First day in Uganda

SixSeeds friend Andy Mills has created "The 5810 Project," predicated on the belief that while “teaching a man to fish” will provide him with a fish diet for a lifetime, it will not lead him out of poverty. To escape poverty people need to develop sustainable business activities. The 5810 Project’s vision is to help people build businesses and break the poverty cycle in Uganda. SixSeeds will be posting portions of blogs from our friends as they go through this journey.

Yesterday was the first day of our trip to Uganda, which will incorporate stays in Entebbe, Arua, and finally Kampala. For Ted and DJ, it is their first time in Africa, whereas this is Andy’s fourth time. We are coming to help promote economic growth in the west Nile (the region we are in) and to help encourage our friends in their business and spiritual lives. We were very thankful that we were able to arrive in Entebbe on time, as we only had a one hour and fifty minute layover in London’s Heathrow Airport, and if we had missed the flight to Entebbe, we would not have arrived in Arua for two days because of flight times. Also, Ted’s flight to Boston had gotten all messed up, and he had ended up flying into New York from Philadelphia and driving to Boston, arriving at Logan at 6 AM for the flight and getting no sleep. Thankfully, our driver, Dennis, from our hotel in Entebbe, was even at the airport when we arrived.

That afternoon, Dennis drove us to the zoo in Entebbe and we were able to see all of the animals; crocodiles, cranes, lions, white rhinoceroses, warthogs, snakes, etc.  However, the best animals (especially for DJ) were the wild monkeys. We were within an arm’s length of some of the hundred monkeys running around the zoo. One of the monkeys even jumped at Ted after he got too friendly with it.

Then, Ted and DJ, suffering from a bit of jet-lag, had to take naps. After the naps, we went on a walk through Entebbe, seeing and greeting the people. Whenever we walked by a house, the kids playing in their yards would yell, “Muzungu!” or “White people!” as they ran up to us to give us high-fives.

Then, as we were walking back to the hotel for dinner, we were able to sit in on the last part of a mid-week church service going on in a huge unfinished building. After the service, we were told that the building could seat up to 8,00 people! After Dinner at the hotel, Andy then Ted then DJ finally got to sleep after a long day.

During this trip, we really want to give fully of ourselves to others. We don’t want this trip to be about us. We don’t want the business seminar in Arua to be about us, to show how smart we are. We want the seminar to bless, educate, and help the business people attending.  Stay tuned.