I lived there in '72 and '73. We had to leave in a hurry.
It's one of the most beautiful nations on Earth. Absolutely stunning.
Except for all the skulls.
Bad Things Happened there, and it has never recovered.
It has become a haven for religious crackpots. They had a Jonestown-type thing, a number of years ago, and it's a really, really bad place to be gay (even closeted).
It would be remiss to avoid mentioning that American Evangelical "Missionaries" were a (if not the) driving force[1] behind the clampdown on gay folk in Uganda - perhaps you were alluding to them when you said it's became a haven for them ;)
1. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/scott-lively-an...
At some point Bob Geldorf called on Musevini to resign. The Ugandan papers carried knee jerk headlines of "is Geldorf gay?". It would have been comical had they not reflected a grim pervasive homiphobia.
All the skulls - That's not a thing, I can't recall seeing any growing up in Uganda. Sure there have been wars in the country but that was decades ago...
Bad things happened there and it has never recovered: The country has developed significantly since the 70s just like most other places in the world. That statement is so far from the truth
Homosexuality: Definitely a strong opposition to it in the country. However, the media representation is an extreme versus the day to day. If you are gay in Uganda, I do agree that it is probably best to stay in the shadows
I urge you to please think about what you are going to write before writing such a comment. You haven't lived in the country for 40 years. Can you really know anything about it's present state?
I loved the nation, when I lived there, and it had a profound impact on my life. Leaving was heartbreaking. I have "survivors' guilt" from that, as I suspect that all the kids I used to play with were probably killed. I still have items with bayonet holes in them, from when the soldiers were making sure that my father wasn't smuggling out his students (who were all killed). I sincerely wish you well in your continued growth and success. It has been worse.
Idi Amin and Milton Obote killed around a million folks; from the end of colonialism, through the mid 1970s. I remember -extremely well- public executions in the park in Kampala.
I also remember how rich, cosmopolitan and modern the nation was, in 1972, and how it collapsed -almost overnight- after Amin kicked out the Asians. From what I see, it has never regained that stature. It was in really good shape, pre-Amin. The income from tea, alone, made it the richest country in East Africa. The rich, volcanic soil, meant that you could grow almost anything there. It also has vast mineral wealth (my mother was a geologist, and I remember touring mines in the Southwestern part of the country). I still have samples of ore from those mines on my shelf.
The LRA has probably been the most horrifying thing for me.
You have my thanks and support. Good luck, and Godspeed.
I wasn't alive in the 70s so can't say exactly what Kampala was like then but my parents and grandparents say it's more modern now. And overall there are more people having better lives on average than the smaller group of well off people at that time.
From an economically standpoint I think a challenge we have is that we are landlocked and have to be dependent on our neighbors substantially amongst other challenges that delving into would turn into an essay. That said I see future promise and growth for the country
Thanks for bringing me up to date.
Given that's where the "eat da poo poo" video originated, I'm not surprised.
From what you saw, does this result in amplified masculinity, sexism, or gender roles?
In any case, it wasn't the issue, when I lived there. All that happened afterwards.
When I was there, this nice chap called Idi Amin was throwing a party, and we decided to tender our regrets.