Joe's Blog

Back to UGANDA (October 2011)

One of the best things about returning to Uganda is to see our little girl and Maureen's namesake,

Daisy Maureen Okodia.  She lives in a village known as Aminocera which is near the small city of Lira which is North of Kampala and on the way to Gulu.  Daisy is the 2 year old daughter of our friends Robert and Eunice.  Their village of Aminocera has become the centerpiece of most of Maureen's work in Uganda.  Daisy has turned into a strong willed little girl in the last two years.  One of my favorite moments from this trip was when Daisy said to a couple other little girls that she was going to play with her Mzungu friends.  She was referring to us using the Swahili term for white people.

Robert showed up to greet us wearing a shirt I had given him several years ago from a company I sold about 8 years ago.  Sweetlix schwag has risen to collector's item status in America and is apparently a pretty hot item in Uganda as well.

We originally met Robert at the White House Hotel in Lira.  We had a hilarious stay there in 2007.  It was a little rustic.  I recall some pretty serious water problems and more mosquitos inside our net than outside.  Every mosquito you killed on the inside was full of bright red blood and the net was dotted with signs of past mosquito deaths.  We have now found much nicer accommodations in Lira, but returned to the White House for lunch one day.  As always I was greeted warmly by the armed guard.