Uganda 2025 Day 19

Uganda 2025 Day 19

Today may be my favorite day of my trip so far! We will see how I feel once my last full day here happens. Although, that day may be full of smiles and tears. But, back to today. The plan was for me to be picked up at 9am by Ema. Then John Basco would be picked up or vise versa. It turns out there were some complications for the original driver and the second option for a driver. So, at 10a Martin picked me up! It was such a happy thing to happen! I thought he was still on safari, but he had come back the night before. We drove a little way down the road and pulled over so we could pick up John Basco. He rode a boda boda to where we met. From there, Martin drove us to Kampala International University. This is where John Basco attends school. At the university, our driver for the day, Wilson, would meet us and take over because Martin had other work he had to do. I met Wilson in 2023, so it was good to see him again! The other John Basco attends the same university, but sadly he is at a campus that is around an 8 hour drive away (pending traffic). I was happy to see Emma (Karamojung that helped at clinic last year) and Calvin (helped at clinic a few years ago) within a couple minutes of arriving at the university. These young men are so fun, but how can they not be if they are friends with John Basco. We all walked around the campus together. The library is huge! John Basco said you can only enter if you have a student ID and you can’t take books out of the building. You read and study there. They also have WiFi available for the students to use. They showed me where the class rooms are for the subjects that are studied at this campus. Engineering and medical students are where the other John Basco is. I also was able to see where the girls dorms otherwise known as hostels are. It was fun to walk around and have some of John Basco‘s friends greet him as we were walking. At one point, Emma and maybe Calvin went off to talk to people and then caught up with us. I love that they have good friendships there. After touring his campus we walked back to the van. I requested to take photos with the guys before we left. From there, we went to Ndejje university where David attends. Traffic was bad. They had a road closed, potentially for the president to drive through town. Yesterday and today there are rallies (or something) for those who want to be president in the election that happens in January. There were a few areas with high police and military presence. Also, on our way out of town, we passed by the U.S. Embassy. Once we were somewhat near Ndejje University, Wilson checked with a couple boda boda drivers to verify directions. I believe this is when I learned that John Basco had never been to David’s university. It made the trip even more special. We would be able to experience it for the first time together. Maybe a quarter mile from there we were pulled over for a traffic stop. Only Wilson had to get out to talk to the police. I blame the muzungu in the car (that’s me), but I doubt that is why we were pulled over. I think it is fairly random. We were not stopped for long. We made it to our turn where the sign said the university was 8km down the dirt road. Where the road had a y, Wilson asked a man that was walking which way they needed to go. We finally found a sign that said to turn for part of the university or go straight for the other part. John Basco decided we should go straight, but just seconds after we started going, Wilson stopped. When I looked to my right David was getting off a boda boda that pulled up. He was trying to flag us down. David came in the van with us and we continued to the entrance John Basco suggested. This entrance brought us directly to the building for the engineers where David has classes. His university area is so beautiful. It is so green with trees, grass and shrubs. He took us around this section of the campus. We saw the building for the agriculture and science students which has a pool by it. Then we walked to the newest building that was still getting finishing touches even though they were already using part of it for classes. The building was so beautiful! I believe David said his supervisor designed it. I said it was beautiful as we were walking in the fenced area and there was a guy passing us. He commended back to me about it. David told me he is one of the builders. We decided to walk around the building and a man came outside to stop us and talk to us. David said that John Basco and I are his family and he wanted to show us around. Each of us introduced ourselves also. Thankfully he let us continue around. From there we walked on the back road and back up to David’s class building. Wilson had followed us to the agriculture building, but we did not see him again. He also was not at the van. We had left him behind by accident. I tried calling Wilson with the number I had, but my phone did not let me, so John Basco tried. It turns out that he does not have the same phone number as he did in 2023. We took photos while we waited and then walked to the cafeteria for lunch. While there I texted Martin, Sam, and Ema to