ie concepts

Today is the launch of my website: ie concepts...... still a work in progress

www.ieconcepts.ca

Happy Birthday Jason

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is 31 this year, the time has gone quickly, I'm so proud of him for his age he has done a lot of different things like making concrete sculptures like the Angel running big equipment, writing poetry and now he is retrofitting a big bus to be a mobile kitchen for his dad.

Out of Africa

I've arrived in Toronto from Uganda on the 4th of April, I spent 6 weeks in Uganda mostly in Kampala, and visiting the town of Kesese in the mountains for a couple of days, it was nice in the mountains as the city is very congested, something is always happening a city that never sleeps as some shops are open well past midnight to catch the people that are leaving the clubs.

And even in the early mornings people are on the move going to work going to school, walking, riding bikes ....Boda Boda's ( these are small motor bikes) and taxis that hold about 15 people( like mini bus) second cheapest way to get around with what appears to be hundreds all over the place then the personal cars for the ones who can afford them.
Boda Boda's are the cheapest of transport and the fastest way to get around the city as it appears they make their own rules and weave around the traffic in a crazy scary fashion, I never tried one, but was amazed at what they carry from multiple people ( I saw one with a child of maybe 7 in front of the driver a child of maybe 5 behind and the mother with baby in the back) to all sorts of things windshield boxes of products I even saw one carry another Boda Boda that had broken down.

Traffic jams are very common, the diesel vehicles stuck in a traffic Jam can make it hard to breath.
It can take a long time to get to where one is going even when it's a rather short distance.

People here are hard working doing, selling in every spot they can to make a living. little shops in what we would consider shacks are everywhere. They live in small houses also like shacks some without what we would consider essential services, maybe that's why they are always out and about.

We are spoiled in Canada with the services we have and the variety of food we have.
We very lucky that we have paid government services that we take for granted as the people of Uganda don't have the same benefits. they pay for school for their children, they pay for all medical services, the streets are a challenge with big pot holes everywhere.

But the people are friendly and respectfull of the visitors, they call you madam or sir at my age they called me Mama at times.

In all the starkness of the shacks and bad streets there are beautiful trees with flowers growing on them, colourful plants grow everywhere and the streets are swept everyday.

Around the city

Walking in the heat in Kampals

The walking around is hard here, one has to watch out for the Boda Boda's that don't follow any rules. Even though they exist but walking and riding during a tush hour or hours LOL is actually faster and cheaper I was tempted today to try the Boda Boda but chickened out at the last minute when I talked the taxi down to a reasonable rate