A sad, sad home.

Remember when I said Kampala is a scary place,

Well, I left out that it’s not just scary,

it's sad too.

I went to my country’s capital to run my usual errands which happened to be during one of the busiest times; the back-to-school rush.

A glimpse from downtown on a normal busy day. (Courtesy Photo)

There’s so much to consume, it is overwhelming.

There is a woman, a man, a child everywhere, we are rubbing shoulders and sweat, inhaling each other’s stale breath.

There is a handful of sick and disabled children lying helplessly on the roadside with their caretakers asking for help while everyone hops past them.

The dirt on the road where they sit to ask for help, the stench from running sewage, the arrogance of people pushing past you impatiently, hideous hands touching you inappropriately without a trace, the skinny dirty kids asking for coins to get a meal.

You're left feeling helpless because you’re unable, you’re in need too.

It's tiring, draining, disgusting, and very sad.

If it's this worse today, how worse is it gonna get in the near future?

The youth down there do what they have to do to get by even when they're deprived of the bare minimum; employment opportunities, housing, survival, development, the future, hope, transformation, etc

“They” have failed them, “they’ve” failed everyone.

There are more people having ‘unplanned” children every single day, pushing them into this system, a hopeless broken system.

Teenage boys are riding motorcycles on the road, and girls are selling street food.

The notion of breaking generational curses is a myth here. We don’t have any, there is generational poverty, poor governments, and minimal resources that are passed on from generation to generation. That is the problem we need to work our way out of.

Most if not the highest percentage of this country’s population is constantly living from hand to mouth. Oh and if you don’t have any privilege (a paying job to afford survival) like some people do, you’ll be broke, needy, helpless, and have to beg for just a meal. You’ll find yourself looking for help in the wrong places. You contemplate between having to pay for water or electricity, buying food, or paying rent.

This place traumatizes and disables you, you constantly live in lack, and spend most nights wondering how you’re ever going to escape the cycle.

Listen, I hate it here!

The hopelessness in different people’s eyes, the pain, the exhaustion, I can feel it, I’ve been there, and on some days I still am, maybe I'm just privileged too that mine is seasonal.

People are going through the most, the worst of struggles, which explains the constant injustices, gun violence, and robberies.

And do you know what’s worse, you live thinking your situation is terrible until you hear of another’s story.

Pray for this place, be kind, show up, do what you can with what you have, and call it a day.