rebel against the box

an interesting city. not as much pollution and good roads in comparison. over 80 different languages spoken and everyone is gorgeous.

currently in the airport waiting for my fliht to leave. its some unearthly hour and not enough sleep...but because i was in transit they hooked me up with a free hotel inbetween. my ony problem at the moment is that i am supposed to be catching another flight once i hit harare, zimbabwe and i dont have any details for it. someone else booked it and forgot to tell me the flight info! so i could get as far as harare and need to start another adventure.
my only other potential hickup is that i havent had my coffee this morning....the bus came on time.

well i tried to put some pictures on here today but its taking forever to upload anything....
said my goodbyes to the kiddies today...until next time.

tomorrow i fly to zim for 2 weeks. still no visa for brasil, but im no longer thinking about it....totally trust.

had a hilarious boda boda (motorbike) ride last night. a bunch of us were going to this outdoor gig at the cultural centre....its has become a weekly outing. i jumped on the back of the bike and said hi. usual small chit chat, ya know likem its cold out tonight...where are you from, etc. then he blurts out "do you know about ganga?"... i said yes i know about it...he says "do you want some?" im like, what...now???!!! remember we are driving at break neck speed and he keeps looking back at me which is very sketchy because there are huge pot holes everywhere....im trying to swerve the bike from the back to nearly miss. then he says "yes i take it to stay warm." im like oh jesus please get me there in one peace...watch the bloody road!!! no i dont want ganga....i was laughing so hard i was crying...whilst praying excessively. hilarious. then he says will you ever be able to love a poor man like me? oh lord....first drugs, now marriage, good thing the ride is almost over.....i replied im poor too buddy lets just make it to the cultural centre ok?!

hilarious.

love the 'life which knows no borders' thing...but can be a pain in the arse regarding visas....so as it turns out i have to cut my african wanderings short and after zimbabwe head back to canada to sort out my brasilian visa. this visa is turning out to be a tricky one. prayer would be appreciated on this front.

the only plus is i seem to be chalking up the airmiles as fast i use them. nice.

so for my west coast friends....if you have a couch with noone on it yet...can i come and play for a bit? as soon as the visa comes i will be gone but until that moment i am looking for a place to crash. im a very well trained house guest, if that helps.

had trouble sleeping last night because of the heat. and the power goes out ALL THE TIME which means no fan. having said that i am not that happy about getting back to the cold weather of the north.

a part of town iwth a nice outdoor swimming pool. we took the new kids today. their first time in water. was so amazing. they loved it. was a little nerve wracking trying to keep my eyes on all the little ones so they didnt drown. they all did great though.
pictures soon to follow, but for now...
i need food nad a lie down! whew!

its hot in kampala at the moment. love it. loving africa at the moment. this trip has confirmed what i thought to be true....i will be here a lot in my life. there is already a strong connection between brasil and africa and i have a feeling i will experience a lot of that.

visited a baby home here in the city this morning. they take in abandoned babies and keep them until they find homes for them. there were 40 children under the age of 4 there this morning. it was good to see how it was run and what type of facilities are out there. the need however seems enormous.

afterwards helen and i walked over to meet this guy who is setting up a music studio. he was a street kid in one of the slums here in kampala when he was younger and was helped off the street. he and his friend are two of those people that you instantly know carry something significant and will do great things. gets the inspired thoughts going and soon helen and i were engaged in conversations centered around our dreams and future. on saturday helen and i will go to the slum with them and hang out with the kids. never pass up an invite to a party! i am getting more and more excited about my move to brasil in a few months. i have been dreaming about things that i want to be involved in out there for years but didnt know how they all would fit together and if they actually were meant to. but after todays encounters i am beginning to see the picture come together.

the other night i found myself at a jam night in the cultural centre. was some amazing talent there. open mic style. rap, reggae, african music, and a little happy birthday number for soph's. was fun...lots of dreads present which always makes for a good time! :)

in a week i go to zimbabwe. after a breif one night stay in addis ababa i will finally get to hang out with lynne and visit the counrty i passed through over 9 years ago.

had fun wandering around kampala yesterday by myself figuring out how the city fits together, rejecting marriage proposals and dodging the stork poop grenades.

tomorrow we get to take the kids that we brought down from the north last week swimming. it will be their first time in water like this. cant wait. they are settling in really well and beginning to pick up the local languages of english and luganda. a few of us have had dreams about the individual children which is helping us to know how to pray. its so good to see them being loved and cared for and thriving already.

