African Insights Blog Newsletter
November 23 2009
Thanksgiving 2009 – Gathering at the Table…
All over America, the Thanksgiving Feast is on
peoples mind. Groceries are being bought in record numbers, invitations
are sent out. People are taking to the road from coast to coast to be
with family and friends, to renew friendships, to reconcile, to forgive,
to eat together and to share in the blessings of the past year. Even I
in Uga
nda
have ordered a stuffed turkey at my Ugandan butcher, this is the first
turkey I will cook in Africa and to say the least, I am excited.
Somewhere I am told I can find a jar or tin of cranberries, and I of
course will do my best to locate the store where the elusive berry can
be found.
Thanksgiving, a time for family, for sharing, for creating memories and talking about the times past. We gather around tables of all sizes and shapes, made from all kinds of wood and other material, covered with table cloths and decorated with our finest dinnerware, candles, flowers, treats, linen napkins, wine, sparkling and drinks…ah the feast of thanksgiving in America, what a delight. A non-religious holiday but is often the one time of the year where a form of grace and prayer is heard at the table.
In Africa, Thanksgiving is not celebrated as we know it in the USA, and even if it was, there would be a lot of people absent from the table. East Africa has a lot of poor and few wealthy people, there is a small middle-class group here and there, but you have to do a lot of digging to find them. There is an economic Thanksgiving Table set in Africa; the problem is that only a few share in it. Most simply never get to enjoy the fruit of their labor, their labor never ends and only a few benefit beyond mere existence. The average person never gets to share in the bounty that is there.
Uganda became independent in 1962, the cry for freedom and self-determination rang out in the land. The cry for freedom, for Uhuru (Swahili) could be heard throughout East Africa. The downtrodden, the poor after years of he heavy yoke of colonialism dreamed and hoped for a brighter future. They dreamed of jobs that paid a livable wage, of an abundance of food, of land that had been taken to be restored, of good schooling for their children, of medical care, of opportunities at the table of freedom and economic opportunity. The problem was that few of those with hopes and dreams were invited to the feast of economic thanksgiving in East Africa. Only a select few with right connection, the right lineage were invited. There was no thanksgiving with all the trimmings for the average person. Hope and dreams gave way disappointment. For most it was a return to life as usual in East Africa. Back to their little Shambas farming to have enough to eat, or to the city where they would live in slums and take low paying jobs, they still hoped, they still dreamed of a better tomorrow, but in vain they waited for the invitation to partake at the table come.
Eating at the table in East Africa, means participating, reaping the benefits of power, getting to participate in the economic pie of a better tomorrow, of a better today. For most in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, that day has never come. Instead, it is corruption, bribes, thefts from government coffers of money meant for education, medical care, better roads, and better infrastructure. The elite benefits, buying bigger vehicles for themselves as the potholes on the roads of East Africa increase in size, the rich fly to South Africa, England, Germany, the US for medical care while the poor pay for medicine with labels such as "not for resale" at corrupt pharmacies and medical clinics that steal the medicine from government hospitals. The rich put their children into the finest schools that can cost thousands of dollars, while the poor go without food paying school fees, uniforms, books and other things for their children.
On any Sunday afternoon you can go to one of the shopping centers in places like Kampala and see families who are walking through the African malls, looking into the shop windows, admiring, wishing, hoping, dreaming, hoping for a brighter future, for a better day for their children who are amazed at the all the goods that they see on display. You can go the Sheraton Hotel and see families who have scraped up a few shillings just to have a soda on the garden terrace, where you can get the finest food, but all they have money for is a soda, and that soda on the terrace gives them a feeling of what it would be like if one was invited to the table that has been set, but only a few are allowed to gather around it.
African fathers and mothers dream of the day when education will truly be free (no school fees of any kind such as building funds, dues etc, Kenya and Uganda technically offer free education, but there are all other kinds of other costs), when medicine is freely available and their children do not have to die due to some simple thing like diarrhea, malaria or the lack of clean water. These well meaning parents dream of sending their children to the University, of becoming doctors, lawyers and craftsmen who can provide for their families, where their children will have the opportunity to gather around the table of thanksgiving based not on who you know, or who you can bribe, but based on your abilities and talents that have been given by God and may the day come where the dreams of African fathers and mothers be fulfilled in the lives of their children where their dreams will become reality, where they have the opportunity to shape the Africa of today and tomorrow.
Africa is a wealthy continent, has an abundance of people, has resources that are unsurpassed, and most of all it is a place where people desire change, desire to be change agents in their communities. People who contribute to a better Africa. In Uganda large deposit of oil have been discovered, oil that will mean millions of dollars annually, but will it open up the table of economic opportunity for the average Ugandan?
Africans dream of a better tomorrow, of sitting at the table of thanksgiving but it seems that there is a giant fence around the opportunities and the gatekeepers who are in control want to preserve their style of life and are unwilling to share it with all.
In Kampala, I met a man who had graduated from Makerere University with a degree in Ecology, but he was cleaning tables in a casino eking out meager living with feelings of deep resentment festering within. He had paid the dues, studying hard, wanting to preserve Africa, making a difference by applying his skills in the field of ecology, but no one gave him the opportunity. According to him, he was from the wrong tribe, the wrong family, he did not have the right connections, now he was clearing the dishes, removing the crumbs off of tables, while he and his family went without….sad, but reality for thousands like him…Africa dreams, hopes, looks in through the windows to where the party is, where the gathering is taking place, but there is no spirit of thanksgiving only feelings of rejection, of being tossed aside like Kleenex, while those with the right connections, the right family (often unqualified but rightly connected), the correct tribal tree, the correct gender in order to get the opportunity to join the feast of thanksgiving that people in the USA are preparing for.
