Cookies and Connections

As my time here as progressed, slowly I have acquired some new skills in the kitchen. I have always been somewhat familiar with the kitchen and how it works, but I have never really attempted to do much other than baking. But since I have moved here, I have been forced into the domestic world. Since Kristen and I have moved into our own place, most nights we have to fend for ourselves and thankfully our cooking skills have progressively gotten better and better.

On Saturday afternoon Sue, Kristen and I headed up to the Timothy Centre to spend a day baking with the girls at the college. As we move through the school year, Kristen and I have been slowly getting to know the girls through teaching them computer class and having study nights with them. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know them through working with them on the academic level, but it’s not a very good setting to get to know them on a more personal level. So when Sue asked us if we would have to join her on that Saturday to spend some time with the girls we quickly agreed. Every Wednesday when Sue goes down to tutor the girls she always brings them study snacks that she has made for them. Being as most of these girls had never baked anything in their lives, they all were very eager to trying making something for themselves. So this is what Saturday afternoon was for.

The girls at the Timothy Centre are very dedicated students and spend most of their time in class and studying. They are awake by three thirty in the morning to start their studying, and don’t get to bed until ten thirty at night. During the week their schedules are academically focused, but every Saturday and Sunday they get the most part of the afternoon to have some free time. So after some discussion with Sue, they decided that they wanted to spend this past Saturday learning how to bake. Sue, Kristen and myself went up the school each with different recipes, and we taught the girls the fundamentals baking. We made banana muffins, sugar cookies and a chocolate cake with them. It was a lot of fun just spending time with the girls, but also teaching them how to do something new at the same time. And the girls definitely enjoyed the end results.

And as a side note: the other evening Kristen and I also made our first and quite successful attempt at making dinner for all of us living on the compound here at the Timothy Centre.

Cobras and Crocs

Though we were ready for the crocodiles, we got a lot more than we expected this last week at the Timothy Centre. On Thursday night after dinner, Kristen and I were sitting in our place and heard through our open window, rumours that there had been a spitting cobra that was found within our compound. It perked my interest, but it wasn’t enough of an interest to pull me out of my comfy blanket and jammies. But then a few minutes later we got a knock at our front door, and that was a definite reason to get dressed and go outside.

Apparently a few minutes before the knock on our front door, one of our visitors Ken was walking down to his own place, which is located by the guard station at the front gate. When the guard was coming out of the guard house a spitting cobra emerged from the bushes beside the stairs and lunged at the guard. For obvious reasons (as spitting cobras are deadly), the two men killed the snake and then left it on the ground for us to come and see it. When we got do the gate, the snake was dead and lying on the ground. Ken was picking up the dead snake and showing us how it was still moving because of muscle spasms, and somehow coaxed me into holding it. The first time I picked it up, the body of the snake where I had grabbed it started spasming and naturally, I freaked out and dropped it. Even though it was dead, it was still really gross that it was still moving between my fingers. All I could see in my head was the horror movie vision, where the dead snakes somehow comes alive and bites the unsuspecting victims. And because of my fear for snakes, it scared me even more. After a couple more minutes of coxing, and a lot of freaking out, I was actually able to pick it up. And naturally, I had to get a picture of this momentous occasion.

The next day we were treated to even more reptiles; we took the kids on a fieldtrip to the Crocodile Camp and Farm just a few minutes past the equator, and located on the shore of Lake Victoria. Despite the never-ending rain, the place was absolutely beautiful.

