Just a quick update for all of the people I owe emails to but haven't gotten around to -- this week (especially the last couple of days) has been veeeery busy.
This was the last week of the Question Box pilot for one (well, with Monday as a grace period), and there's been some confusion surrounding that for a variety of reasons, including a lot of key players being out of the country and hard to reach at the same time.
Also, Appfrica's in the process of moving to a new office -- incidentally located in the same building I just moved to. So that's involved a certain amount of going back and forth, packing things, moving things, etc.
And finally, a friend of mine here just got married yesterday, as I mentioned, but wasn't going -- it was to be a very small, private affair, which it was. At any rate, on Thursday (!) they asked me to photograph it. In a lucky coincidence, Jon had recently (mere days before) bought a rather nice Olympus DSLR from a guy we knew who had been traveling through. I borrowed it and the results were actually quite good. Much more convenient than my film one, as far as distributing the pictures and everything. Also, the total unavailability of ISO 800+ film in this country would have made film quite challenging without a flash. Anyway, it was nice to be involved, and I think the pictures turned out very well; they haven't seen all of them yet, but I'll have a CD waiting for them upon their return.
Anyway, it's all been very exhausting, and today I've done very little (except walk the perhaps ten minutes each way to get a baguette and some camembert for myself and my flatmate -- well worth the exertion, I assure you), and haven't even been on my computer until now.
Tomorrow I'll get more done, and get through my email backlog.
One last thing: Go Bears! Beat the Terps! The first Cal game of the season is tonight, at 5am my time. Ugh. Don't think I'll be watching it. But I'm still excited for it, and for everybody getting ready for their first shows of the season, and especially those about to do their first show at all in Cal Band. It had better be on Youtube now now! [to use the Ugandan expression that means actually soon; a single now means more of 'in the foreseeable future' than 'in a short and measurable length of time,' as in: "I am on my way, I'm coming now," meaning in an hour, versus "I'm coming now now," meaning in perhaps fifteen minutes.]
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Nice outing to Ssissa
Today I got to go on a bit of an adventure with my new flatmate and two of my other friends here (one of whom's flats is also nice -- if not quite as exciting as this one -- and has a very inexpensive vacancy that'd probably be my first choice were I making a longer return).
Anyone, the other (from whom I'm subletting now, actually) is getting a quiet civil marriage at the end of this week (!), and is planning their party which will be in a month or so (alas, after I've returned to the States), and wanted to check out this potential venue for it. Her fiancé is still out of the country (until Tuesday, I think?) for work, so he couldn't come, which is too bad. He's Ugandan and does refugee law work, and she was doing research work and coordinating local research being done for US academics (but currently looking for a job, I believe). Needless to say, they're both really, really smart.
The place is a little ways (maybe 20km) outside of Kampala on the road to Entebbe, so not all that far, but all told the trip took about an hour there. It's this sort of lodge place (with a shooting range, of all things) up on a hill facing the lake -- a really, very beautiful place.
You wouldn't know you're so close to the city -- it, and the road to it, felt nearly as remote as the farms I visited in Mbale for work. There's very little in the way of visible construction between it and the lake, too. The vistas are absolutely stunning, and the whole place was just really nice and just being there for a couple of hours was a wonderful contrast to the noise and intensity of the city.
I've got some great pictures from it that I'll post up next time I'm on a connection that's sufficient for that sort of thing. I'll add a link.
Anyway, I think they're going to have it there, she really liked it a lot, and so did all of the rest of us who came, and it sounded pretty shockingly inexpensive. There are also a few cabins around it so I think some of the better friends will stay there a day or so.
At any rate, it's nothing all that exciting to report, but it was a very nice outing; fun and quite relaxing. Definitely a nice change.
And I'm very jealous I won't be able to make it to their reception thing there.
Anyone, the other (from whom I'm subletting now, actually) is getting a quiet civil marriage at the end of this week (!), and is planning their party which will be in a month or so (alas, after I've returned to the States), and wanted to check out this potential venue for it. Her fiancé is still out of the country (until Tuesday, I think?) for work, so he couldn't come, which is too bad. He's Ugandan and does refugee law work, and she was doing research work and coordinating local research being done for US academics (but currently looking for a job, I believe). Needless to say, they're both really, really smart.
