Picture Me Walkin'

In case any of you hear it on the news, yes there has been some rioting in Kampala. By all (credible) accounts, though, it should end up not being such a big deal. Of course you never know around here, but things are supposed to settle down, and may already have. In any case, Mbale is a long way away from Kampala. And since the fighting is about a disagreement between the Buganda King and the President, that's mostly central Uganda. Out in Bugisu country (where Mbale is), there's no trouble. At least that's what we've been able to piece together. We're traveling on the Kenyan coast, "researching" the operations of successful NGOs here. So what if they work in ecotourism. Non-profit management is non-profit management. It's amazing out here, by the way. Some serious pictures are in the pipeline. As a taste of what's to come, we went for a ride on a catamaran made of driftwood and held together with maybe three feet of fraying rope (as rinkydink as i...

I heard on the radio that Obama is making his first visit to Africa as Black American President. Unfortunately, he is going to Ghana, meaning he is not going to be able to enjoy a surprise visit from MAPLE Microdevelopment. And even though he is going to be in West Africa, I figured now is a good time to tell some fun stories about Obamamania here in Uganda. People are pretty psyched about the whole thing. Even though they are sometimes surprised that we supported him in the election (because we're white? i'm not sure), peeps love to talk about him. Not his politics, necessarily, but definitely about the man, his family, his relationship with God, those types of things. With the exception of a few cranky Kenyans, who said that since he's Luo he's really not even Kenyan, so they can't figure what all the fuss about, people are into it in a big way. To more than one person, we are known affectionately as the Obama Brothers, which was a bit strange at first but has sin...