Academic

Famine, genocide and AIDS

By firstamendmentblogger

I suspect these things come to mind when most Americans think of Africa.  But the continent is much more diverse, and far more magnificent, than that.  There?s a side to life here that?s alive, and vibrant, and on the move.  You just won't hear of it from movies or TV; stories of tragedy are a much better sell. 

So let me share in a few posts the slice of Africa I'm getting to know.

Uganda.  I?m here conducting advocacy workshops at the invitation of the Uganda Law Society.  Home base for the next few weeks is the capital city of Kampala, though I'll be spending time in Jinja an hour north and Mbarara four hours south.

Kampala is as crowded and chaotic as any US city.  An estimated 2 million people live here, and over half a million commute in every day.  I?ve read that Kampala has the highest number of practicing lawyers compared with anywhere else in East Africa.  Some of them have been schooled abroad, but most are proud alums of Makerere University, Uganda's flagship educational institution and one that seems to graduate as many Presidents and Prime Ministers as poets and physicians.

What else does Kampala have?  Well, casinos, and night-clubs and first rate hotels.  And the internet.  This surprised the bank rep I spoke with before leaving the U.S.  "I didn?t think they had the internet in Africa," she said.  "Do they have cell phones?"

Um, yes . . . they have cell phones.

In many ways, however, things are different in Kampala.  There?s a sense of community and connection to the earth and environment that runs deeper than anything I've experienced back home.  And life is slower.  Much slower.  The street are jammed and markets frenetic, yet nobody?s in a rush.  My northeast "sprint for the sake of sprinting" is noticeably out of place here, and letting it go feels pretty good.  Some things admittedly take me off guard - I'm not used to goats crossing a downtown thoroughfare.  But it's all relative.  The goats were unremarkable to my friends who live here, but the idea of 'doggy daycare' had them rolling off their chairs. 

So yes, in Uganda, there's poverty, there?s AIDS, and there?s a legacy of genocide.  But its not what defines this place.  Or its people.  And perhaps in time, it won?t define our understanding of people and places like this either.

-Kathleen Bergin 

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).