Two different sides of Ugandan culture...

First off, sorry there are so few pictures. The internet here is a bit slow. I will upload more when I return to the states.

The last two days have been a blast filled with travels around the city. We have been going to markets and shopping. It's a busy time of year many Ugandans are out shopping for last minute gifts. Many people only take Christmas day off of work. Tomorrow they will have Christmas services in the morning and feast in the afternoon. We are going to try to make the 7am service which is the only one in english. The others will be in Luganda, the language of the Buganda people by far the largest ethnic group here. Luganda is the street language, while english is the language of business and the common communicator since there are many other dialects.

Some events that happened today let me see two very different sides of Ugandan culture. This morning J&L and I were enjoying breakfast at the apartment when we heard a loud chattering and yelling outside. Many members of the community I where J&L live, called Manaku, were gathered there. It seemed to have something to do with boda-boda drivers. Since, the whole argument was in Luganda we had trouble understanding. Fortunately, the housekeeper and the neighbor next door were able to give us some hints. Apparently one of the men had been accused of being a theif. Here this is a very, very serious accusation. It can often result in some pretty brutal violence.


Thankfully, our Christmas Eve was not ruined by any violence in Manaku. The neighbor called the police and they actually came very quickly. The crowd scattered and the police patrolled the area for some time. This is one reality of life here, the community has held onto these kinds of practices out of a lack of effectiveness of their own judicial system. Crime here is relatively low, and that is because there are such harsh consequences. It is interesting that is it less scary for the accused when the police come rather than the community.

This is contrasted with an act of kindness that I have rarely, rarely seen in the US and the way they greet one another. This afternoon we saw the epitome of a traffic jam leaving a very busy market, I’m saying one of those ones where people have to back up and there’s a man out directing traffic. That kind where we all sit confused for 10 minutes. I hope I am making this clear. People were moving back and forth through the busy Christmas traffic.

Well our taxi driver or “special driver” was making his way through this jam and he got stuck on a rock. After several attempts to get off and moving we were still stuck. Without our driver even getting out of the car, at least two men ran up and moved smaller rocks to make a ramp so that we could get off. It was successful! Thankfully there was not too much damage to the car. These men showed some real Christmas spirit.

This is reiterated when Ugandans greet. We shake hands in a special way. It is a three-step process where we first shake like we are all accustomed. Next, you grasp around the thumb almost like you are arm wrestling and then back to normal handshake. When we are talking to each other we keep holding hands. Each step of this greeting has a special meaning; first to you, second to your family, and third to your community. When I have greeted people in this way I can see a notable difference in attitude towards me. In Uganda respecting the greeting is everything.3

You can see that Ugandans, even though a strong government isn’t always there to protect the people, have come close to protect themselves at the community level. That means often severe punishment for crimes in contrast to greetings that show respect, which relates to the sense of working for the community. Like helping some stuck mzungus to get moving or people directing traffic in a traffic jam or just giving me a try of passion fruit because I was friendly and interested.

Tomorrow is my first Christmas day away from my Mom and Dad and I am happy I will be spending it with my extended Parnell-Marino family in a place where people have many of the same ideals as we strive to have. Sorry for such a serious message, I sometimes wish that I had been a social science major so I could write about these things better. But, I thought it was just an interesting insight and it really hit me this morning.

Next time you hear from me, we will be preparing for a safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park! LIONS, ELEPHANTS, HIPPOS, OH MY!