The place is a little ways (maybe 20km) outside of Kampala on the road to Entebbe, so not all that far, but all told the trip took about an hour there. It's this sort of lodge place (with a shooting range, of all things) up on a hill facing the lake -- a really, very beautiful place.
You wouldn't know you're so close to the city -- it, and the road to it, felt nearly as remote as the farms I visited in Mbale for work. There's very little in the way of visible construction between it and the lake, too. The vistas are absolutely stunning, and the whole place was just really nice and just being there for a couple of hours was a wonderful contrast to the noise and intensity of the city.
I've got some great pictures from it that I'll post up next time I'm on a connection that's sufficient for that sort of thing. I'll add a link.
Anyway, I think they're going to have it there, she really liked it a lot, and so did all of the rest of us who came, and it sounded pretty shockingly inexpensive. There are also a few cabins around it so I think some of the better friends will stay there a day or so.
At any rate, it's nothing all that exciting to report, but it was a very nice outing; fun and quite relaxing. Definitely a nice change.
And I'm very jealous I won't be able to make it to their reception thing there.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
New Apartment
I've just "shifted" (as they say here) into a new apartment.
I'd written another post about the trouble I had with my other landlord over it, but didn't have a chance to post it. As is I'll just summarize that (especially as it's now been resolved). Anyway, back to the place itself.
It's in Nakawa, which is where I walk about half an hour now to get a taxi to work, so it'll cut my commute in half or more. And that I still have the steep walk up the hill at the end means I'll still get some exercise, if perhaps not enough. But now I'm close enough that I could walk the whole way, or some of it and get a taxi part way, for the exercise, too, in less time.
It's also rather nice and quite spacious. It's a bit more space than I really know what to do with -- my room in it's quite big. It also has a living room and more of a real kitchen than my tiny place before had.
Now, my old place was quite nice -- it was cozy and relatively nicely furnished (so is this) and in a nice compound with a courtyard and lawn and such. But it was quite far from my work (and most other things). This is at the top of a large building with a variety of businesses (including a good grocery store) below.
So living here for my last few weeks will definitely save me time, likely encourage me to eat better, and is a nice change. Also, the old place was in a relatively deserted (in terms of the streets) and visibly rich area, which made me a little wary at times (especially when the power was out -- the roads could be quite dark). Speaking of the power, it also failed more there than I get the sense is quite standard.
All in all, this is a nice change. The white noise of the road is nice for a change. Also, I gather that (likely because of being on the 5th floor) mosquitos don't really make it up here. Even with a net and burning a mosquito coil on my porch my place got kind of a lot of mosquitos. And mentioning my porch reminds me, this place has a big balcony off of the living room as well as a smaller one for each bedroom. They've got very good views. I'll post pictures of the place and the views shortly.
Another thing that I like better about this is that it's with someone else, which I actually miss. Now, granted she's German and works all the time, so I probably won't see all that much of her, but she's nice and I know her and she seems like a good roommate, and just living around people is nice. Living alone's nice when you're near people (like last summer at my, Carter, and Jon's apartment, right near TH, or even in summer TH [Tellefsen Hall, the Cal Band house]), but when you're far away from people you know it's not as good; getting home from work knowing it was my last human contact wasn't always pleasant. So this will be a nice change.
And then, finally, is Rolex. Rolex is the cat who lives at the apartment. It's been almost exactly four years since I've lived with a cat (since I left for school) and even then, in the lengthy reconstruction following a fire in our house, the cats had been at the house while we'd been living in an apartment. So I haven't lived properly with cats for a long time (except visits home). I'm pretty excited (although granted it is also only like three and a half weeks).
Briefly, regarding my old landlord, he demanded I pay more for moving out with short notice. Now it was short notice -- about a week. BUT, based on what all of my Ugandan friends have said, that's completely normal here. If you pay for two months (which I did), you're free to leave at the end of it (without saying anything at all ahead of time). So, while I felt a bit badly about it, I also feel like he was taking advantage of my not knowing that's standard practice here. And there was, of course, never any lease or any sort of written or verbal agreement about that (or anything else, for that matter).
In any event, I was able to talk him down to 50,000/= from the original and totally unreasonable 100,000/= he asked for, and felt it was a partial victory. As it is I'm still saving money by moving. This morning his wife tried to ask for more money for cleaning it, too -- for one, the amount they charge for cleaning is unreasonably high, and second, I had already paid them more than the cost of cleaning extra for nothing. And she made the mistake of letting slip they'd already found somebody for it, which was how her husband justified charging me, for the delay before they found somebody. I told her the extra money I'd already paid that I didn't owe more than covered the cleaning costs, and she actually accepted that (rather unexpectedly).
