hellohowareyougoodbye

I spent 3 weeks in East Africa last June and July. Specifically Uganda and Kenya. I'm not sure why those countries, but when I was planning my trip I looked at a couple of different areas of Africa and those are the ones that spoke to me.

When people hear of Uganda, they immediately think 'Idi Amin' and think terrible things, why would you possibly want to go there? Granted, I had heard bad things as well, but upon arriving at the airport in Entebbe I fell in love with the place. The city of Kampala was a bit overwhelming for me-this was my first trip ever ever ever, on my own. And I chose Africa. Yup, go big or stay home I say!

The main point of my trip was to go on 'safari'. I don't particularly like that word as I think it generalizes your experience a bit. But that's essentially what I wanted: drive around, see some animals in real wildlife, and experience something that not everybody gets to in their lifetime. I got to see 4 of the Big 5: cape buffalo, elephants, lions, and a baby rhino in the Sheldrick Animal Orphanage in Nairobi.

We tried to ahem, spot a leopard (sorry, that one was for Dad) but had no such luck.

So yes, I saw the beasties, but it's the kids that really stuck with me. Everywhere our group went we were quietly followed by little boys and girls, who were just as curious as we were. We stopped for lunch in the middle of the jungle and one kid popped out of the bushes, then another, then one called for their friends, and pretty soon we were surrounded by school kids in their pink shirts, laughing and pointing at us.

As we drove through village after village, we'd be chased after by kids of all ages. They would drop whatever they were doing and run after our bus yelling 'mzungu, mzungu' (white man, white man!) They'd use up what I presume was most of their grasp of the English language when they yelled 'hellohowareyougoodbye' all in one quick breath. We'd stick our hands out the window and wave at all the kids and they'd wave back. I did this for 15 hours straight one day. It never got old, and the only reason I felt tired was because I had a smile plastered on my face all day long. I also got to spend a day Soft Powered Education, which is a group working with communities in Uganda to improve quality of life through education. We drove to an orphanage in the middle of the jungle and were instantly surrounded by little boys and girls the instant we stepped out of the car. They grabbed my hands and dragged me all over the school yard, showing me their soccer ball collection. They even know which button to press on digital cameras when they want to see the photo of themselves. They sang our group a little song, and welcomed us. Each person in my group bought a Soft Power t-shirt, which buys the kids a shirt as well.

The thing that struck me most was that these kids had nothing. In a world where kids have their own cellphones, credit cards, x boxes and ipods, these kids have nothing and are so so happy.     If they were bored they would find a stick and draw in the sand and be perfectly content. Or roll a tire tube around for hours. They don't ask for much and don't expect much in return.

They are happy with just smiling and laughing and giving a wave. It was an interesting and refreshing  lesson, one I hope to remember and use.