Meet the girls who are changing their lives – and mine
One of the girls is named Betty. She could pass for a teenager, but she’s actually 28 years old and has five children. One of the girls is named Ramula. We call her Lumla, and she is so shy that if you look at her and smile, she just giggles and turns away. Shamira is beautiful, truly beautiful. But she is timid, insecure, and self-conscious, because throughout her life, the people closest to her kept telling her how ugly she [...]
A Lesson from Star Trek
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” Die-hard Star Trek fans will remember that line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s what Spock tells Kirk after exposing himself to deadly radiation while repairing the damaged Starship Enterprise in order to save the ship and the rest of the crew. The flip side comes in the next Star Trek movie, when Kirk and crew violate orders so they can find and [...]
Learning and relearning fills the time in Uganda
Some of the things I learned during this trip to Uganda: How to say “How are you?” “I’m fine,” and “Thank you” in Luo, the language of the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda; What crocodile meat tastes like (better than boiled goat, in my opinion, but not as good as an ostrich burger); That wading in the Nile River is both humbling and refreshing; That a puppet waving from a bus window can make even stoic police and armed guards [...]
UGANDA TIME
Note: While I'm in Uganda, the Chanhassen Villager is publishing excerpts from my upcoming book about my first trip to Uganda, in October, 2011. Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 8:10 a.m. I really am getting used to Uganda time. By that I don’t mean that my body has finally recovered from jet lag and gotten used to the 8-hour time difference – although it has. Instead I mean that my mind is getting used to the Ugandan way of life. None [...]
That’s Entertainment!
Note: While I am in Uganda, the Chanhassen Villager is publishing excerpts from my upcoming book about my first trip to Uganda, in October, 2011. Sunday, October 16, 2011 5:45 p.m. I wish I could capture the sound of the music and the feel of this moment. There’s a light, cool breeze. It’s early evening, and we’re in a lovely outdoor arena, seated at colorfully-covered tables nestled up into the hills like seats in a theatre. Which is exactly what [...]
Landing in Africa
Editor’s Note: Betty Liedtke is in Uganda. While she is gone, we are publishing excerpts from her upcoming book about her first trip to Uganda, in October, 2011. Tuesday Evening, October 11, 2011 I am in Africa! It doesn’t quite feel like it yet, because I haven’t actually gotten off the plane. Our Amsterdam to Entebbe flight included another stop – in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. That’s where we are now. It’s just a short stop, under an hour, [...]