It has taken me a while to finally get a post up about my time in Uganda but today I've got the first post up! (I will be posting soon about the women of Musana, so stay tuned!). I wanted to share what the people of Uganda are like. I spent much of my time walking around the streets of Lugazi photographing people- some strangers, and some friends. I love these people. They made me feel like I was home. Everyone asks me how the culture shock was when I first got there, and I can honestly say I didn't have much culture shock. Because even though Uganda was so different from anything I have ever experienced, the people were the most friendly, loving and accepting people I had ever known.
These three kids became my buddies in Lugazi. I liked to explore down the street from the workshop some days and met this cute family. They would walk down to the workshop to say hi and ask me to come back to their house.
I saw this brother and sister skipping down the road holding hands on my way back from the rainforest in Mabira.
This man repairs and makes shoes every day right across from the Musana workshop in Lugazi.
School kids at the Lugazi Community Library (founded by Musana).
This adorable girl lives right across the street from the Musana workshop and as you can see, LOVES having her photo taken.
Working in the fields near the railroad tracks. We passed this way every day to get to the workshop
This woman sells bananas all throughout Lugazi, and I stopped her in the park for a photo.
This adorable baby girl was always sitting right outside the shop down the street from the workshop where I would buy Novida every day. (Novida is this AMAZING pineapple soda they have in Uganda).
Left: Mom and her baby that live near the workshop as well. Right: Son of the mom in the photo on the left- he really loved having a photo of himself. Its amazing how much they cherish photos there because most people don't have them.
Another mother and daughter that lived across the street from the workshop.
This woman lives down the street from the workshop in a little one room house with her family. She can't walk and has no teeth. I walked up to her and asked "How are you?" in her language. She was so happy and smiley.
I took a polaroid photo of her with her family. This is them looking at the photo. The woman had tears in her eyes and said "Thank you" and "God bless you" in her language. It was one of my favorite experiences. It's so humbling to see how little these people have, and how happy they are despite that. They are so grateful for everything they have.
These are some of the neighborhood kids that lived right outside of our gate. They were always playing outside in the yard.
One of our artisans walking home from the workshop with some friends.
These were our next door neighbors that lived within the gate. From left to right: Abigail, Emma, Jeshua and Daniel. Emma would always sit on our front porch in our doorway and just watch us. Apparently he found us very fascinating.
This is how the people in Uganda carry water from the well. This girl saw me taking a photo and started laughing. The structures in the background are homes and businesses.
These women are either sisters or best friends. But they were always together and lived right across the street from the workshop. One day they offered us some of what they were drinking out of that straw and we assumed it was soup or something. Nope, it was their local brew.
Another little boy who lived across the street from the Musana workshop.
This boy is carrying jackfruit- a fruit found in Uganda that is really sweet and pretty chewy.
We walked out past the sugar cane fields and explored and found the cutest community there. So of course I had to photograph some of the people there.
The neighborhood kids watching their friends play some soccer!
This is Francis and his wife Skovia with their two daughters and Skovia's mother. Francis and Skovia were baptized and I took this photo immediately after. They were glowing with happiness :)
This man..... oh my. He works down the street from the Musana workshop, and he was always trying to talk to us about American politics even though he hardly knew anything about it. We used to call him the crazy man. Because... well he's a little crazy.
Musana's very own Librarian. Nixon runs the community library in Lugazi and is one of the kindest happiest men I have had the pleasure of knowing.
This is at an "Introduction" which is a traditional Ugandan event. It is where the groom is presented to the friends and family of the bride. It is not an actual wedding but it is a much bigger even than a wedding. This is the groom being presented to the friends and family by the bride's aunt.
Two beautiful mothers carrying their daughters. Babies are always carried on their mothers backs like that.
On my nightly walk around Lugazi past the sugar cane fields I run into these kids who always ask me to take their photo. Some of the goofiest happiest kids I have met!