Prayers for Uganda

We would also very much appreciate your prayers for the developing situation in Kampala at present. In a nutshell, Museveni won the elections back in February. The situation was very calm. Now however, the opposition leader (Dr Besigye) has been demonstrating as peaceful (at least on the surface) 'walk to work' demonstrations against the high prices of fuel and food.
However, as BBC reports, Dr Besigye, a former ally of Mr Museveni, sought medical treatment in Nairobi after being injured (in the eyes and upper body) when he was arrested over anti-government protests. The police have been accused of using excessive force to break up opposition protests in recent weeks, leading to at least nine deaths, according to Human Rights Watch.


After this, there were the worst riots that we have seen since we've lived here. He has been to Kenya for treatment to his eyes, and is now back in the country, after enormous cheering supporters followed his car from Entebbe airport to central Kampala this past Thursday. He spent 10 hours to travel 30km!! The hoards of people were able to support Besigye more of less without disturbance, but there were several shootings and a few people killed on that day. Thankfully it was a public holiday (Presidential swearing in ceremony the same day) and so we were not trying to travel on the Entebbe Road (this is where we need to go to school, and also where Kajjansi airstrip is located).
At the moment, we are managing to get to school (where I am a teacher and girls are students) as it is fairly calm in the morning. However, trouble, if there is any kicks off at about 10am, and then makes it dangerous to travel on the road home. We have to wait until we hear from the US Embassy and British High Commission to hear if it safe to travel on the Entebbe Road. We have now resorted to carrying 3 sleeping bags and a bag of a change of clothes in the car in case we have to stay at school overnight. We'd really appreciate your prayers for wisdom in driving, and for peace, justice and calm for all the authorities in Uganda.

Photos are from BBC Online or by Echwalo from monitor.co.ug

Laurie with MAF Haiti

I arrived in Haiti on Monday evening having travelled from Toronto via Montreal to Port-au-Prince the capital city here.

Some of the tents in one of the tent cities

Although the earthquake happened over 12 months ago (January 2010) there are still many reminders of the terrible event around. Many, many people are still living in the tent cities, either too afraid to go back to their houses, or their houses are just piles of rubble so they have nothing to go back to.

Damage at the main terminal

In the areas that I have visited since I came there has been some obvious damage due to the earthquake. The main terminal at the international airport is one major example.

However it is actually quite hard to spot the difference between damage and building in most areas. Everywhere you look, as in Africa, there are houses being built or in various stages of being built.  They all even have the re-bar sticking out of the top of the house in the same way as Kampala. Apparently it is something to do with the fact that if the house is being built then there are no taxes applicable, hence everyone's house looks unfinished!

MAF Hangar in Port-au-Prince

My reason for being here was to visit the MAF Haiti program and help them install and demonstrate the flight planning software that MAF have developed over the past few years. We have been using the program in Uganda for as long as I have been flying there (just over 8 years now) and as a pilot and IT guy I have had cause to use it and can really see its benefits to our work there. Haiti had requested to see if it would be able to meet their needs and seeing as I was in the same hemisphere (Toronto) I said that I would be happy to go down and help them install it, explain a bit about how it works and also to get a feel for how the Haiti MAF program operates. While we are all MAF, every program has its own way of serving the Lord and so for me to be able to see first hand how things were done here would help the development team in tailoring the software so that it accommodates their particular method.

Michael and his house

It has been a really productive time here so far and I have thoroughly enjoyed being here. The majority of the international staff are from the US and my hosts, Michael and Karen and Caydence their 6 year old daughter have looked after me very well.

Multiple people

Brightly colored tap tap

In a lot of ways Haiti is very similar to Uganda, there is a high level of poverty, building work, and the need for MAF to be there is obvious. Even the Matatus (minibus taxys) in Uganda are replicated here, except here they are called 'tap taps'. Apparently when you wish to stop, you simply tap on the side of the vehicle and they will let you off.  The big difference though is that the 'tap taps' are very brightly colored with some really intricate designs on them. There must be a coffee table book somewhere with lots of examples.... They also manage to cram a multitude of people onto them - 'there's always room for one more'!