Anyway, it was frustrating, and not particularly reasonable, but worked out OK -- it neither required a particularly serious or difficult confrontation nor ultimately really cost me anything I wouldn't have paid otherwise.
And now I'm quite happily composing this from my new and very comfortable living room, and I think I might head downstairs for some fresh vegetables in a few minutes.
I'd written another post about the trouble I had with my other landlord over it, but didn't have a chance to post it. As is I'll just summarize that (especially as it's now been resolved). Anyway, back to the place itself.
It's in Nakawa, which is where I walk about half an hour now to get a taxi to work, so it'll cut my commute in half or more. And that I still have the steep walk up the hill at the end means I'll still get some exercise, if perhaps not enough. But now I'm close enough that I could walk the whole way, or some of it and get a taxi part way, for the exercise, too, in less time.
It's also rather nice and quite spacious. It's a bit more space than I really know what to do with -- my room in it's quite big. It also has a living room and more of a real kitchen than my tiny place before had.
Now, my old place was quite nice -- it was cozy and relatively nicely furnished (so is this) and in a nice compound with a courtyard and lawn and such. But it was quite far from my work (and most other things). This is at the top of a large building with a variety of businesses (including a good grocery store) below.
So living here for my last few weeks will definitely save me time, likely encourage me to eat better, and is a nice change. Also, the old place was in a relatively deserted (in terms of the streets) and visibly rich area, which made me a little wary at times (especially when the power was out -- the roads could be quite dark). Speaking of the power, it also failed more there than I get the sense is quite standard.
All in all, this is a nice change. The white noise of the road is nice for a change. Also, I gather that (likely because of being on the 5th floor) mosquitos don't really make it up here. Even with a net and burning a mosquito coil on my porch my place got kind of a lot of mosquitos. And mentioning my porch reminds me, this place has a big balcony off of the living room as well as a smaller one for each bedroom. They've got very good views. I'll post pictures of the place and the views shortly.
Another thing that I like better about this is that it's with someone else, which I actually miss. Now, granted she's German and works all the time, so I probably won't see all that much of her, but she's nice and I know her and she seems like a good roommate, and just living around people is nice. Living alone's nice when you're near people (like last summer at my, Carter, and Jon's apartment, right near TH, or even in summer TH [Tellefsen Hall, the Cal Band house]), but when you're far away from people you know it's not as good; getting home from work knowing it was my last human contact wasn't always pleasant. So this will be a nice change.
And then, finally, is Rolex. Rolex is the cat who lives at the apartment. It's been almost exactly four years since I've lived with a cat (since I left for school) and even then, in the lengthy reconstruction following a fire in our house, the cats had been at the house while we'd been living in an apartment. So I haven't lived properly with cats for a long time (except visits home). I'm pretty excited (although granted it is also only like three and a half weeks).
Briefly, regarding my old landlord, he demanded I pay more for moving out with short notice. Now it was short notice -- about a week. BUT, based on what all of my Ugandan friends have said, that's completely normal here. If you pay for two months (which I did), you're free to leave at the end of it (without saying anything at all ahead of time). So, while I felt a bit badly about it, I also feel like he was taking advantage of my not knowing that's standard practice here. And there was, of course, never any lease or any sort of written or verbal agreement about that (or anything else, for that matter).
In any event, I was able to talk him down to 50,000/= from the original and totally unreasonable 100,000/= he asked for, and felt it was a partial victory. As it is I'm still saving money by moving. This morning his wife tried to ask for more money for cleaning it, too -- for one, the amount they charge for cleaning is unreasonably high, and second, I had already paid them more than the cost of cleaning extra for nothing. And she made the mistake of letting slip they'd already found somebody for it, which was how her husband justified charging me, for the delay before they found somebody. I told her the extra money I'd already paid that I didn't owe more than covered the cleaning costs, and she actually accepted that (rather unexpectedly).
Anyway, it was frustrating, and not particularly reasonable, but worked out OK -- it neither required a particularly serious or difficult confrontation nor ultimately really cost me anything I wouldn't have paid otherwise.