The first thing that greeted us when we arrived at the camp was a sign on the entrance gate that read “Uganda Crocs Limited; Trespassers will be Eaten”. The scary thing was I’m sure that they weren’t joking around. There were tons of crocodiles of all sizes and all ages at the camp. There were cages upon cages of giant smelly crocodiles. It was definitely not something that you would see at home; at home we have liability issues that probably wouldn’t allow anyone to have a place like this. It was in a way nerving because the crocodiles weren’t held in over secure cages. Each portion where the crocodiles were held were simply stone walls with barbed wire that was supposed to be along the top of the stone fences, but had fallen off and didn’t seem very useful. The most nerving part of this park is the portion that had the man eating crocodiles. These crocodiles were MASSIVE, and were also just kept within stone walls. To add to this, along these stone walls there were also raised platforms so that you could see into the cages. It was kind of scary knowing that it wouldn’t take much for someone to fall into the cage where the man eating crocodiles were slumbering. The guide told us all about the man eating crocodiles, and the records that they held. One of the crocodiles boasted a record of had eaten at least 83 people within his lifetime. Once I was able to get over the initial nerves it was actually interesting to see all the crocodiles, but I felt much better when we got away from these enclosures.



And next came the adventurous part of the day. The tour guide at one point jumped into one of the pits and took out a crocodile that was a couple years old. He was still a baby, but was probably about three or four feet long. He offered out the opportunity for us to hold the baby crocodile, and I figured that I had held the dead cobra the night before, why not hold the very alive baby crocodile today. It actually wasn’t that bad, and when held correctly the crocodile wasn’t able to move in your hands. Even though it had just been taken out of the water, the crocodile’s skin felt dry and coarse. It’s hard to explain what it felt like because I was too petrified to really remember the details. But I do remember that it was really amazing to be able to hold something like this. It’s definitely not something that one would be able to do back home in Canada so why not take every opportunity to do something a little crazy while I’m here in Uganda.

And if Camp Crocs wasn’t enough for one day, the Danish café now has a new addition to its backyard pond: Speedy the turtle. It wasn’t a baby crocodile, but I still got to hold the little turtle.  

I am proud to say that I have now done two more things that I don’t know if I would have ever done before. Only in Africa.



Baby Home Visit

Every Sunday at church there are always a bunch of little toddlers and children who are wondering around and visiting with the people of the congregation. I’ve always wondered about who these kids belong to, or where they come from because there are so many of them. After a couple Sundays of wondering about these kids, I finally found out that within our church there is an American woman who runs a “baby home” (or as we would call it, an orphanage) within the local area that we live in. After finding this out, Kristen and I became very interested in visiting this place and seeing all these kids that come and visit us every Sunday at church in a more personal setting.

So we finally got the opportunity earlier this week to go to the baby home to visit all the little ones that we had seen throughout the weeks at church. When we pulled up, and there were just a few kids playing in the outside yard of the home, but as soon as we began to get out of the car all these little kids starting running at us and giving us hugs to welcome us there. They went around making sure that each one of us got a hug from each of them. There are sixteen children at the home right now, ranging in age from a pair of twins who are two months old to a ten year old girl. After all the kids had greeted us, we headed inside to get to know them and give them the gifts that had been sent over for them. A ladies’ church group back in Canada had made a bunch of blankets for us to hand out to the children at the home. There was enough for each child to have their own, and it was a lot of fun watching each of them picking out their blanket. They were so excited to have them and just kept on staring at the different colours and patterns on the blanket. It was good to see how appreciated the blankets had been. The kids were even more excited when we pulled out some snacks for them to have while we were visiting.

After the blankets were handed out, we took the kids outside to play in the yard. Sue also had brought some toys over from Canada for the kids at the home to have, so they were playing with their new toys and teaching us some new Lugandan words. What I thought was the coolest part about this experience is the fact that most of these children spoke little or no English (mostly because many of them were very small) but we were still able to connect with them in a positive way. Even though they couldn’t understand most things that we were saying, they still could sense the love that we were showing them. It was awesome to see them connecting with all of us in a certain way. It was funny how some of the kids even got possessive of the attention that they were getting from us. The best part of all of the communication was the fact that they were all able to receive and to return the love that we were showing them. They knew that we were there for them, and they all received this attention positively.

The hardest part of the afternoon was leaving the kids. The kids weren’t at all thrilled when we began to pack up our things because they knew that we had to leave. BUT we will be back. It was such a positive experience just to be in such an awesome place like this where these kids are getting a second chance. The stories of how most of the kids ended up here are pretty sad, but it’s amazing how they still have the capability to be kids once they have been put into places like this where there are people who can have a positive impact on their lives and take care of them.

