Day 17 - Goodbye Lira

The adventure is coming to an end.  We packed up and left with many hugs to the hotel  staff and drove to Oyam South for the last day with them.  I was presented with a small purse that had also been made by the local people living with AIDS group.  One of the requests from the SACCO was to explore the possibility of finding a Canadian credit union that might be willing to ‘twin’ with them. 

At one point in the day we were on a break and I asked them to sing the Ugandan national anthem for me and I sang the Canadian national anthem for them.  I’d never heard their anthem before and it was very touching to hear them signing it together.  Unfortunately I was the only one singing ours so I’m afraid my solo didn’t compare with their group effort.

Before leaving we had to do some shopping for things to take to Kampala and filled the vehicle with various produce.  The most interesting was a box with 4 live chickens which was in the back.  When I say a box I mean they were just sitting in a cardboard box with no cover on it.  I was concerned that they’d be flying around the car but they didn’t . 

Just before leaving we got a call that one of our group was on the road to Kampala ahead of us and had an accident.  The wheel came off their vehicle while they were driving; it apparently came off and went rolling down the highway.  They were unhurt but their vehicle was no longer drivable.  Some of them got picked up by a car in front of us and we stopped and got the rest on the way.  Seeing the vehicle it was almost a miracle they weren’t hurt and a real testament to the skill of the drivers we’re working with.

Everyone is back before us and in the restaurant having pizza and beer on the terrace so I can catch up with all their stories.  You’ve read some of my stories so just multiply them 6 times and you can get an idea of all that’s been happening to all of us on this trip. 

I have mixed feelings about leaving Lira.  On the one hand I’ll be glad to get home and on the other I have come to really appreciate the Ugandan people and their amazing hospitality.  They have so little and yet they appear to be happy and are always full of smiles.  We were advised that touching other than handshaking was not the custom here but I have to say that I’ve received many hugs from the women we’ve met.  They’re all asking when I’ll be back and I just say that they are in my heart and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to return to Uganda and to see them in Lira.