A Day of Rights and Royalty...Plus Homemade Chapatti

The day began with me getting up at 7:15. We left for breakfast at MUBS, and once again it was toast for me. I'm definitely starting to fight a cold, and toast seemed completely appropriate.

Once we were done with breakfast, it was off to visit the Human Rights organization. It was really interesting. They are really underfunded, and they said sometimes it can be really hard to advocate for different rights. This is because the country is really Christian, and therefore, fighting for certain rights tends to clash with some of the country's religious beliefs and values. This is especially seen in the new fight for equality with homosexuals. It isn't going well right now, and the organization is really struggling on how to help without going against the beliefs of the country.

However, they also fight for a lot of other groups. They are also fighting for women and children, and they recently went to court for better rights for prisoners, especially with fighting the death penalty. It was an extremely interesting morning, and we got to learn a lot about some of the social issues plaguing Uganda. We also learned how the Inspector General of Government is viewed by those fighting for human rights. They often think that he targets the 'small fish' instead of going for the 'big fish' of corruption. They want them to go for the 'bigger fish' because that will lead to more discouragement of committing corruption, which is making fighting for some rights even harder.

Of course, while visiting the Human Rights organization, I got a bloody nose and had to leave for a little bit. Super embarrassing. This cold really isn't cooperating with me at all. Oh well, I'm fine, just working on getting over the sniffles, cough and sore throat.

(A picture of most of the group in front of the Human Rights Organization's building)

We had lunch at MUBS today, which consisted of chicken, rice and chapatti. Yummy. After lunch it was off to visit the Buganda Parliament. Buganda is one of the five districts in Uganda. It is then divided into 56 tribes. It was originally it's own area, and it had a king. The kingdom was no longer allowed to rule in 1966, but it was reestablished in 1993. There was a huge celebration in the Buganda kingdom when the King was restored to power. It is extremely hard for me to comprehend having a kingdom within a democracy, but they work together to make sure everything runs smoothly.

(My lunch)

All national rules apply, and the King often helps to enforce rule or new ideas by telling his people to do them. However, there is some conflict among the government and the Buganda kingdom since the government hasn't returned all of the original land that was part of the kingdom since it has been reinstated. They said they were working to overcome this conflict. We learned some fun facts about Buganda and Uganda too.

When we first arrived at the parliament some of the students on the trip had on sandals because we didn't pack a lot of different shoes. We learned that they did not allow sandals to enter in the parliament if they were rubber because those are thought to be used as shower shoes here. However, they were allowed to enter as long as they removed their shoes. Apparently entering barefoot was better than entering with rubber sandals. It was a little funny, but really frustrating as well.

(The Buganda Parliament is behind the statue, but the statue is of the current King when he was first put into power in 1993 after the long break.)

It was an early night, so we invited the MUBS students over, and they volunteered to help us learn to make chapatti. We spent the next few hours learning how to make what is probably my favorite dish here. It was a lot of fun. Sadly, I don't have pictures of it. I was busy learning how to make it, watching closely and taking notes. (Don't worry Mom, others got pictures instead.)

Then it was supper at Red Chili after the chapatti since it was more of an appetizer. I had a hamburger. It was not nearly as good as any hamburger that I have ever had at home. I'm definitely looking forward to some "American" food when I get home.

I apologize for the short post, but today we really didn't do a lot.

So until next time, I leave you with this...

(This trip is definitely wearing us down. So I had to capture Evelyn while she was catching some zzz's on the bus :)