Enjoy!
The Best 17 Pfp Roblox Drawing
2 years ago
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Riots continue in Kampala
Yesterday I was informed of the riots that are ongoing in Kampala, Uganda. Knowing firsthand how peaceful Uganda is, I assumed that it would only last for a couple hours but this morning when I read this article on the BBC, I started to get nervous.
Watching the video brought a lot of discomfort. I had just walked those streets less than two months ago. The first scene is one that looks very familiar. I'm pretty sure we went shopping down those roads during our first week in Uganda. I remember looking out onto the city from the second floor of a building. The only thing unruly about Kampala was the way people were driving.
The second scene shows an alley with blazing fires. Those alleys are found all over Uganda and could be any number of places that I've been to.
All of this is pulling at the heartstrings and even though I wasn't particularly fond of my experience in Uganda this summer, my heart goes back to my time spent there.
I made friends in Kampala and Arua. Many of them are still there and it is not uncommon for them to travel between the two cities.
Also, as I'm writing this entry my eyes are drawn down to the sparkling diamond ring on my left hand. I met and got engaged to the love of my life in Uganda this summer. He's still in Uganda and is set to come home on October 21. Although Dave is an 8 hour drive from the capital city and faces incredibly slim chances of being affected by the riots, I'm still nervous.
Before going to Uganda, I would have brushed past this story as just another African riot but seeing the country (even in a peaceful state) brings a connection to this story that I never thought was possible.
When researching international stories for my articles, I had always said that it was easy for me to attach myself to a news story and empathize with the people who are killed by massive earthquakes or washed away by tsunamis. I'm recognizing now that my feelings then were more about sympathy, rather than the empathy that I so ignorantly thought I felt.
I still haven't walked in the shoes of a local Ugandan but the emotional attachment I've gained from a short visit to such a beautiful country works away at my heart more than I could ever attempt to explain.
This is not the Uganda I know:
This is:
Watching the video brought a lot of discomfort. I had just walked those streets less than two months ago. The first scene is one that looks very familiar. I'm pretty sure we went shopping down those roads during our first week in Uganda. I remember looking out onto the city from the second floor of a building. The only thing unruly about Kampala was the way people were driving.
The second scene shows an alley with blazing fires. Those alleys are found all over Uganda and could be any number of places that I've been to.
All of this is pulling at the heartstrings and even though I wasn't particularly fond of my experience in Uganda this summer, my heart goes back to my time spent there.
I made friends in Kampala and Arua. Many of them are still there and it is not uncommon for them to travel between the two cities.
Also, as I'm writing this entry my eyes are drawn down to the sparkling diamond ring on my left hand. I met and got engaged to the love of my life in Uganda this summer. He's still in Uganda and is set to come home on October 21. Although Dave is an 8 hour drive from the capital city and faces incredibly slim chances of being affected by the riots, I'm still nervous.
Before going to Uganda, I would have brushed past this story as just another African riot but seeing the country (even in a peaceful state) brings a connection to this story that I never thought was possible.
When researching international stories for my articles, I had always said that it was easy for me to attach myself to a news story and empathize with the people who are killed by massive earthquakes or washed away by tsunamis. I'm recognizing now that my feelings then were more about sympathy, rather than the empathy that I so ignorantly thought I felt.
I still haven't walked in the shoes of a local Ugandan but the emotional attachment I've gained from a short visit to such a beautiful country works away at my heart more than I could ever attempt to explain.
This is not the Uganda I know:
This is:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