I applaud those who are willing to devote their lives to causes such as this. These kids are lucky to have been placed in the baby home because it has given them a second chance at life. There is a chance that not all of them will be adopted, but they are still in a loving and caring environment that was created so these children could understand and experience love like they hadn’t before. It’s amazing what a little love can do for a person after experience hard times in life.

Candian Thanksgiving in Uganda

Even though we are all the way over here Uganda, we decided that we could not go without a Ugandan version of a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with roasted chickens, stuffing and all the other fixings. We decided to do chicken instead of turkey because the turkey here isn’t as good as the ones at home, and it would have required it to be made from “scratch” (this meant that it would have to be killed, plucked and dipped in brine). We all made our contributions to the meal and had a good time celebrating thanksgiving Canadian style over here in Uganda.

Thanks Grandma for your homemade apple pie recipe! I made it from scratch just like you taught me and it worked out (surprisingly) amazing. I was really excited to show you what I accomplished!

Hope everyone’s weekend is full of food, family and lots of fun. Always remember to count your blessings and be thankful for everything you have at home in Canada because just being away from home and in a different part of the world has definitely made me appreciate what I do have back home in Canada. Happy Thanksgiving!

Kampala: Our Big City Adventure

As a little escape for the women living here at the Timothy Centre, it was decided that a weekend girls’ trip to Kampala to do some shopping and relaxation would be the perfect little vacation. Not knowing what to expect (as I’ve already had so many unexpected experiences) I was definitely on board and prepared myself for an adventure. It was definitely nice to get away and to see something more than just what we were becoming accustomed to in Masaka. During the drive in we hit torrential rain storms and I was dreading the fact that it might be stormy in Kampala. But once we arrived there the sun came out and we were ready for our weekend.

the rainy drive into Kampala

the more modern looking part of Kampala city.

After Sue and I got our more than expected hair dos, we were off and ready for the day. We first went to Garden City mall where we enjoyed our first Kampala experience. When arriving at the food court in the mall one would expect that you would simply line up at the kiosk that you wanted to purchase food from, but not here in Uganda. As soon as we sat down at our table we were immediately surrounded by about 5 or 6 different people all trying to show you their menu and what their restaurant served. It was a little bit chaotic because it was definitely something that I hadn’t expected; everyone wanted your business and wanted you to buy from them. It was another part of the culture here that I would have never anticipated.

Garden City Shopping Centre

mall food court - where we got mobbed by the food cour merchants

After the mall we experienced another first; Kristen and I got the chance to see the city from a boda boda taxi. Boda bodas are little motorcycles that people used to get around the city, and are often a faster and more affordable way to get around. They are everywhere, and when you’re driving you have to look out for them because they dodge in and out of traffic, often using the gutters and small spaces left between the road and the sidewalk to get through traffic. A pro about using a boda boda is that you NEVER get stuck in traffic because you can weave around it, which made the trip to the craft fair a lot faster. The funniest thing about this part was when we were looking for someone to take us we tried our hardest to dodge this one driver because he looked the sketchiest out of all of them, and he ended up being our driver. After an intimidating first couple of minutes (and a fist pound to another boda driver – all I could think was “KEEP BOTH HANDS ON YOUR BIKE) it actually turned out to be pretty fun.

our boda boda experience.