And now I'm quite happily composing this from my new and very comfortable living room, and I think I might head downstairs for some fresh vegetables in a few minutes.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Uganda's total ban on used computers
Yes, you've read that correctly. The Ugandan government has completely banned all imports of used computers into the country.
This is ostensibly to curb the accumulation of e-waste, which is admittedly a major problem in many parts of the world, and the government does not want to become a dumping ground for discarded electronics. This is a valid point, and there are certainly many accounts of electronics being brought to developing nations to be sold second-hand, and then discovered to be nonfunctional and dumped.
The dumping and accumulation of e-waste can have disastrous environmental and health consequences, given the high concentrations of toxic (and often valuable) chemicals, encouraging the very poor to (e.g.) burn electronic components to extract valuable metals at the expense of extremely toxic emissions into the air, soil, water, and themselves.
This is a known and serious problem, and one it is reasonable for a state to wish to avoid.
BUT...
New computers are also very, very expensive. Used ones are perfectly capable for basic administrative and internet use, and they are much cheaper. Furthermore, if a well-maintained used computer can last as long (or even nearly as long) as a similar new one, then at the ends of their respective lives, the contribution to e-waste will be essentially identical.
That's the problem with this ban–it's total. It prevents all importers of used computers from doing business. This includes responsible organizations that take very good care to make sure their machines are working, immediately useful, and long-lived. Some go as far as to provide open source software, training, and guaranteed responsible recycling at end-of-life as part of the (low) cost of the machines.
This hardly sounds like the type of dumping the government is trying to prevent, and it needs to realize that a comprehensive ban like this can't help but hurt the country's small but growing IT sector.
In addition to charitable organizations, I can't believe that all of the computer shops on Bombo road, with their shiny, million-shilling laptops and desktops, aren't also engaging in a thriving trade in used machines. And I've never been to an internet cafe that looks like its machines were bought new here.
Therefore, since this is a (little-read) personal blog, is unaffiliated with any organization, and reflects no one's views but my own, I will say what (understandably) no one closer to this can or should, if they happened to feel that way as well: this policy is absurd and will hurt ICT in Uganda.
So, don't deport me, though, ok...?
See stories about the issue from the Monitor here (via AllAfrica), I-Network here, and the Industry Standard (reprinted from Computerworld Kenya) here.
This is ostensibly to curb the accumulation of e-waste, which is admittedly a major problem in many parts of the world, and the government does not want to become a dumping ground for discarded electronics. This is a valid point, and there are certainly many accounts of electronics being brought to developing nations to be sold second-hand, and then discovered to be nonfunctional and dumped.
The dumping and accumulation of e-waste can have disastrous environmental and health consequences, given the high concentrations of toxic (and often valuable) chemicals, encouraging the very poor to (e.g.) burn electronic components to extract valuable metals at the expense of extremely toxic emissions into the air, soil, water, and themselves.
This is a known and serious problem, and one it is reasonable for a state to wish to avoid.
BUT...
New computers are also very, very expensive. Used ones are perfectly capable for basic administrative and internet use, and they are much cheaper. Furthermore, if a well-maintained used computer can last as long (or even nearly as long) as a similar new one, then at the ends of their respective lives, the contribution to e-waste will be essentially identical.
That's the problem with this ban–it's total. It prevents all importers of used computers from doing business. This includes responsible organizations that take very good care to make sure their machines are working, immediately useful, and long-lived. Some go as far as to provide open source software, training, and guaranteed responsible recycling at end-of-life as part of the (low) cost of the machines.
This hardly sounds like the type of dumping the government is trying to prevent, and it needs to realize that a comprehensive ban like this can't help but hurt the country's small but growing IT sector.
In addition to charitable organizations, I can't believe that all of the computer shops on Bombo road, with their shiny, million-shilling laptops and desktops, aren't also engaging in a thriving trade in used machines. And I've never been to an internet cafe that looks like its machines were bought new here.
Therefore, since this is a (little-read) personal blog, is unaffiliated with any organization, and reflects no one's views but my own, I will say what (understandably) no one closer to this can or should, if they happened to feel that way as well: this policy is absurd and will hurt ICT in Uganda.
So, don't deport me, though, ok...?
