I can't believe how much we pack in.

Happy May Day! I want to write about two experiences we’ve had in the past 2 days. Yesterday the mayor, Deo took us on a tour to the sugar plantation in Lugazi. We drove up behind the plantation to a village (called Kowolo or Kowoto) on the top of a mountain. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. We could see a panoramic view of valleys of sugarcane, tea, and some scattered housing. The clouds were vibrant as the sun was starting to set. There were a group of men playing soccer on a field with three pieces of wood pieced together as a goal. The people who lived in the village are of the Acholi tribe, or northern Ugandans. They look different than southern Ugandans. Very dark, thin, and tall. The women are very beautiful. This was the first place where I saw kwashiorkor, or children with protruding stomachs. The workers in that village earn less than a dollar a day and are migrant. They move every couple years to different plantations. They also don't seem to see very many white people or "muzungu's." When Melissa looked at a baby, probably about 6 months old, the baby screamed and started crying. I think she thought Melissa was a ghost.

As we sat and Deo talked to the women who were making brooms from wheat(?) or some similar looking weed, he talked to us about the government not providing any resources for these people. He asked and found that if we were to build a chicken coop or something to get the children more protein that their employers (the sugar company) would not allow it. As we talked about business and asked them what type of businesses they would like to start, more women came out to show us their skills; beautiful crochet and knitted table settings, chair pads, and hot pads, intricately woven mats, and then a woman told me that she knows how to sew and wants to teach other women those skills. After Deo prompted us, we gave a speech and it was humbling to see how much hope the women had just from us being there. It’s overwhelming to think about them connecting US to their attainment of their dreams. We want to work up there and set up some business, ideally through loans, but I’m not sure how to do it in four months.

Today we went on some errands, ate our first rolex…which was amazing. It’s chippati (a thicker tortilla thing that is pretty greasy) with fried egg and tomato all rolled up. We also had avocado sandwiches with probably the biggest and best avocado I’ve ever eaten.

Today we went to Deo’s rally to support him and once again got better treatment than we deserve. I don’t know why it is in people’s minds here, but without this coming across weird, they think that westerners are inherently superior than they are in some way. At least they treat us that way. It makes me feel bad. Then again, we are here to “teach them” how to help themselves. So, we do take on that role to a degree. I wish that we could emphasize more that this is a mutually beneficial exchange. We are getting just as much if not more from our interactions with them as they are from us.

Anyway, enough on that tangent. We went to the rally. They said it started at two but it turns out, it really started at 3. Within that hour of waiting, we found ourselves all decked out in Deo gear and fully entertained by a couple of mentally well, unstable people dancing. It was VERY entertaining and the MC on this truck with huge speakers also kept giving us shout outs. He made some comments like “Deo is uniting the world” or “welcome to all races and colors” “we don’t care about if you are black or white…” it was awesome. When the crowds really started to gather, they escorted us up to the “important people” section and we ended up sitting with the town council members and right next to Deo. We were feeling a little uncomfortable considering by that point we had yellow bandanas and flags representing him and I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that we shouldn’t get involved politically. Anyway, the rally was exciting with some professional singers who preformed and a lot of speeches, all in Luganda. When the mayor got up he invited Melissa and I to come to the little stand/stage. We stood up there and were in awe at the number of people all gathered. There were probably around 2,000 people. He then told them all that we are here from America to help them. He had us introduce ourselves (both our English and Ugandan names) and everyone cheered. It was all a little odd and yet hilarious at the same time. We got down and experienced Lugazi’s version of paparazzi with one guy taking pictures of us from a cannon digital camera. After Deo’s speech, there was some more dancing and we got up and tried to not embarrass ourselves. I don’t think my body can move even the way that their 3 year olds can here. It’s amazing. We were hoping to be done with our festivities at that point but Deo told us to go with “madam” who looked stunning in a beautiful orange dress with gold embroidered throughout. Anyway, we got in the car with her and continued for the next half hour to parade…literally, around the town. We waved and I had to stop myself from giving his thumbs up sign to everyone we saw. I guess with all our waves and smiles going out the window we also threw out our impartiality in Lugazi politics.