i cam back yesterday from northern uganda...an amazing opportunity came up last minute to accompany helen and 2 others to pader district and pick up 9 more children for house number 5 at kcc. so at 5 am on monday we set off overland for the long journey. the farther north you go the less traffic....only ngo's and un vehicles on the road. 10 hours later and a significant temperature increase we arrived at the idp camp (internally displaced peoples camp) in pader district a few hours from the sudanese border. at the moment its the largest one with 35,000 people...ugandans, who have had to flee their homes because of the 20 year civil war here in the north. there has been relative peace over the last 8 months and so people are beginning to move out and try to build a life again. however there are thousands of orphans as a result. we were to pick up 9 of them. after a very hot long night in the camp we left for the long journey back. i remember telling god it was time to get my hands dirty again...after years of dreaming and preparing i felt a shift in my life was going to happen....i suppose i hadnt counted on being puked on, peed on , bled on, and pooed on in the last 3 days. be careful what you ask for. most of the 9 children had never been in a car before and had motion sickness. not so nice on a ten hour journey over rough terrain, few stops, and 15 people in an 8 seater van.
its true what they say...until you see something with your own eyes ...you never truly get it. i have been changed forever because of this short trip....sounds like a cliche...not meant to...but what i mean is i understand something that i didnt before. some of the children were a result of rebel abductions and therefore not wanted, some had parents killed by rebels and were staying with relatives who beat them, some had lost their parents from aids. incredible hardships, incredible stories, some have literally nothing...no family no land no identity, ...and yet there is hope. i do beleive this...i did see glimpses of this...

i spent the morning helping out in the kindergarten today...kcc is really an inspiring place. there are currently five houses full of children and 2 more with building underway. each house is set up like a family with a mommy and 9 children ranging in ages from 3-10 years old. its really beautiful to see how they have flourished in just a short time. there is so much vision for the place and the dreams are really unfolding at an incredible rate. plans for more houses, a guesthouse, a farm, larger school, and more...

aparently in uganda me and helen look like sisters. they cant seem to tell the difference between blonde hair and blue eyes and dark braids and brown eyes....perhaps im more tanned than i thought....perhaps not. funny.

the joys of red dirt...makes you believe that you have managed to get a good tan and then it all washes off once you get home.

sitting in a little internet cafe..well room really. nothing cafe about it. but its internet and its in walking distance from where im staying. nice.

taking public transportation here is hilarious....weaving in and out of traffic coming from all angles and balacing perfectly between a car and a massive hole in the road while trying to stay on the back of the bike leaves you laughing and promising to never look down again! a nice way to see the city tho when your not rubbing something out of your eyes....

hung out with some of the kids at the childrens centre today. the place is amazing. i will go into more details when i have more time. pictures coming soon...

its so amazing to be back in africa after so many years. love it! after days of traveling i arrived here in kampala to the heat and red dirt. i missed africa...
today helen and i jumped on the back of motorbikes nad headed into the city centre to try and sort out our zimbabwe expedition at the end of this month. proving to be a little more trouble-some than we anticipated...but we'll work it out. im sure.

ive also managde to have the nicest coffee ever in a cafe with a less fortunate name...cafe pap.

tomorrow i go to kcc and see the kids. cant wait.
last night i had this little girl run up to me nad start rubbing her hands up and down my legs....was hilarious. i guess she was fasinated....to bad for her i hadnt shaved in a while.

so i turn up at the bus yesterday morning after a fun night in whistler....to discover that the road to vancouver had just been closed down due to a massive rock fall covering 7 kms of the road. it would take a day at least to re-open. i had a flight to catch that evening....this cant be happening to me! i soon discovered a couple of aussie lads who also needed to get to the airport...so a few phone calls later and some helpful hints from fellow travelers and me and my 5 newfound friends took a float plane to the airport...it was my first time taking off and landing on the water!
was amazing and a crazy unexpected start to a long journey!
now i in heathrow waiting for my next flight.....dubai

you've all met my neice....shes gorgeous...and likes her aunty oz....we had our first photo booth experience yesterday in the airport....this may have to become 'our thing' all aunts have a 'thing'. oh shes the crazy aunt, or the money aunt, or the weird hair aunt, or the 'needs a breath mint' aunt, or the ocd aunt, city aunt, country aunt, forgein aunt, and the ever increasing 'was an uncle now an aunt' aunt....im not saying i know of any of these aunts personally...just that they are out there and everyone has their 'thing'.

apart from the birth of little gibsi, i also celebrated my dads birthday, forgot about 3 birthdays and had a birthday of my own. actually turns out that a lot of people i know in manitoba celebrate their day in january. was fun...especially wearing the moose horns in the restaurant....ask my father about that one.

i had a few of my biggest money miracles to date happen this month...i remember last year around september time, praying something along the lines of 'god, if what i think could happen this next year... and what i think you are asking of me is true.....i will need about $12,000 to come from somewhere unexpected...' and since that date ive been given $11,000 for these specific things i prayed about. that is beautiful.

received my visa for uganda where i am going in 2 days for one month. then to zimbabwe for a week and south africa for a few....before moving to brasil in april provided they decide to grant me a visa...a few prayers about that one would be nice about now....this one seems to need a little push.

needless to say i have had an amazing 2007 so far. being with my family was beautiful. setting up this next year and the places where i will put my feet has been exciting. and fixing my mind on this years theme...or one of the many...boldness and courage.

here's the little munchie...i miss her already.