Adventures in shopping...

Hi Assiniboine!

I have been busy lately having adventures as I use the grant money that you won in order to pick up some school supplies, sports equipment, games, and posters!

Most of these things I have been buying from Kampala.

Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. In some ways, it is very comparable to a North American city.

The road driving down from Kamuli

One of the major western-style shopping centres in downtown Kampala

However, it is also a city with a lot of contrast. You can be sitting in a cafe, sipping a fantastic latte and eating chocolate cake one minute, and five minutes later be in a sprawling slum.

Anyway, the education store that I have been working with to buy things for Nabwigulu is called Mango Tree, and it is in a suburb of Kampala called Naalya. The first time I went, I took a motorcycle, but decided not to do that again, as the traffic was a little insane (motorbikes here weave in and out of traffic, and don't really follow any sort of rules...and as a proper young lady, I have to sit side saddle!)

Mme Amanda standing outside the store

A weather chart

Passing by one of the poorer areas of Kampala. The bunches of green bananas are matooke, the staple food of Uganda. You peel them, steam them, mash them, and then eat, covered with either bean sauce or a meat sauce. Yum!

Everything is stuffed into this graincloth, and I am waiting for a matatu (Ugandan public minivan) to come pick me up. It's taking a while...

I waited, and apparently that was not the right time for matatus. So I called a motorbike driver, and he carried the supplies on the front of his motorbike, and I rode on the back. All is well that ends well!

All of the kids (especially some of the Primary Five's and Primary Six's) are very anxious to receive the letters and the packages that you sent!