Petrol to Kishanje: 120,000 UGS
Mechanic to repair wheel well: 50,000 UGS
Time spent on road and repair: 11 Hours
Experiencing true Uganda: Priceless
Ha, I laugh as I think back on what should have been a relatively easy trip out to the village and then remember the reality. Kishanje is 3.5 hours South West of Mbarara, very close to the Congo border and in the rural mountains of Uganda. It is another site of Juna Amagara Children’s Home and schools. Our trip’s purpose was to have a youth program for the kids. We (ABIDE guys, Matt, Crystal, myself and the boys) started out our trip with two vans and Matt and Crystal’s car. One van took a different route to pick up a team in another town and it had radiator problems the whole trip. The other van was just fine…until we blew a tire and not just a flat, it was shredded. So Matt changed it and took the time to show the guys how to change a tire. We started off and about 30 mins later I watched in awe as the same tire we had just changed went flying off the van, took multiple leaps and bounds and the van teetered on for a minute with one wheel missing. From there on our trip was full of more adventure…waiting, tires flying off again…waiting, other van over heating…waiting and finally to Kishanje at 10pm. Matt actually had to go back to pick up the people stranded in the van that overheated on the way up the hill. The other van that lost the tire didn’t make it up that night, nor did it in the morning, due to yet TWO MORE flat tires. Everyone was finally together around 5pm for the football match. This area is beautiful…steep hills colored with so many different shades of green, Lake Bunonye, one of the worlds deepest lake cradled in the valley of these hills, simple lifestyles, generous people, joyful children and an amazing view of the stars at night. It was like my own private viewing of the heavens each night. We stayed at a friend’s house and got to taste more of what true Ugandan life is like. No electricity, or water, pit latrines for toilets, eating lunch at 2pm, tea at 5pm, supper at 10pm, great traditional food and LONG Sunday church service, seriously like 5 hours! I really loved the simple lifestyle, I didn’t mind being dirty, hiking everywhere we needed to get and living how most would consider extremely roughing it. I was able to meet some teenage girls who attend the Juna Amagara school and were with Matt and Crystal in Mbarara when they first arrived. Lynnate was my girl…she’s spunky, outgoing, an amazing football player and trusts God with complete dependence. She taught me different things to say in her language, held my hand and clung to me at meetings and became a sweet friend. I look forward to seeing her again some day. Our return home was uneventful, but we went on our own, the others in the van weren’t so lucky. We made it home Sunday afternoon and all crashed. I loved the experience.
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