9/12/09 - Heart of David performance and errands

Driving in Kampala today was easy - I am told that it is never like this, but, due to the riots, we sail through the city to all of our destinations. We drop Jessica and Stephanie at the National Theater to get ready for the Heart of David performance that evening, and eat at an Indian restaurant across the street. I have never been a big fan of Indian food, but the Chaat House was EXCELLENT. Nice surprise! We went to the market at the theater, not wanting to risk the Buganda market with the chaos still going on in pockets around town, and found our first souveniers. The stall owners were nervous, because there had been very little custom since Thursday... if your livelihood involves selling a lot of 4000 shilling ($2) necklaces, no custom means no food. We also went to a store called Banana Boat which carries Ugandan items of a little higher quality, and to Game, a department store akin to Walmart on a much smaller scale. We purchased some Diet Coke, very hard to find! And in cans, so we didn't have to drink it on site - if you get a bottle of soda anywhere, you have to drink it and leave the bottle there, which is a little inconvenient!

Last evening Katie brought home a 3 1/2 month old Ugandan baby boy named Mark. He is smaller than my children were at birth, and obviously very sick and malnourished. His mother died in childbirth and his father gave him to an "auntie" to raise. (Ugandan men "do not" raise children, apparently.) The auntie has obviously neglected him, and he is near death. Today Katie and Page took him to IHK (International Hospital of Kampala). He has pneumonia, a viral infection, anemia, and is malnourished. Home with lots of meds... The doctor said he would have died by week's end had Katie not brought him home. He is 4 days older than her baby, and 1/3 the size. You can hear him breathing in the next room... It is beyond tragic.

We went to the performance by Heart of David in the evening, which was a blast. It was a worship concert, with a dance group doing a few dances. They sang English worship songs, and then a half dozen or so African ones at the end - everyone was up and dancing! It was a blast, and a huge blessing. (Because of the riots, there weren't a lot of people there this night, but there were about 200 the next.) A great group of young people!