Good morning all.
It is 1030 am here. We ended up staying one extra night in Kampala, and are currently awaiting the arrival of Cleophas to pick us up from the hotel and head out to Bushyeni. Kampala is a very cool city- beautiful scenery and full of friendly and interesting people. I'll share a quick nugget and then turn it over to Logan.
Last night, we chatted with a hotel employee, a young man named Fred. He shared his thoughts and opinions about the current situation here. There is tons of variation among people here when it comes to support of the government. Some people love it, some hate it and lots fall somewhere in the middle. This fellow happened to have some serious concerns about the cost of food and fuel- that seems to be the heart of most of the dissatisfaction here. He thinks that the prices are unfair, but more importantly he takes serious issue with the way that the government deals with what they call "the opposition". He told us about recent protests in Kenya and how soon after, prices of food or fuel (cant remember which) went down something like 30%. There is a lot more to say about this, but what I was most impacted by was Fred himself- his attitude and outlook. This guy was meek, but passionate, respectful but still insisted on his rights. He was realistic about the amount of power held by the "powers that be, but hopeful for change. SO HOPEFUL. To me, he represented the type of person that we in GlobeMed are drawn to and wish to come alongside in our pursuit of equity, health-related and otherwise.
We're feeling very safe and well, enjoying ourselves and the hospitality of this spectacular country.
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