It’s the song in the hills and the laughter on the streets that tell you the state of a nation, and Uganda seems to be increasingly happy in its own skin. Pamela Kertland Wright assesses the mood of a country showing signs of — dare we say it? — vibrancy.

It’s a Sunday in Kampala, and I’m sitting on the verandah. From across the valley I can hear a church service in progress — hymns punctuated by thunderous and fiery lessons from the pulpit. On Friday, it was the prayers from the mosque I could hear, as well as the gleeful cheers from the school sports field throughout the week. It would be easy to sit here forever on this verandah, listening to life happening around me, listening to Uganda, to the people, soaking it all in. Uganda is full of life, full of vigour, colour, sound and energy. It is a feast for all the senses. From this city on the edge of Lake Victoria to the lush green highlands of the countryside, the snow-capped mountains, the impenetrable forests, the glittering waters of the Nile and the arid plains beyond, the country — like the calliandra tree — vibrates with this life force.

People live out loud here. From the first sign of dawn, the first rooster crow, the first call of the African morning dove, this country wakes up and pulsates. Smell the woodsmoke, hear the laughter, feel the energy and the spirit.

Sunday is the big social day for Ugandans. Rather than church bells tolling, we have drums, beating out rhythms to call the faithful. First church (you name it: Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Pentecostal…), then social time. Go anywhere in the country and you will come across families in their Sunday best, out in the restaurants in town, gathering under the spreading arms of a ficus tree upcountry. They tell stories, they debate, they sing and they laugh. Men walk together hand in hand, children play games. This is a day to be together, to enjoy the company of loved ones. And for the Muslims of Uganda, Friday is the day for worship and family unity. Even though much of the country sees it as a working day, it is not an uncommon sight to see families coming out of the mosques, men clothed in the blinding white djellaba, women with their heads covered in artfully draped cloths.

In a crazy world where intolerance is rapidly becoming the norm, the open-armed acceptance and forbearance of the Ugandan people is refreshing and encouraging. This is a country where there are over 30 different tribes, and even more languages and dialects. Christians of all denominations, Moslems and Hindus all live and work side by side. Perhaps it is a testament to this tolerance that Uganda is home to the one and only Bahai Temple on the entire African continent. This soaring, glowing, warm-honey-hued brick domed building is the house of worship for the faith which believes that the ‘fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony’. This temple looks out over the hills of Kampala, the hills that are also crowned with a mosque, a cathedral, a church and a Hindu temple. Everybody is represented here. Everybody has a voice.

It is hard to get a handle on Uganda. It is difficult to define, it is so many things to so many people. But it gets under your skin. This country has, in its past, seen its fair share of trouble and strife, but it is steadily healing, rising above adversity, like a phoenix from the ashes. The people will see to that. They have a tremendously resolute and conciliatory spirit.

Rebirth and rebuilding has been the order of the day for the last two decades. The government, as well as many foreign missions and donor organisations, is addressing the infrastructure and basic human needs of the population. There are programmes that address roads, water, telecommunications, education, energy, healthcare, and private sector development. The basic needs of Maslow’s hierarchy are being met. And now, moving up the pyramid, a wonderful thing is happening. No longer refugees, Ugandans are getting in touch with their creative side. This creativity is tremendously healing, and, in a way, catalyst to the rebuilding of this country.

There has been some media coverage on Uganda’s ‘night commuters’ — the children who are victims of the continued unrest in the north of the country. To ensure their safety and security, they walk miles every night, commuting from their homes in rural villages to ‘safe havens’ in the town centre, to a peaceful sleep. Despite this hardship and adversity, the Ugandan spirit has not deserted them. A Ugandan community-based organisation, Life in Africa, is engaging these children in educational activities. One recent effort was to empower these children to take their experience and transform it into a powerful voice of inspiration to children displaced by conflict in neighbouring Sudan. Enter the Peace Tiles Project. The goal of the Peace Tiles workshop was to use art to enable the

children to experience an identity transformation: from feeling like victims to understanding themselves as creators of peace, with enough hope and solidarity to share with others. After discussing the plight of Darfur’s children with this group of war-affected kids, each unique tile was created with a caring message of hope for a safe return home. The children of Gulu worked with volunteer artists to unleash their creativity and send messages of hope and encouragement – through the age-old medium of art – to the children of Darfur. For the children of Gulu, the result was incredible: self esteem, validation, and empowerment. How quickly creativity can release the spirit.

