flight including a short stop in Rome, landing us in the lovely city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Although our stay was relatively short we managed to get a pretty good view of the culture, including a mosque, ferris wheel, and an introduction to the lovely local cuisine. The views in Addis are phenomenal! After that, we hopped back on the plane for our final leg of the journey. Although the flight was an emotional roller coaster, our excitement never dwindled. As we walked off the plane with our luggage in hand, we realized that the BAP project was no longer just a dream.

To Kampala and beyond

Despite our well founded skepticism about our loose agenda, we were all relatively surprised by being greeted at the airport with a car waiting and safely and quickly transported us to one of the classiest hotels in town. We were also surprised to see that Kampala is a very busy city with lots of businesses, crazy driving, and hustle and bustle. We had a lovely buffet dinner and did a bit of exploring of Kampala’s night scene.

Bright and early, we woke up this morning for an excruciating, yet scenic 8 hour roller coaster to Kabale. After a lot of unbelievably big bumps, honking, and throwing up children, we arrived in Kabale. Many of us agree that the bus ride was the first real culture shock that we experienced. The bus was hot, dusty, and tightly packed. However, it seemed as if it was a typical Ugandan experience that we were part of. Seeing the way in which parents treated their children, vendors soliciting their products, and the interaction between the various passengers was fascinating and somewhat emotionally painful. One of the most moving experiences of the day was witnessing a 4 or 5 year old girl who had been kicked out of her seat for an adult to sit down. Sitting on the floor in the back of the bus, the young girl experienced motion sickness and began to throw up. No one really reacted to her being sick; all her father did was hand her a piece of cloth. He did not even clean her off or help her until our guide talked to him about it. Witnessing this was a situation that we could all relate to. These and other events caused deep reflection and conversation among the BAP members at dinner.

When we arrived in Kabale, Dr Geoffrey Anguyo met us at the station to lead us back to his mansion of a house. After meeting his wife and children, we were served an amazing local meal. The hospitality we have experienced was absolutely amazing. After unpacking and resting, we ate dinner and reflected on our day. As we are typing up this blog, the power was turned off- our first experience with another regular occurrence in Uganda. We can’t wait to see what other experiences await us tomorrow!