Ndere, Joanne, Art, Muzungus, and Lucy the photographer.

The Ndere Center is no where in Ntinda. In the suburban hills, just down the slope from some of the dirtier parts of the city, and at the foothills of some of the largest homes I have seen here...larger than many upper-middle class US suburban households I have seen in Framingham, Sudbury, Newton....

The facilities are stunning. It is like stepping in to a safari oasis. So beautiful and manicured-like all of the beauty of the wild I had just left all contained and orderly like. There were white tents, a small gallery and cafe, and an amphitheater set with tables and chairs. Everything is outside because this is Africa. Who needs inside??

I wandered about, waiting for Joanne, my new friend from Minnesota who I met in Mbale. She arrived with her host family-Dorothy, Bernard, and Lucy (6 years old this week).

We were there for a dance and music festival displaying Ugandan dance and music from around the country. The highlights...well, you have to see the videos and pictures once I can get them up online...My favorite tellable moments though were Lucy who fell in love with my camera. She is responsible for most of the footage from the evening. Laughing with Dorothy, Bernard and Joanne. Dancing with Lucy on the stage when all guest were called up.

For one costume change, the MC was doing his shtick, about how God painted people beginning in Africa and as he got further from Uganda, God ran out of paint. The MC said, maybe God is a woman (why, I do not recall) and a girl (about 8?) sitting in the front row began calling out, No!! God is a man! God is a man! God is a man!! She was so insistent! It was impressive, her conviction.

The whole event was truly spectacular. Dorothy and Bernard and Lucy live right behind David and Margaret (my host) so they drove me home. It is a small, small world...but, in Stephen Wright's words, I wouldn't want to paint it. But that's ok, because according to the showman, God already did.