Years ago, when I was a young teenager, my mother made veiled references to the ‘yo-yo syndrome’, the name given to the vacillations of a young adult who cannot quite cut the ties with home. The yo-yo spins away, far from the hand that set it free, only to hover, suspended, before spinning back to comfort and familiarity, then spinning off again. This syndrome could apply to many Ugandans, the diaspora, who have left their homeland…but can’t quite leave it behind. They have made their home elsewhere, a part of them still belongs to Uganda, and they seem determined to take the best of their experiences gleaned outside and give it back to Uganda, in this same spirit of healing and rebirth.

Samite Mulondo is a musician who left Uganda as a refugee and now lives in Ithaca, New York. He has a number of albums under his belt and his music has crossed over from ‘African’ to new age and contemporary folk. He has set up an organisation called Musicians for World Harmony which over the last year has focused on Africa’s children.
Samite says: “In my life, music helped me to recover from my own traumatic experiences during Uganda’s civil unrest and years as a refugee. When I returned to Africa to film the documentary Song of the Refugee, I saw how refugee children came alive when I sang to them and they responded with a song of their own. I saw their spirits lift and realised that music is a powerful healing force.”

He recently came back to Uganda where he visited orphanages and children’s homes, where many of the residents were disabled or HIV positive, and brought with him music and traditional instruments – the kalimba and the flute. The result was tremendous. Where music is being created, hearts are being healed.

The film director, Mira Nair, the perceptive mind behind movies like Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair and Salaam Bombay, is married to a Ugandan Asian. They still keep a home on the fringes of Kampala, but live in the United States for most of the year. Uganda has captured her heart, evidenced in the lovingly lingering scenes of the countryside in Mississippi Masala. Ms Nair feels strongly about oral traditions and, propelled by her belief that if we don’t tell our stories, no one else will, she set up a Film Lab in Kampala as a resource for East African filmmakers, to encourage the formation of a local film industry.

Maisha Film Lab (Maisha means ‘life’ in Swahili) aims to preserve, cultivate and unleash local voices from the region. It is a mentoring programme which brings the expertise of renowned filmmakers — all volunteers — to budding ones in East Africa and South Asia. This is born out of Nair’s firm respect for the art of storytelling, and recognises the fact that there are hundreds of untold stories from this region.

Maybe it is no coincidence that in the last few years a large number of new art galleries have opened in Kampala, and almost all are showcasing local talent. Painters and sculptors are bursting on the scene, both here and abroad. Artists like Paul Ssendagire, Taga, Mary Nayita, Paolo Akiiki, Ronex and Kizito all have works and collections that are adorning homes and offices not just here in East Africa, but across the far corners of the globe.

Hand in hand with the upsurge of activity in the arts sector is a burgeoning hotel and tourism sector. The new Emin Pasha hotel in Kampala is decorated purely in original and commissioned Ugandan artwork – vibrant modern oils, woodblock prints, perfectly at home in an upmarket hotel. The Sheraton has just opened the Kampala branch of the Aidchild gallery (profits from sales go to AIDS orphans), and most of the artists are local. Blue Mango hosted a fashion show of purely Ugandan creations.

It is now confirmed that the 2007 Commonwealth Conference will be held in Uganda and the country is busy with preparations. New hotels and lodges are opening up both in town and upcountry, and older properties are being upgraded. It is commonplace now to have wireless internet connection in hotel public areas…along with fresh fruit juice, cappuccino and interesting art on the walls.

When the creative spirit of a country is alive and thriving, when the people are clearly tolerant and forbearing, these are all clear signs of a country moving forward, surging into the future. The tourists are coming, so are the business people. The energy is palpable. I am happy to be here.

(This Article was first published in the Kenya Airways In-Flight Magazine, Msafiri #54)