Happy Mother's Day

I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce you to some of my favourite mothers in Uganda. As I have said before, I try not to pick favourites but sometimes you just can't help it.

Janet

Janet is likely one of my favourite people not to mention my favourite mother in Uganda. She also has my favourite kids in Uganda. She is one of the hardest working ladies you could possibly meet. Not only is she a widow but also a goat farmer, grows matooke, has a garden, has a shop, made some beautiful handcrafts for my mother and now is a para-vet. She never fails to amaze me and always acts as though she hasn't seen me in ages. I will truly miss this woman and her family.

Mama Jane

Mama Jane owns the tea room and calls me her son. As her son she has no problems scolding me for some of my various activities. Which include hanging out on the "Wrong side of the trading centre strip", dancing, and of course watching movies (I know I live such a wild life). But she loves to see me and always tries to feed me some more food so that I can get fat.

Boney

Boney knows essentially no English but I love seeing her as she has the greatest smile and is just such a beautiful person. I can see by the way that she interacts with her children what a great mother she is and what a great job she has done in raising them. Her children make me laigh and have really good English. They had heard that I slept in their village one night and now request that I sleep at their house for one night before I leave. I really hope I get the opportunity as I know it will be really fun.

Chairperson

When I first arrived here in Uganda Susan would only refer to herself as the Chairperson of "Expectant Mother's Uganda". She was "very satisfied" (or full of food) she would always tell me as in Uganda telling people you are pregnant jinxes the baby and you certainly never tell anyone your due date. She worked like she wasn't even pregnant up until the day she popped out Kentina. Yep you read it right they have called their little girl Kentina (maybe after me? who knows? ha ha ha). When they asked what the female form of Kent was I quickly replied.... "Kentina?" The name has stuck and I suppose that is some of the reason why I love Susan so much. But she really is a great lady and she always gives me a deal on tomatoes or carrots, or tries to cook for me. Well now that you habe met Susan you should probably meet Kentina while you are at it.

Of course my own mother remains my favourite mother in the whole world but I have just limited this list to Africa. Hope you had a great day Mom and also all you other mothers out there!