2014 Archives – Page 15 of 17

The long rollercoaster ride of one Ugandan adoption

(The New Vision – Saturday, February 15, 2014)

MUKONO, UGANDA ✦ There’s new joy in our Mukono home these days. Our Ugandan daughter, Hannah, is now legally in our family. She danced when we showed her the formal adoption paper.

This, after waiting more than 500 days. That’s five hundred. Welcome to the world of international adoptions where you need the patience of Job to slog through it all. Adopting a child, especially in Uganda, can be this much of a roller coaster ride.

In our case, we’re Canadians in Uganda since 2005. My wife and I met Hannah in 2009, when she was three, in a Jinja orphanage. When she was barely larger than a cat, she had been found abandoned in an Mbarara hospital. Her family? Unknown.

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You’ve heard of Jamaican bobsledders? These are Ugandan hockey players!

2 Comments / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / February 15, 2014 / 2014, African hockey in the Olympics, hockey in Africa, hockey in Uganda, humour, Winter Olympics 2018 / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, February 15, 2014)

KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ Okay, maybe it’s too late for Sochi, but I hope you haven’t forgotten about Olympic hockey in Africa. Yes, dear members of the International Olympic Committee, I’m before you to personally share the good news of a Ugandan ice-hockey team.

Of course, in Canada nobody says “ice” before “hockey” because Canadians realize hockey’s natural state is with ice, even the frozen-pond variety.

Uganda, on the other hand, is a place where some poor soul with a hockey stick in-hand might yell out, “We’re Manchester United!” before informing you that he’s a “striker.” But I’m working on this and I’m happy to report remarkable progress.

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This Valentine’s Day, fall in love with the One who knows you

Leave a Comment / Newspaper columns, The Standard / February 14, 2014 / 2014, African university life, God's love, love, marriage, relationships, sexual culture, sexuality, singleness, spirituality, Valentine's Day / 4 minutes of reading

(The UCU Standard – Monday, February 3, 2014)

MUKONO, UGANDA ✦ It’s soon Valentine’s Day and you’re alone.

The flowers are out there and so is the wine, and much more. One would have to be blind and half-dead not to notice. But you’re alone, a rose in the parched dessert, and you don’t know how much longer you can hang on.

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The best marital proposal ever

4 Comments / Daily Dad / February 14, 2014 / 2014, anniversaries, dating, humour / satire, marital proposals, marriage, puppy love, school life, Valentine's Day / 4 minutes of reading

The latest in the ongoing affairs of the heart at my children’s school is that a boy who will remain nameless, one who has the hots for my daughter – and apparently there are several of these boys – asked Liz to be his date at the class Valentine’s Dance. This is being held for the kids at the end of

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Yes, I’m talking to you, Old Cat

Leave a Comment / Daily Dad / February 12, 2014 / 2014, humour / satire, our Ugandan home, pets / 4 minutes of reading

My Bride is out of country – in Ghana – for a few days for some Save the Mothers work which means I’m talking to The Cat again, not to mention statues, flowers, my dinner plate and anything else with a listening ear. But The Cat. God help The Cat. The Cat, some of you

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If I had a billion dollars

Leave a Comment / Daily Dad / February 6, 2014 / 2014, Alan Watts, bliss, contentment, decision making, Don Cherry, kids' quips, making a living, money, vocation, work / 2 minutes of reading

It was Don Cherry on one of his Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Hockey videos, a Christmas gift brought back from Canada, and we were wondering about Don’s background and we researched that while his life was full of hockey, his formal education didn’t go past high school. “See,” said Liz. “Don Cherry didn’t get an

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What would Philip Seymour Hoffman say? – Enjoy the ordinary

Leave a Comment / Daily Dad / February 4, 2014 / 2014, contentment, death, death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, entertainers, our Ugandan home, Philip Seymour Hoffman / 2 minutes of reading

It’s early morning and I’m out with the dog and he barks and chases a monkey and this is just the start of another routine day in Africa. I’m thinking about it, too, the sad news of the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. A father of three, like myself, he was also virtually my age.

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Distracted by distraction

Leave a Comment / Christian Week, Newspaper columns / February 1, 2014 / 2014, authentic living, journaling, meditation, social media, solitude, spirituality, T.S. Eliot, the harm of social media / 3 minutes of reading

(Christian Week – February 2014)

KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ If you’re too busy to read this, just ignore it. I mean, really, I understand. We’re well into 2014 and there’s some serious new clinking and clanking that likely needs your attention.

Yes, in our brave new distracted world, the one that never really turns off anymore, (I was recently in a funeral in Uganda where the cell phones rang and rang and rang), it’s a fresh year to slip further into it, this new place where it’s hard to know what – and who — is real.

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