The rest of the weekend consisted of some shopping at different malls and two different craft fairs. It was a lot of fun to get out into the markets and try our hand (usually not that successfully) at bartering for our purchases. And after a lot of contemplation and even more browsing around, both Kristen and I were able to almost all of our shopping done. I am now fully stocked up on Christmas presents for when I get back to Canada. :)

craft markets that wedid most of our shopping within

entrance of another shopping centre

 Another exciting even that was happening while we were Kampala was the big soccer game between the Kenyan and Ugandan team. The atmosphere was so much fun because of all the anticipation and excitement that was leading up to the game. There were people walking throughout the traffic on the main roads selling jerseys, flags, horns and everything to do with Uganda to eager fans. People were blowing their horns and waving their flags all over the city. People had their cars decorated and fans adorned the boda boda taxies, and they were using their transportation as a way to celebrate their city for this upcoming game. It was a really fun atmosphere to be in. Everyone was wearing their jerseys and was all excited about the upcoming game. Kristen and I even got into the spirit and bought our Ugandan soccer jersey. The atmosphere reminded me of the Ugandan version of the Vancouver Olympics and when the Canucks play offs were going on. People were just there to celebrate their city and their people. Even though it was a really fun atmosphere, it was good to know that we weren’t going to be caught up in the craziness of the city afterwards. Unfortunately, the outcome of the game ended up not being in Uganda’s favour.

selling Ugandan flags and jerseys before the game

people gearing up for the game

All in all, the trip was definitely an experience. It was definitely a good time and another experience of a lot of the unexpected. But I have come to enjoy that part of living here in Uganda.

CultureShock: The Local Market

I might keep on reinstating the obvious, but life here in many ways is so different than I am used to back home. Some of these differences haven’t bothered me, but for some reason the simple task of going to the market to get vegetables and groceries has definitely turned into an experience that I’m still becoming accustomed to. As of now, it’s one of the biggest adjustments thus far. I know this sounds like I’m overreacting, but it’s been the biggest culture shock up until now. It was just unexpected how culturally different they are here than at home. In Canada, to get your fruits and veggies you go to the grocery store or (in farm land Langley) you can go to a local famer’s market. Simple, fast and an ordinary, every-day experience. I don’t know what I was expecting when I came over here with tasks like getting groceries, but the experience of the market is totally different here.

The first time I went to the market I was so overwhelmed and somewhat intimidated by the environment around me. As you walk into the market area, you’re greeted but groups of men trying to sell you live chickens that are stuffed into cages all around you. There are so many of them, and people are casually taking them in and out of the cages and walking around holding these live chickens. Normally chickens wouldn’t scare me, but for some reason there’s something about having these live chickens thrown into your face as it squawks and tries to fly away that makes you want to run away. And the smell is so overpowering, especially when the wind is not in your favour. It’d just a different kind of environment, and one that I’ve never experienced before.

the outside of the market area

the entrance of the market (note the chickens in the left corner)

Once you get past the chickens, you finally get into the actual market. There’s stand upon stand, row upon row of merchants selling different types of fruits and vegetables. There are so many stands that you can get most every kind of fruit and vegetable; the only fruit we haven’t been able to find in the market thus far are apples. The place is not only filled with produce but also with fruit flies and dust. Obviously it’s not going to be a manicured area, realistically I am in Africa. But the first time I went in there it was just something that I wasn’t fully ready for and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. The other day we brought a pineapple home, and after it had been on the ground for a while Kristen found hundreds of little ants that came out of the pineapple. It’s just so different than what I am used to. As you look around there are lots of people squished into the little area; merchants at their stands, children running around, ladies trying to sell you homemade craft items and lots of (mostly) local people shopping for their produce. There’s also another areas where people sell items other than produce, such as charcoal and other essentials.

market stands

roadside bananas

another part of the market

Though the first time was a little overwhelming, I am starting to get used to being in the market and starting to enjoy it a little more. It’s not something that I’ll be totally comfortable with fully right away; it will take time to get used to the differences as I have never lived like this before. It’s definitely is a unique experience that I’m not used to, BUT I love the fact that I’m experiencing another culture and their everyday life. Experience is the reason why I came over here, so why not experience the culture in every way that I can; even if that’s just the simple task of going to the market to pick up some fruits and vegetables.

Our Classroom!

Because there was no specific classroom avaliable for the kids here at the TImothy Centre, we used the unit that was attached to our house and Kristen and I transformed it into our own little classroom.. Here's a few pictures of what we did :)

main area where the kids work.

front of the classroom

our solar system wall

Maya's personal space for schoolwork