Sooo...I am finally getting around to answering some of these questions...


What was your first impression when you arrived in Africa?
Well, it was after dark when I arrived, so it was hard to get an accurate first impression.  One thing that I thought was strange was when Christie stopped in Kampala at a "mall" type of place, there were guards with machine guns standing around to check your car for explosives when you drove in.  Hmmmm... I'm not in America anymore!  It was interesting (to say the least)  driving through Kampala, because on the one side you have the almost "modern" parts of town, with the tall buildings and hotels and billboards, and then on the other side you have the slums with the mud huts, and trash everywhere, and red dirt covering everything.  

How is Uganda similar to the US? How is it different? 
Hmmm....I think I might have to get more pictures before I answer this one, lol.  Some parts of Uganda are similar to the US, (like Jinja) and other parts are completely different. Since Jinja is more of a tourist town (because it's located on the source of the Nile)  there are quite a few places in Jinja that are similar to the US.  Everything is smaller, though.  Like the shops.  There are tons of little one-room shops crowded together on main street.  For my family-  you know that little bent-and-dent store in Magee? I think it's called Martha's? That's what ALL of the grocery stores here look like.  Except most are smaller than that.   
The things that are completely different-   The small villages.  You drive into the middle of nowhere, and then turn left into the jungle....And you find all these tiny villages with people going on about their daily lives, with no electricity...no running water...  If you've seen Christie's pictures, than you have some idea of what it's like. 

Why are there so many orphans in Uganda? What needs to happen to relieve this issue?
This is a tough one. There are a couple different reasons for there being so many orphans in Uganda. One reason is that there has been a war going on in Northern Uganda (and several other African countries)  for about 23 years.  You can learn more about the history of the war here-  http://www.invisiblechildren.com/history-of-the-war  Or you can just look up Joseph Kony and the LRA.