Villages & Cities

By Simon Liley

On this trip we have visited several villages and cities. Because our destinations have mostly been planned programs like church services and meals at people’s homes, our best view into people’s day to day life came from our rides or walks to the destination. At the beginning of the trip we were challenged to make use of those rides by making observations.

By nature, my focus turns into observing infrastructure. When driving through any area that is even remotely developed you see shops lining the streets all selling the same thing. There is no diversity of products and everything costs the same. Every building for miles is painted with the same few colors with the same three cell companies. In fact, from Kampala, if you drive three hours north, every single building is still getting painted with the same three cell company ads.

When driving, so much of the constructed landscape is made up of half-constructed houses. Though I was observing the infrastructure the observations led to questions that gave insight into people’s lives. The different shops highlight a failing economy with no diversity.

The kids around every shop highlight the act that their shop is their only source of income while being surrounded by 30 other shops selling the exact same thing. But with a 60% unemployment rate, their only choice is to use the shop they went into debt to get. The logos on every building are a result of the fact that the owners have no money to paint their building so the cell companies offer to paint the building so they can include their ad.

The many homes that haven’t been finished are a result of people not having enough money to finish, so they add on slowly across the years in order to finish. There are so many observations to be made, but all highlight systemic oppression, a lack of education, and poverty that seems hopeless.

I’m thankful for our Bible studies that have done so well to frame what we are seeing with hope and a way of ordering chaos and creating change.

Note: This is a student reflection and not an approved view of why things are the way they are in a particular location. Students practice making observations and articulating their reflections.