Over the past few months I have been reading a book called “African Friends and Money Matters.” In this book, by David Maranz, there are 90 observations made about how Africans and Westerners use their resources.

I just wanted to share my thoughts on #25, A Network of Friends is a Network of Resources.

On of the major thoughts embedded deep within the mind of an African is that friendship is based on a sharing of resources. “More friends means more security,” is the opening line of this observation. For an African the more people I know the more resources I have to call on when this are not going well. In the West most people are self supported through their own efforts or savings or government programs, but here in Africa there is not always these helps so they rely on one another in hard times.

This idea greatly effects the view of what a friend truly is in the mind of an African.

For example, because Westerners tend to be better off, they seek friendship not out of a physical need, but instead more of an emotional need. As Westerners we are almost offended when someone comes to us and ask for money because they need to by groceries at Kroger. This type of gift is usually given during a special time of year like Thanksgiving or Christmas and it is not to our friends, but more to someone else in the community or other side of town. In moat African nations, the friendship is established because of a need. In fact, a friendship is tested by the giving and receiving of resources, in most cases money. In contrast, a Westerner builds relationships because of the enjoyment of someone as a person. Sure there is some exchange of gifts during a birthday or Christmas, but for the post part they are as Maranz states “symbolic” of a deeper relationship.

This causes some really big problems when Westerner moves to Africa. There is a different understanding of what a friendship is and how they function.

My first few weeks in Uganda in 2007 I had many people coming to me and asking for money, even the people who I thought were good friends. I know realize that these people where not under valuing the relationship, but I was not understanding what was truly happening, they were trying to build a relationship their way.

Maranz does say that for a newcomer into a community may not be able to tell which requests are legitimate and which ones aren’t so there is balance and wisdom that needs to be there.

There is also mention of how relationships need to be reciprocal in an African society, but being a Western it is very difficult to ever be seen as the one in a relationship who has greater needs then the one giving. Therefore there is an imbalance in the system.

So what is the balance between how to have a good friendship with an African? Is it possible to truly have a deep, good relationship with my brothers and sisters while we are over here? What would the relationship look like?

I am not writing this as a complete thought because I am still digesting this idea and how it applies to my life everyday. I just wanted to share some of my own thoughts and see if anyone else had any other input.

Greeting from Uganda!

I wanted to take a moment to write to you and just talk about how things are going on this side of the ocean.

Joy and I have now been in Uganda for just over 3 months, although at times it seems like it has been much longer, I suppose it is a good thing and shows how well we are adjusting to our new home.

Lately we have been busy moving into our new home. About a month ago our team said goodbye to a few individuals who had made a short-term commitment and has now returned to the States to get married and start a new life together. Because of this, we had the opportunity to move into our own house. We have been moving boxes and furniture for the last weeks and just this past weekend we finished unpacking our last box!

Over the past few months we have also been focused on integrating into a team and learning more about the culture and language which surrounds us.

The team has warmly welcomed us into their ranks and we feel like we are with family and friends, as well as teammates. Currently there are four long-term families serving here in Uganda. We are truly blessed to be apart of an amazing team.

As far as the culture and language learning, we have struggled a bit with which language to learn because of the wide range of local languages. The countries national languages are (1) English, (2) Luganda, and (3) Swahili. We have chosen to learn Swahili for now because it is often called the “East African” language, whereas Luganda is just spoken in more Central Uganda.

We have also been to many different villages and have seen a wide range of cultural and tribal differences. I am amazed at the amount of minor differences in each village we go to. It has been a wonderful journey and I am greatly enjoying seeing how others live.

Overall our experiences have been very positive and we are doing wonderful. We are growing in so many ways and being challenged constantly.

I just wanted to say thank you for any part you play in helping us to get here. We are blessed to be surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses” and thank you for being on this journey with us.

Journey with Us
Vince and Joy

Today I went with some friends to the Mbale Trade Fair, a fair that comes in once a year to the local “football” stadium selling crafts, clothes, new gadgets, etc. Let me tell you, it was quite an experience. We walked into the area and were immediately greeted by several speakers blaring music from all directions, several tents scattered around the field, looking surprisingly American, three carnival rides, and a mobile cinema. At first glance one would think that we had walked into a local country fair in the States, but then I started looking closer.

The rides looked like they came from a reject carnival about thirty years ago. I’m not sure I’d even trust the thing to sit on, much less be flung through the air on. Oh, and you even had a choice of certain death…ride one, two, or three.

The mobile cinema also looked pretty alluring, but I held my ground and decided not to waste my money. For here it is high tech stuff though.

The fast food area consisted of chapati stands (basically thick tortillas, traditionally made in India but adopted into Uganda) and a local butcher offering oh so fresh meat. No Pizza Hut or Chick-fil-a that’s for sure.

Ahhh, what a world we live in. Cultures mix all over the place, and the result is both impressive and a bit comical. I highly enjoyed myself.