I came mentally prepared this time, after my adventure—to put it mildly—in Burundi. Because of my resident status in Rwanda, I could enter Uganda without paying the single-entry tourist visa fee, which is $100 for Americans (ouch) as of six months ago. Yes, I am a true African now!So on Wednesday, January 13, I boarded a Jaguar bus at 8:30am for the 9½-hour trip (including 45 minutes at border control) to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The moment we crossed the border, there was a time advance of one hour, placing Uganda at +11 hours in relation to California—almost like night and day.
I was picked up at the bus station by Brother Ting Lim, who is ethnically Chinese but from the Philippines and married to a Filipina sister. They have a 20-year-old son, Justin, who happened to be in the Philippines for a few months getting an operation. (The Lims visited Kigali about a year ago, which is where I first met them.) So, it was great timing: I ended up staying in Justin's room. Also in the Lims' large house are several relatives, and a circuit overseer and his wife who were staying for just a week.
Well, I can say this: Kampala is a city larger than Kigali, and more chaotic too, due to the greater laxity in traffic law enforcement. (Let's face it: Rwanda is one of the safest, cleanest, most orderly countries in Africa, which makes traveling outside it a bit of a shock.) There were traffic jams, the kind associated with big cities in the Western world, except that Kampala has no expressways or freeways, just two-lane or four-lane roads. Most intersections are uncontrolled, so as far as the cars, motorcycles, bicycles, hawkers, beggars, etc., are concerned, it's 'everyone for himself,' pretty much. (Yes, people are selling their goods right in the middle of the street.) The motorcyclists cut between the cars whenever they see the chance, which makes for some narrow misses. Hardly anyone wears a helmet, though legally they are supposed to. Then, add to this the fact that Ugandans drive on the left side of the road, and I decided, early on, that I would never want to attempt getting behind the wheel here, thank you very much.
OK, there are pros and cons to every place. Even though life in Kampala is less orderly and clean than in Kigali, the cost of living is lower. That applies to almost everything: food, housing, and consumer goods. (Public transport may be somewhat higher, though.) So basically, in Rwanda, you have a stricter, cleaner place, but you are paying for the privilege.
Compared with Rwanda, there are considerably fewer publishers in Uganda and yet three times the population. Nevertheless, Uganda had a 6% increase last year, which isn't too shabby. They also have a lot of "need greaters," most of whom are in English congregations. English is one of the principal languages of Uganda, so all the signs are in English, and nearly everyone on the street speaks English. Yes!
Work or residency permits are harder to come by in Uganda because of the cost and requirements. For example, to get a business visa you have to start a company and then pay $2,500 a year. (Though I learned later about a "volunteer" visa, which costs only $250 a year and involves secular teaching less than 10 hours a week.) And most of the "need greaters" have a student visa, which costs $100 a year, but you have to take classes, and you're not allowed to work.
I attended the meetings of the Bukoto English and Northeast congregations. In the latter, there is a brother named Brian, who is an elder and a pioneer. I snapped this photo of him and his Bible student, also named Brian. Of course, I had to get in the picture too! Unfortunately, I didn't get the word that it was striped-shirt day....
So for the nearly two weeks I was in Kampala, it was just relaxation and...eating! Yes, the Lims fed me royally—it was home-cooked Chinese and Filipino food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Examples: tilapia, Nile perch, brown crab, beef stew, salt-fish pork)
We also went to this Korean restaurant called Miso and an Indian buffet (35000UGX = US$10) at a place called The Great Indian Dhaba. This buffet is really an all-you-can-eat place—different from buffets in Rwanda—but the food was so rich and spicy that after one plate I couldn't eat any more!
Compared with Rwanda, there are considerably fewer publishers in Uganda and yet three times the population. Nevertheless, Uganda had a 6% increase last year, which isn't too shabby. They also have a lot of "need greaters," most of whom are in English congregations. English is one of the principal languages of Uganda, so all the signs are in English, and nearly everyone on the street speaks English. Yes!
Work or residency permits are harder to come by in Uganda because of the cost and requirements. For example, to get a business visa you have to start a company and then pay $2,500 a year. (Though I learned later about a "volunteer" visa, which costs only $250 a year and involves secular teaching less than 10 hours a week.) And most of the "need greaters" have a student visa, which costs $100 a year, but you have to take classes, and you're not allowed to work.
I attended the meetings of the Bukoto English and Northeast congregations. In the latter, there is a brother named Brian, who is an elder and a pioneer. I snapped this photo of him and his Bible student, also named Brian. Of course, I had to get in the picture too! Unfortunately, I didn't get the word that it was striped-shirt day....
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| The three Brians! |
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| Northeast Congregation's Kingdom Hall (also the first Bethel building) |
OK, I did do some Chinese preaching also....
One day, Sister Lim took me to a couple of places where Chinese people frequent. These include a place called the 5 Star Supermarket and the Nanjing Hotel. We met a very nice Chinese couple in the Nanjing Hotel's supermarket (the right entrance in the photo) who speak decent English. All in all, we preached to about 20 Chinese people in two days.
We also met a sister named Elisabeth from Sweden who has been in the Chinese field near Stockholm. She was in Uganda for six months, single-handedly preaching in Chinese. But she will be returning to Sweden in March or April.
So the upshot is: there essentially is no organized preaching or group in Chinese in Kampala. And there are many more Chinese in Kampala than in Kigali, due to the greater business opportunities here. So that got me thinking....
Anyway, I gave the contact information for the Chinese people we met, as well as the rest of my Chinese literature, to Sister Lim. I told her, you can follow up on these people. Even though the Lims can speak only a little Chinese (both of them were born in the Philippines and took a few Chinese classes, but it was quite some time ago), at least they have Asian "faces." And some of these interested people can speak a bit of English.
Another day we went to visit Bethel. Surprisingly, Uganda has had a branch only since the year 2007, which is quite recent.
One nice feature of Kampala is its location right on the edge of Lake Victoria. Except that to my great disappointment, I was advised not to swim in the lake. There is a certain kind of tiny snail in the water containing a parasite that can penetrate your skin, causing disease and death (in that order). This problem exists only in the waters on the shore at Kampala, but outside the city, the lake is OK for swimming.
Finally, close to the end of my stay, we went to a typical Ugandan crafts market. This is where I got my cool African-design backpack.
All in all, it was an eye-opener of a trip!
Are the Lims need greater in the English field? Is there also a considerable number of Filipinos living there?
ReplyDeleteThey are not need-greaters, but came to Uganda because other relatives were already living there. They have a large construction company. I didn't see many Filipinos in Kampala, but then I was only there for two weeks.
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