see if any of them could get us Wilson’s number. After a few minutes Martin texted back. He thought Wilson left us, but I made sure to inform him that we left Wilson. I did not want him to get in trouble. John Basco reached out to Wilson and had him come to the cafeteria for lunch, but we were done or almost done eating when he arrived, so we gave him time to eat. I had packed peanut butter and jam sandwiches too, but Martin told John Basco he must take me out to eat. The guys refused to let me pay. I was trying to get my money out and John Basco put his had on my wrist and told me know that they were paying. They spoil me to much. When Wilson was done eating, we drove to the other part and passed the boys hostels on the way. This side is where the dean of students is along with the school Chaplin (pastor) and I think he may do both jobs. The art classrooms, a few other classes, another cafeteria, David’s church, the girl’s hostels, the police building and a few more things. I kept joking with John Basco that is where he needed to go. When we walked this area, we met with one of there friends. I think her name is Jane or something similar. she rode with us as we stopped to see one of David’s friends, but his friend was not home so we were unable to see him. From there we went to see David’s hostel. It was a very cute and perfect space. He had his bed, a small desk with a chair, a shelf for his clothes, a propane tank with a burner on it for cooking, a sink and a small shelving unit for dishes and food. And of course he also had a bathroom with a shower. It is a small space, but it is perfect for what it is needed for. He was able to have another one of his friends come in. David likes to make fun of John Bosco. when he told me about this friend who was coming to visit, he said, “He likes to eat even more than John Bosco does.” We all laughed. John Basco said, “even the other John Basco likes to eat more than me.” We all laughed again. When their friend came in, I introduced myself and he said he something like, David and John Basco are good friends. I pointed at David and said he is and then pointed to John Bosco and said Uh shaking my hand to portray that he is iffy. Once again everyone (including John Basco) laughed. These four are so funny! We did not have long to talk because the day was getting late and we still had a long trip back with traffic. Originally David was going to come back with us to see his supervisor in Kampala. As it was getting so late, he could not ride with us. He would have arrived in town very late and had to be back right away because he had a morning class, so he decided not to go. We drove the girl back to the main entrance of the university. Then we dropped David off at another area. I made him wait so I could get out and give him one last hug before we left. I gave him the last peanut butter sandwich and a couple fruit bars that I had packed before we left him. The drive back was long because of traffic. John Bosco fell asleep, so I took photos. One point I was trying to take a selfie with him sleeping and I think I accidentally brushed up against him which woke him up. It was so funny! I have the photos of it and the progression. He almost fell asleep after that again. I told him I would not take more photos so he could sleep. Our next stop was John Bosco‘s hostel. His landlord does not allow visitors, but John Bosco asked if his family from the United States could come and see his place. He approved of that. The landlord is an amazing man! He is born again and has become like another father to John Bosco. You can tell the landlord is born again from all the joy that he had in the short time that I was around him. John Basco had made passionfruit and ginger juice for us and he gave us bread to eat. He gave his landlord, an extra piece of bread and refilled the glass so his wife could also have some. I thought the landlord was going to come back right after giving it to his wife, but he did not. One of the things john bosco wanted to do while we were there was to pray together. I think he did want his landlord for that, but he never came back so we prayed without him. I prayed for the landlord and the area they live in, as well as, John Basco as and his schooling. then John Basco also prayed, and one of the things he prayed for was me. It was such a special moment! Wilson was waiting in the van so we did not take long at John Basco‘s place. He rode back with Wilson and I to Jeff’s house. I texted Jeff to let him know that I was on the way back and that I would like him to meet John Bosco. He was actually able to meet both John Bosco and Wilson when we pulled in. Once I got settled back in and changing my clothes, I went in the family room with Jeff and we watched a new show he was interested in seeing. It is a newer sci-fi I believe. It was not a bad show. I actually think if I could remember the name and we have the correct streaming service, that my dad would like it. We also watched a couple things on YouTube before it was time to go to bed. Every night I have good intentions about going to sleep when I get back to my room, but then I start talking to people at home.