Time

16 days. We’ve been here in Uganda now for 16 days. As Christina and I did the math we had a tough time believing it had only been about 2 weeks. Surely it’s been longer then that, right? I don’t really know why it’s felt so much longer.

(I promise this time-tracking thing won’t last much longer.)

We’ve found ourselves trying to adjust to the pace here. When walking with our new Ugandan friends, we find we have to keep adjusting our pace or we end up walking alone in front of our friends. Handshakes are expected to linger a little long and greetings are crucial and not a thing to be rushed and must be extended to everyone within a half mile radius.

Maybe all these things contribute to the sense of time progressing differently then we’re used too.

Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish journalist/author who wrote about his time reporting from Africa during the independence era reflected on this time paradox in a way that I find incredibly accurate. In his book The Shadow of the Sun he writes:

“In the European (westerner) worldview, time exists outside of man, exists objectively, and has measurable and linear characteristics. …The European feels himself to be time’s slave… An unresolved conflict exists between man and time, one that always ends with man’s defeat.

Africans apprehend time differently. For them it is a much looser concept, more open, elastic, subjective. …  for time is made manifest through events, and whether an event takes place or not depends, after all, on man alone…. In practical terms, this means that if you go to a village where a meeting is scheduled for the afternoon but find no one at the appointed spot, asking, ‘when will the meeting take place?’ makes no sense. You know the answer: ‘It will take place when people come.’ “

I would not presume to say that one view is better or more “right” then the other. I think that elements of both can be healthy when balanced, but it causes tension for us, as we strive to live in the midst of one paradigm while struggling with our own bias toward the other.   

Enough of the existential discourse on time though, here’s what we’ve been up too.

(I won’t bullet point it this time and since I guess nobody got my doomsday clock reference to stress levels in my first post, I’ll avoid that sort of thing too.)

Our first week and a half was spent in Jinja, which will be our home base for a while, and consisted of the necessary work of beginning to get established. We made some important connections with people and places we will get to know well like a good mechanic named Moses, a couple good “super” markets, and a possible church where we connected with a pastor named Mike and his wife, Charity. We also spent considerable time just getting to know our way around town and getting comfortable with normal tasks like grocery shopping, banking, and paying for parking.  

Last Monday we left Jinja and drove up to a smaller town called Soroti. This is where my sister, Jennifer lives and we have been staying with her, which has been good. The kids are having fun here. Jennifer has something of a make-shift petting zoo going on here with 5 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs, a family of ducks, bunch of chickens, a one-eyed cat and a little dog, all of which, I imagine, will not be too sad to see us go as they’ve gotten a lot more attention then they’re used too or could ever want. As for me, I’ve been grateful for a chance to get my hands dirty with some vehicle work and a bunch of repair projects for my sister and others in her community.

We’re here primarily to wait out the national elections which took place on the 18^th. Because Jinja is a large town with a greater population density, there is a greater chance that unrest would escalate more quickly. We decided to be safe and headed up here to wait and see how things go.

Up to this point, most of the disruption has been confined mostly to Kampala and has been unruly and violent at times but hasn’t spread too much and hasn’t really been anything unexpected. The results are supposed to be announced today and so, if things are going to heat up, it will most likely start this evening. We’ll keep you posted but if you’re interested in more details, here’s a good link:

We plan to be here in Soroti until next Sunday the 28^th when we head back to Jinja and from there, on to Entebbe to pick up Marybeth and Meredith, Christina’s mom and sister, and to start moving into our new house!

We are well and healthy and feeling more and more comfortable with each new day. We are excited to be here and are looking forward to getting into the “work” that the Lord has in store for us. We know that this is all part of the process, and each new step is important and we are seeking His will and His way with each new phase. 

I guess that’s enough (more then enough really) for now.  

Until next time, grace and peace,

                        -Benj