I really need to read...

One of my favourite bloggers, Tumwijuke at Ugandan Insomniac posted a list of books she is embarrassed not to have read… then asks what about you.

So mine are:
Manufacturing consent by Noam Chomsky
The Weathermakers by Tim Flannery
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

What’s yours?

No more miniskirts? Are you kidding?

Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity strikes again

From BBC

Uganda's ethics and integrity minister says miniskirts should be banned - because women wearing them distract drivers and cause traffic accidents. Full story here.

… right….

Someone please, please tell me this is kind of joke.

Oh, it's not. That's really unfortunate. As a joke its kind of funny. As the reality - its really not.

To me this sounds like an excuse followed by the plea the girl was dressed like that so she was asking for it.

I kind of thought (maybe hoped) that Ugandan society was way past that stage.

Can someone please explain to me the actual purpose of an Ethics and Integrity Minister anyway? What does he has to follow? Are their guidelines? A rule book (or two)? Because I’m not really sure if a self righteous male should really be dictating the results of his moral compass to the population at large.

Since I have been paying attention he has done the following:

• Told the Nigerian group P Square that if they sings their most famous song Do Me he would ban then from ever coming back – they sang it anyway (and it was awesome live!)
• Banned the Vagina Monologues, I’m guess because of the word vagina, and not because he is totally anti the womens' movement (although I’m sure he is).
• Banned a conference for female sex workers, who were suppose to talk about protecting themselves and being less vulnerable, they ended up traveling to Nairobi
• And now… the mini skirt ban

This is why there needs to be a separation of church from state. Just saying.

On route to somewhere

Many of you think I’m dead or got lost on route somewhere. The second one is mostly true. I don’t know where I was heading, but somewhere along the way I find myself in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

As I was starting to feel sorry for myself, long for a developing country, and for the types of things I would get to write about there, I realized something. So many of those issues I want to write about are here. And as soon as I stop churning out three-plus stories on SPCA walk-a-pet-a-thons and lunchtime nutrition for back to school I will delve into them.

A few observations I have made since arriving here a little over two weeks ago:

• There is more racism here then I ever saw or experienced in Uganda – EVER!
• As many as 22 per cent of the population doesn’t make enough money to feed themselves or their families
• Injection drug use is high and therefore so is HIV
• Prince Albert sits on the edge of nothingness

I’m a little more settled and a feeling much less tired so there will be more to come! And as soon as I get my library card, I will finish my African Reading Challenge books. Please don’t stop reading now that I am in Saskatchewan: you will miss lots and nothing is permanent in my life. Not even this. And I am on my way to somewhere; I'm just not sure where yet.