As you in America gather around your Thanksgiving Table this coming week, as you say the Thanksgiving prayer as your family and friends have come together, may your mind and heart be on the one who gathered around him the least, the last and the lost, who came to set the captives free from inner and outer poverty, from despair and hopelessness and that God in his grace can restore the years that as scripture says, "the locust has eaten."
This Thanksgiving you might want to set an extra setting and empty chair at your table to remind you of those who are outside still waiting to gather at the table of Thanksgiving…from Kampala…jon
Uganda - Background and Information helpful for Visitors and Tourists to Uganda
Things about Uganda that will give you a better understanding of the country you are going to visit. Visit some of the pages that you will give you insight and background to the Pearl of Africa-Uganda.
Uganda Background Information: Below are some pages that will give you helpful information that will enrich your stay in Uganda or simply give you information about Uganda.
Uganda Country Information: Some historic background and facts about Uganda. Great Primer for the visitor to Uganda. Knowing about Uganda will enhance your trip here to Uganda or just give you information about the Pearl of Africa-Uganda.
Uganda-One Man's Perspective: The insight of a Westerner of Uganda, its everyday life, the people of Uganda and their joys and struggles.
Why visit Uganda? Away from mass hysteria of mass tourism, the pearl of Africa with the friendliest people in Africa and an abundance of wildlife in a natural and beautiful setting is awaiting to be discovered by you.
Idi Amin-The little Big Man: His life and death in brief here with some quotes from him and others. The infamous president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He has certainly left his mark on Uganda and the world. The Last King of Scotland has helped to keep his image before the word.
The LRA-Joseph Kony-Child Soldiers and Northern Uganda: Pages on the LRA, the Child Soldiers, the war in Northern Uganda, Alice Lakwena and her influence on the LRA, Joseph Kony Biography, the story of Catherine Ajok who was held captive for 13 years by Kony, the amnesty program, the rebuilding of Northern Uganda since peace has returned.
Uganda-More than Idi Amin: Uganda is much more than Idi Amin, or for that matter Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army and Child Soldiers. Westerners often see Uganda through the headlines, news reports that are often erroneous and out of date. Here is the real Uganda in 2009 - come and visit the Pearl of Africa.
Africa's Children-Section: The joys, the sorrows, get in touch with the children of Africa. Meet the children of Africa in stories, in pictures, in accounts of what life is like for an African Child. Pages and pages of the accounts of children in Africa along with pictures. Focusing primarily on the children of Uganda.
Africa's Women-Section: The women of Africa. There are pictures of everyday women. Stories of Human triumph and of simply daily life for a woman in Africa. There is a resiliency and strength in the African woman birthed out of the daily trials she faces. Focusing primarily on the women of Uganda.
Life in a Kampala Neighborhood: An average neighborhood in Kampala. The account is through the eyes of a westerner who lived there for some months. It is unlikely that you will visit many places such as this, but it gives you an idea how many people live. The very people who wait on your, clean your hotel room, drive you around, the people who make Kampala happen.
A day in a Ugandan Village: A visit to the small village of Kitaisa an hour from Kampala. You can see the pictures and read an account of the village. Most Ugandans live in the village, there are no jobs besides working in a small shop, but most people grow their own vegetables and the surplus is sold.
Keeping Time in Africa: When will we get there? Soon. How much longer, not long. What are you doing? I am waiting. When will it come? I do not know, but I am waiting. Time is different than in the west, it more relational rather than task orientated.
Bargaining in Uganda: The bargaining ritual, if you are not with a tour group you have to bargain for a lot of things from transportation to souvenirs. Enjoy the ancient ritual and bring a sense of humor, it is actually a lot of fun.
Every Ugandan has a Cell phone - But... The use of the mobile phone is changing African Society...there are now five mobile phone providers in Uganda. In the capital of Kampala everyone seems to have a phone, but no airtime. This is a humorous look at the use of cell phones in Uganda.
Dead White Man’s Clothing Get a Second Life in Africa: In East African countries such as Uganda the second hand clothing market is simply huge. Most people cannot afford new clothing prices since they do not make a lot of money, so it is used clothing from Owino market, or from door to door vendor. Come to Kampala and you can see smartly dressed people, and yes, mostly from second hand clothing that gets a second chance in Africa.
Aids-The African Plague: AIDS in the 1990's was like the black plague of Europe. People were dying everywhere of the slimming disease. Most every family had members die, businesses restricted as to how many funerals an employee could attend. Thousands of children were orphaned. It was simply unbelievable.
Aids-The African Solution: What Uganda has done to combat Aids? Actually a lot with simple tools for the most par. A-B-C meaning Abstention - Be Faithful and Condoms. The fight against Aids is not over in Uganda, there has been a slight resurgence in new cases.
Africa - Uganda Travel Guide and Information: A complete total Travel Guide to Africa with Uganda as its focus. Travel Tips and Advice - Uganda Visa advice and where to buy it - Flying into Uganda information along with arrival and departure tips - Security and Safety tips in Uganda - Health Advice, Safari Tours, Mountain Gorilla Tracking, Chimpanzees, Birding, Mountain Climbing and more.
Uganda Safaris: Uganda is one of the best places in Africa to go on Safaris. A small country and yet bio-diverse in nature, almost twice the species of birds found in the USA yet Uganda is the size of Oregon. Game parks, lodging from budget to luxury, jungle, open savannas, mountains, volcanoes...simply awesome and off the beaten tourist track. One day, three day and 5 day or longer safaris with Kabiza Wilderness Safaris.
Maps Of Uganda: Here you will find several Maps of Uganda including the Parks. A map begins to illuminate the location of Uganda, what countries are around it and you can see the flow of the Nile through several lakes. There is also a map of the National Park of Uganda.
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Last updated: 27 June 2010
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