See stories about the issue from the Monitor here (via AllAfrica), I-Network here, and the Industry Standard (reprinted from Computerworld Kenya) here.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Kampala digerati meetup
This weekend there was something of a meetup of the Kampala "digerati" (digerati |dijəˈrätē| plural noun: people with expertise or professional involvement in information technology. Origin 1990s: blend of digital and literati.) at the monthly Kampala Linux User Group (LUG) meetup. This included many passionate Linux and Open Source users and its organizers, who, as I understand it run a couple of web-hosting companies. Very cool, interesting people, with a lot to say (very little of it complementary...) about the state of ISPs in Uganda, the UCC's (Uganda Communications Commission) running of the country's Internet Exchange (IX), which is evidently located in their building's basement/parking garage, on the level where the vehicles are washed. It's dusty, humid, and ill-maintained–not all that unlike a lot of things here, but a pretty crucial part of the country's communications infrastructure.
Additionally, we were told that much of the country's fibre infrastructure is laid approximately 20cm below the surface, as opposed to the recommend 1m.
So that was all quite informative, and we had a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation about these local issues to broader issues of Internet governance.
But the real stars of the show, the people I was most excited to meet, were Erik Hersman and TMS Ruge. Erik was born in Kenya but is now based in the US, and writes the tech-oriented blog WhiteAfrican and founded and writes/edits for AfriGadget. Both are excellent and are must-reads for anyone interested in technological innovation (and not exclusively information technology) in Africa.
He's also very involved in the FLAP bag project, which is a durable messenger-style bag produced by San Francisco-based Timbuk2 with a solar panel integrated into the flap. This isn't a totally new idea, but one designed for the rigors of the developing world is.
TMS Ruge ("Teddy") is one of the co-founders of Project Diaspora, an attempt to channel the success and relative wealth of the African diaspora into meaningful development in Africa. He's also a brilliant photographer and journalist, and seems like a really nice guy. The other co-founder, Tracy Pell, was there too, and has been traveling with Teddy. I hadn't really known of her before, except from the Project Diaspora blog (which I don't read as regularly as many) but she's also very interesting and it was great to meet her as well. Her non-development day job didn't sound very generous with time off, and she was very excited to be able to come to Africa (it was her first time here).
All in all it was a great experience to get to brush elbows with some people who are very respected and influential in this space, and who are experimenting with some really neat stuff.
In other news, I'm sorry it's been so long since I've had much to say here, but it's been busy. Mainly I've been concerned with developing a training manual for other people training future Question Box operators. A number of friends of mine's birthdays were this and last weekend, and one of my best friends here is just leaving for the States, and a few others are preparing to. It's all added up to be a hectic couple of weeks.
Additionally, we were told that much of the country's fibre infrastructure is laid approximately 20cm below the surface, as opposed to the recommend 1m.
So that was all quite informative, and we had a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation about these local issues to broader issues of Internet governance.
But the real stars of the show, the people I was most excited to meet, were Erik Hersman and TMS Ruge. Erik was born in Kenya but is now based in the US, and writes the tech-oriented blog WhiteAfrican and founded and writes/edits for AfriGadget. Both are excellent and are must-reads for anyone interested in technological innovation (and not exclusively information technology) in Africa.
He's also very involved in the FLAP bag project, which is a durable messenger-style bag produced by San Francisco-based Timbuk2 with a solar panel integrated into the flap. This isn't a totally new idea, but one designed for the rigors of the developing world is.
TMS Ruge ("Teddy") is one of the co-founders of Project Diaspora, an attempt to channel the success and relative wealth of the African diaspora into meaningful development in Africa. He's also a brilliant photographer and journalist, and seems like a really nice guy. The other co-founder, Tracy Pell, was there too, and has been traveling with Teddy. I hadn't really known of her before, except from the Project Diaspora blog (which I don't read as regularly as many) but she's also very interesting and it was great to meet her as well. Her non-development day job didn't sound very generous with time off, and she was very excited to be able to come to Africa (it was her first time here).
All in all it was a great experience to get to brush elbows with some people who are very respected and influential in this space, and who are experimenting with some really neat stuff.
In other news, I'm sorry it's been so long since I've had much to say here, but it's been busy. Mainly I've been concerned with developing a training manual for other people training future Question Box operators. A number of friends of mine's birthdays were this and last weekend, and one of my best friends here is just leaving for the States, and a few others are preparing to. It's all added up to be a hectic couple of weeks.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Typography update
Unsurprisingly (it is Google, after all) the Blogger platform on which this blog is hosted is smarter than I am, and looking back at previous posts I see that it's been correcting my stupid double-space-after-periods habit all along.
