nyhuka market - you can't always get what you want

but if you try sometimes well you just might find you get what you need

beauty and the beast

poverty is a beast that must be slain

in or out?

funny thing. sometimes when i was taking background photos, a person would appear in front of the camera. if i asked permission to take their photo they would quickly turn away and leave the scene.
in these photos i was focusing on the ankole cows and the marketplace, so i ignored the young girl and the woman. they stood there just long enough for me to change focus before they walked away.

why should i be surprised?

when i left for africa to help my friend pat abbott start the"women of the proverbs" project, i knew three weeks was hardly enough time to explore uganda let alone to even begin to understand a culture completely foreign to most of the world. i assumed the language barrier would prevent me from building relationships beyond handshakes, however with pat as my proxy i figured i would at least be accepted within the villages near bundibugyo. so i was completely taken by surprise how quickly i was invited into homes, into lives and more than that, i was surprised to be invited into intimate conversations of hopes, of dreams, of sorrows, of struggles and of faith. there was no language barrier or cultural divide that kept us from worshipping together and singing our hearts out to our God.  i returned with new friendships and a desire to pray for uganda - that faith will grow so rich and deep that it will defy corruption, calamity and poverty. i experienced God doing his thing in my heart - why should I be surprised?

my new friend joyce preparing matoke

joyce's kitchen

chicken- as fresh as it gets

God showing off in pat's front yard

 i was blessed in busoro with over the top sunsets covering miles of tea plantations.

pat's new home near fort portal is surrounded by glorious acres of green.
the tea is ready to be picked when it is "2 a haf" ,  that  means 2 new leaves and a sprout at the top.

roadside attractions

some attractions were more attractive than others and there was never a dull moment on the road

nice fashion touch - shoes to accent live cargo

make mine matoke

the ubiquitous matoke or green plantain was among my favorite sights -  on bikes, on backs, on heads, people with the ugandan food stable were always heading somewhere, somehow. 

you could always find gonja (roasted matoke) in the market or on the roadside, also known as "in your face gonja"

charade fail

unpretentious expressions came naturally to people, but spontaneous photos were almost

impossible. if i asked permission to take pictures, all activity would stop. even my wild

gesturing didn't convey my desire to have everyone just carry on as  normal .

i never was good at charades.