We are in Kampala for Denise's court case to gain Legal Guardianship. We've had a great time! Our lawyers thought that the judge might like to see that we've done a few things to learn about Ugandan culture and history, so we came a day early to be "tourists for a day." We only brought the big kids (the little kids stayed home with our MA) so it's been fun to be able to move at a big kid pace. The court went very well...far better than we expected it to. So we praise God and give thanks to him for all the great ways that he has worked!
Here is a photo dump from the past couple days.
We rented a house through airbnb. It is a gorgeous house that sits way up on a hill overlooking the city. The lights are beautiful at night.
On Tuesday we visited the Kabaka's (King's) Palace. During Idi Amin's time it was changed into an army barrack. After Musevini came to power, he gave it back to the Kabaka, although it is no longer used as his personal house. Now it is used for meetings and special ceremonies.
What fascinated us the most about our visit was seeing the remains of Idi Amin's torture chambers that are on the property. He (and Milton Obote, who ruled directly after Idi Amin and was thought to have actually killed as many, if not more than Amin) would fill this chamber with about a foot of water and then electrocute the water and the people in it. There were four additional chambers off to the side where they would keep people until they fully died. It is estimated that over 200,000 people died here.
Words to the wise..."Never Forget"
yea...we had fun together...
This is Jimmy standing next to the remains of the car of Mutesa II...the king who became the first president of Uganda.
And here is a hilarious video. The horn was used to signal many things for the Kabaka. Here is our tour guide showing us how to blow it and then Eric trying.
This is looking from the King's Palace down the road to Parliament.
At parliament, you can buy these certificates. The money is used to support the Kabaka. Our lawyers thought the judge might appreciate seeing that we had participated in this part of the Buganda culture, so we got some. And each of the kids wanted one to remember their visit with too. Denise asked if she could use what will eventually be her new name. I think it looks pretty good, don't you?
From there we went to visit the Uganda Martyrs shrine. The Uganda martyrs were a group of 20 or so men who died at the hands of one of the kings who wanted to have homosexual relationships with them. They refused because of their faith and the king killed them. (Half of them were catholic and half of them were Anglican) Later, it is said, the king became a Christian. Every year we celebrate martyrs day in honor of these men.
The inside of the Catholic church is quite beautiful and around the edge are stained glass windows with the names and pictures of all the young men.
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