I Spy .....

I spy with my little eye…..

Mounds of fruit and veggie pyramids lining the roadside, an open back truck filled with long horned cattle and several handlers suspended on the overhead rails, meteor sized pot holes, mommas with little ones slung to their backs, corner gardens growing maize, yams and a harvest of veggies for the families tilling the ground, and people walking.

Varieties of birds, butterflies and dragon flies swooping through the air, monkeys playing in the trees, men trimming grass by swinging pangas, bodas with one, two, or three passengers, buses that say “Jesus is Alive” on the back, a man hawking windshield wipers, a woman hawking grapes, a man hawking car chargers, a woman hawking garlic, and more people walking.

A bike rider carrying 10-foot boards sideways, a man selling live turkeys, a woman selling chapati, another woman sitting near a small fire roasting maize on the cob, a roadside shoe repair guy, a kiosk with a woman selling airtime for your phone, a guard at the gate of my friend’s house, open back pick-ups with bench seats and camo-clad military men carrying large machine guns, and more people walking.

A truckful of pigs going to slaughter, five-foot high piles of goods wrapped in canvas ready to be spread for tomorrow’s market, a man selling the local papers, children with babies on their backs begging for food, taxi vans filled to capacity (14 people) weaving in and out of traffic, men hawking roach and ant killer, woman hawking bags of toilet paper, and more people walking.

Traffic officers who have never driven directing traffic, men walking along the road carrying rifles and machine guns, a woman who cleans out the roadside water ditch, women who sweep the streets with handmade brooms, a taxi with a coffin strapped to the top, bodas and bikes mounded with bundles of banana leaves, and more people walking.

A young man scurrying between traffic carrying a 4 ft mop handle to lead a blind family member along, a truck piled with garbage and six workers riding atop while eating lunch, a white taxi with dozens of live chickens strapped on the roof, men hawking suit jackets, another selling dress shirts and another selling briefcases to drivers waiting at traffic lights, and lots of people walking

A guy wearing a “Washington Athletic Club” tank top, a child wearing a “SMU Mustangs” t-shirt, babies bundled in fleece onesies with thick stocking caps in the 85-degree heat, students wearing colorful uniforms walking in groups to and from school, a woman sitting on a blue tarp selling used clothing, a small roadside pop-up restaurant with women selling homemade rolex (Uganda’s version of burrito), goats roaming the streets, and more people walking.

Low wage laborers who toil tirelessly to provide for their families, human ingenuity to fix and reuse almost anything, beautiful views of Lake Victoria, trees heavy laden with massive jackfruits, papayas, bananas and mangos, wild poinsettia bushes, green hills, women wearing colorful Kitenge wraps, children giggling and playing together outside our apartment window, and more people walking.

The guard at the ATM who knows my name and we talk about our kids, Kristina and Charles at the post office who asked me for lunch, Patrick - who washes my car weekly, Paul – the roadside preacher across from the Total station, Geoffrey - who sweeps our apartment common areas daily with a big palm branch, and more people walking.

Young Life staff who work sacrificially to serve their communities and make their villages better, my women's Bible study group who challenge and encourage me, expat friends who have served all over the world and share their rich lives, and my husband and his team who fight for justice for incarcerated East Africans …. who are now walking to freedom.