Just Dance

I never imagined that I would enjoy Kampala so quickly. This past weekend has been nothing short of enjoyable!

On Friday, Alex and Zziwa gave us a tour of the city. Everywhere you look, there are people walking alongside red clay roads pushing bikes, carrying fruits, or calling for a taxi or boda boda, which is a motorcycle that acts as a cab for cheap prices. There is so much life here. The views are beautiful. The green hills are always visible from any part of the city. We had our first traditional meal: beef stew, matoke (boiled mashed unripe bananas), peanut sauce, and fresh passion fruit juice. DELICIOUS!

The next day we went to a graduation party for Teddy, one of the students involved with EAC. Her house was packed with people who came to congratulate her. It began with a mass spoken in Luganda, the local language. MF and I didn't know what was going on, but still enjoyed service. The singing was beautiful. After a long service (similar to my grandmother's Baptist church :)), we ate and Teddy got tons of gifts! She said a heartfelt speech to her mother and thanked her for not giving up on her. There were lots of tears in the audience. Later, a DJ began to play music. First, it started slow, but in less than 30 minutes, everyone from the elders of the church to 3 year olds were getting their groove on! We danced the night away. It was so fun! The kids were such great dancers and taught me a few new moves. Can't to come back and show them off! We danced late into the night.

When dancing, I looked out into the group and saw so many people, both young and old, moving freely with such joy. For those few hours, there was not a care in the world. For the beautiful people here, it's important to sit back and enjoy the moment. So many times in life, we are constantly planning for tomorrow and end up forgetting to enjoy the moment. In all of our hopes and dreams, we fail to actually appreciate what's happening right now. It was a great night to see people embrace one of my favorite Disney lines, "Hakuna Matata" It means "no worries for the rest of your days"...you know the rest!

When we finally grew tired in the wee hours of the night, we all piled into a packed van. I started talking to my new friend, Nicholas (what a clever name) about life and his future. He told me a little about his struggle, but we didn't go into detail. I could tell it was still hard to talk about. But, in the end, he looked me in the eye and calmly said, "I will make it. All I have to do is pray hard and work hard." With such confidence and determination, I believed Nicholas. In that moment, I knew that I was in the right place. Through this project, I want to help do my part to make sure that Nicholas' prayers and hard work pay off.
- Nick