Beautiful Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is prevelant here - I commented that I could have taken this photo in my back yard in Kampala.
Creole is the local language here which is derived from french, however, since I gave up french at school at 16, I am only able to pick up a little of the words that are similar. The MAF team here have to attend language school before they start and so the majority of them are pretty fluent with the locals.
While I am biased and think that the mangoes in Uganda are the best in the world, there are some pretty tasty ones grown here too - every day on the way home from the airport we pass pick-up trucks stuffed with them.
I am here until next Monday so if I get a chance I will post some more later.

Both these pick-ups are stuffed with mangoes

Eddy and Saara's Wedding

Beautiful Day

The wedding day was absolutely beautiful - clear blue skies and warm (by Toronto standards), it was 15 degrees C. Eddy came and met us at the apartment we were staying in early and we went off to his apartment to wait for the number of friends who were going to car-pool from there to the wedding place. He had a friends coming from the UK and others from all over Canada and the States.

Eddy and Mum

Saara comes from a Muslim family and so the wedding was going to be a traditional affair. Eddy's wedding suit was beautifully made with lots of 'bling bits' (his words!). The rest of us were in more traditional suits and western formal attire.

The ladies on Saara's family's side however were much more colourful and of the three boys weddings this was by far the most vivid! At the end of the ceremony there was a photo opportunity for all the ladies (and Eddy!).

All the ladies

As this was the first traditional ceremony that many of the people on Eddy's side of the hall had been to a run down of the ceremony and what happened in each section was provided for us. We were provided with starters and snacks and some delicious lassis (yoghurt drinks).

Mum and Eddy waiting for the
ceremony to begin

During the ceremony the groom was not allowed to leave his seat on the stage. During the first part of the event, many of the guests went up to greet and meet him. Traditionally the bride is not present herself during the ceremony but she is kept outside until the wedding is over. However, the bride and groom had requested that they both be present during it and this was granted.

Saara and her parents

The bridal party and the witnesses

Saara came in accompanied by her father and mother and preceded by the bridesmaids who were scattering rose petals for them to walk on.
The Imman who was to perform the marriage then proceeded to talk us through the ceremony as he did things.
Myself and Khalid both being the eldest sons were witnesses of the event and stood behind the bride and groom as they said their consent for the marriage.

Amazing food

After the ceremony there was lunch - it was an amazing spread of Indian food - lots of curries, rice, naans and vegetables - it was a shame that Emma couldn't make it to the wedding as she loves this food too. (I did have an extra helping on her behalf!)

Eddy minus his shoes!

During lunch the tradition of hiding the grooms shoes was performed by the nephews and nieces of the bride - poor Eddy had to pay to get his own shoes back!

After lunch was the time for a few speeches, songs, poetry and the cake ceremony. It seems that Eddy and Saara play a lot of scrabble so the cake was made appropriately.

The scrabble wedding cake

It was made by the shop just below the apartment where Eddy lives and they had made a great job. Tasted good too!

The happy couple leave

Finally the happy couple left amid much applause and cheering. They are not on honeymoon for a while, but are planning to tour Europe in the summer.

Toronto trip

CN Tower -
Famous Landmark in Toronto

I (Laurie) am currently in Toronto for my brother (Eddy's) wedding to Saara (more of that in the next post).


My brother Jon and mum also flew in from Atlanta and the UK respectively. We arrived a few days early and managed to do some sightseeing and shopping before the big day on Saturday. One of the trips that mum and I took was up the CN Tower - the largest freestanding tower in the world. Of course, we managed to pick the windiest day of the year with 100km gusts recorded. This meant unfortunately, that we were not allowed out on the balcony area due to the wind and also we were not allowed up to the "sky cab" part which is above the main observation deck.

View down through the glass floor

There is a glass floor area where you can look straight down. Even though they say that it is built to withstand the weight of 14 hippos (not sure how you would get 14 hippos up there to test it as the lift/elevator was not that big), there must be something psychological about standing on something you can see through. It was v. hard to force myself to actually stand on the glass bit.

Scarf on the balcony
blowing in the fierce wind

There were however some spectacular views to be had from the observation deck and it was well worth the effort to go up it. Due to the high winds, there were only 2 elevators working and so the queue waiting for the downward journey was pretty long.
Shopping in the malls here and travelling around is certainly far removed from life in Kampala. There is a very efficient mass transit system in Toronto with a Subway, Trams (street-cars) as well as buses. There are lots of bicycles and many many nationalities walking around the streets.