i saw this matatu over the weekend. I have no idea whether the combination of the words at the back are supposed to have some sort of meaning, or if whoever put them there thought they just went well together.

i was encouraged to post a prettier picture than the one of my medicine coated eye. so i thought flowers would be prettier than a big ugly eye:

the Lord’s Resistance army attacked some more NGO’s and UN peacekeepers in the town of yambio over the weekend. different reports are coming out of the area that several people were killed and others wounded. This was the only news release I could find about the attack (from Xinhua). It indicates that the only people that were killed were LRA attackers and that some UN peacekeepers and a few locals were wounded in the fighting. This attack sounds similar to the attacks we experienced in Maridi in December. I talked with some folks that stay in maridi, and the reports they heard indicated that the Lord’s Resistance Army attacked two NGO compounds to loot communications equipment and other supplies.

meanwhile, the government of Sudan and the government of Uganda are in talks to renew a “military protocal on LRA crackdown”. don’t know if this means action will actually be taken to try and remove the Lord’s Resistance Army or if it is just more political posturing from the sudan government and more lip service from both sides.

otherwise things are going well. I return to nairobi tomororw. I hope they have been getting some rain over there. It was really dry when i left, and they were really in need of some rainfall. Although when it rains it starts to get really cold at nights. Really cold being something like 70.:)

its mid march, how did that happen?

not alot has been going on for me. I am back in uganda for a couple of weeks to do some work and hating that i have to be away from mary for so long. what really sucks is that I will be returning tomaridi,sudan sometime in april and will be away from her for almost two months.

i have just gotten over a second infection in my right eye in two weeks. I have had two large stys or what i would call zits form right on the eyelid next to my tearduct. that really hurt. i finally got some good antibiotics and have hopefully cleared things up. it is still bothering me just a little bit but isn’t so bad.

here is a lovely photo. the yellow ugly stuff is the medicine i was putting. sorry if it is disgusting:)

otherwise, there are some interesting stories out there about these parts:

The Lord’s Resistance army is still very active in parts of Southern Sudan. The Sudan Radio service has posted a few news stories about their current activities. Several people have been killed, one of them beheaded and a number of others abducted.

There is a strange story about a guy called Dr. Peter Waldron. He was arrested here in Uganda a few weeks back and charged with illegal possession of firearms. A paper I read today said that he was involved with a rebel group from the Democratic Republic of Congo and that they were organizing to try and capture/kill Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. It is a bit strange cause he is some sort of business man/preacher/bounty hunter/possible CIA?. At least that is what the paper here is insinuating. This guy has done some great research and has alot of interesting information on the doctor.

In kenya two weeks ago the government attacked a media house and temporarily shut down a newspaper and TV station. here is a story from the BBC from the 1st of march. The government has been taking alot of hits lately, with a number of corruption scandels & a vote of no confidence when kenyans rejected a proposed new constitution. The issue has yet to be resolved, and it has given alot of fire to the political situation in the country. Going to be interesting to see what the result is.

the drought in Kenya doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

and this isn’t news:

my friend pointed out this poster the other day:

notice the “one million copies potentially sold” bit.

i think that is great.