And I bet those of you (you know who you are) who said it looks better with two didn't even notice, since this is written in a kerned font, and the period already creates the larger white space your eyes are looking for. I certainly didn't. (Note also that I'm almost certain this is the standard in print publishing, as well, and has been for a long time).
But yeah, now I really don't have a reason to stop it (and can even justify it to an extent since I often draft these posts in monospaced text), and will therefore worry even less about it since it gets fixed on its own thanks to Google's magic before it reaches the interwebs. Admittedly, when I'm writing documents for public consumption, which I'm typically not, I suppose I should make more a point to do that find-and-replace as part of my final proofing, though.
And I bet those of you (you know who you are) who said it looks better with two didn't even notice, since this is written in a kerned font, and the period already creates the larger white space your eyes are looking for. I certainly didn't. (Note also that I'm almost certain this is the standard in print publishing, as well, and has been for a long time).
But yeah, now I really don't have a reason to stop it (and can even justify it to an extent since I often draft these posts in monospaced text), and will therefore worry even less about it since it gets fixed on its own thanks to Google's magic before it reaches the interwebs. Admittedly, when I'm writing documents for public consumption, which I'm typically not, I suppose I should make more a point to do that find-and-replace as part of my final proofing, though.
Interesting sight walking home Friday afternoon...
I really wish I could've taken a picture of this, but 1) don't want to tempt fate when armed people are involved, and 2) everyone walks so much slower than I do here that dropping back enough to do it inconspicuously would've been really hard.
But anyway, walking down the street in front of me, having gotten off of a big truck, was a group of maybe five or seven guards. They weren't police, must've been a private security company (Ugandan rent-a-cops, I guess), probably guards for rich houses/compounds going on for the night shift, and got dropped in a group to walk to their respective places.
Anyway, so just kind of idly looking at one, noticing their guns and so forth, and then I see one of them is holding hands with another. Better yet, he's just holding onto the other one's pinky. It was cute, I dare say (though I certainly wouldn't have dared say so to them). And then shortly thereafter those two and one on their right were all three holding hands in a row. The one on the right had an AK-47 slung on his other shoulder.
I really wish I could've taken a picture of it and then captioned it something about how the US military could learn a thing or two...
Although, of course, in truth it was just a casual friendly thing. I haven't noticed it often but I have seen it before. And it's important to note that Uganda is, I gather, a country that is by and large extremely homophobic. For instance, I've heard talk of a law that would ban any and all discussion of homosexuality. Not exactly the first step toward anything better. Anyway, I can't say I really know a great deal about the state of the issue here, except that it's really quite bad, and I don't have a great deal of exposure to local news, so most of what I know is from the Ugandans who hang out at La Fontaine.
The point of the story was just the amusing anecdote about the three big tough armed guys in military garb walking along all holding hands. Alas, I don't have a picture to prove it, though.
But anyway, walking down the street in front of me, having gotten off of a big truck, was a group of maybe five or seven guards. They weren't police, must've been a private security company (Ugandan rent-a-cops, I guess), probably guards for rich houses/compounds going on for the night shift, and got dropped in a group to walk to their respective places.
Anyway, so just kind of idly looking at one, noticing their guns and so forth, and then I see one of them is holding hands with another. Better yet, he's just holding onto the other one's pinky. It was cute, I dare say (though I certainly wouldn't have dared say so to them). And then shortly thereafter those two and one on their right were all three holding hands in a row. The one on the right had an AK-47 slung on his other shoulder.
I really wish I could've taken a picture of it and then captioned it something about how the US military could learn a thing or two...
Although, of course, in truth it was just a casual friendly thing. I haven't noticed it often but I have seen it before. And it's important to note that Uganda is, I gather, a country that is by and large extremely homophobic. For instance, I've heard talk of a law that would ban any and all discussion of homosexuality. Not exactly the first step toward anything better. Anyway, I can't say I really know a great deal about the state of the issue here, except that it's really quite bad, and I don't have a great deal of exposure to local news, so most of what I know is from the Ugandans who hang out at La Fontaine.
The point of the story was just the amusing anecdote about the three big tough armed guys in military garb walking along all holding hands. Alas, I don't have a picture to prove it, though.
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