Family in Jinja?

On Saturday I went to go see my distant relative, Ward who resides in Jinja. We traced the family tree and concluded that he was my second cousin once removed on my mother's side - or in laymen's terms, that my great-great grandmother is the same person as his great grandmother. Regardless, it’s a blood relation and as Ward put it - it's not every day that a piece of your own DNA comes to meet you in Jinja.

Ward lives with his girlfriend (who's name I have embarrassingly forgot) in a pleasant home just outside of town with a large garden and lots of space for badminton. He is on the board of directors for two non-profit groups which he had part in starting - a safe home for addicts in Kamloops, and a charitable effort which finances and supervises the startup of several businesses in Uganda thereby providing reliable employment and skills-training for Ugandans. The latter is what brings Ward to Jinja. "It's all just a huge excuse to have adventures in Uganda" he joked.

Very early in our meeting, Ward recited his latest "business adventure" in which he and his filmmaker-son Dawson produced two hip-hop music videos for a local DJ named Mister OJ. Mister OJ is crippled and walks and dances by holding his feet while supporting his weight with his hands. Apparently Mister OJ is a "solid B" music artist but makes up for this by being very charismatic. The story of the film making was hilarious in its absurdity. The first video is set to a song about living handicapped. For the production of the video, Ward rented a club in Kampala in which Mister OJ performed his song accompanied by hired dancers with Dawson filming. The dancers were basically strippers. For the second film, they hauled all the film making gear to a small remote village and threw a big party in the bush. One highlight which Ward was proud of was their use of incandescent bulbs and large oil funnels as improvised stage lighting. Ward hopes to turn Mister OJ into a spokesperson for Ugandans with disabilities.

Our conversation meandered over several hours and over dinner. It was persistently entertaining. We touched on many topics: the unbelievable extremes of Africa, Ward's "Unifying Theory of Africa", the stigmas of disease and its impacts on people and Ward's personal experiences with bipolar disorder, and we caught up on family news. Ward sends word that Doris is healthy but seems down after the recent death of her husband. She would no doubt love a call from Gran.

I would feel remised if I did not mention the gang-rape of their semi-adopted Ugandan daughter which was perpetrated at a wedding the night previous. The aftermath of this tragedy was unfolding through the telephone as we talked and ate. I felt a great deal of sympathy for this girl and for Ward, but the girl was far away and I was impressed with Ward as he seemed to do everything that could be done to help at a distance. Ward spoke candidly about everything. Needless to say this has left a strong impression on me.

I have never been to a mzungu home in Africa, let alone the home of a relative. It was all very interesting and hilariously entertaining - most notably watching clips from the music videos. I hope to meet Ward again someday - in Jinja or otherwise.