Liberty in Louisiana?!

I took this picture last summer, but after my camera broke, I forgot about it. We were walking near the taxi park in Kampala. I looked up and saw this sign for an internet café. At first glance it is fine, but then when you stop and notice and think, it is really funny, isn’t it? The “Louisiana” café with a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Ha! It’s like us naming a coffee shop in the US the “Kampala” café and then putting a picture of the Egyptian pyramids…technically in Africa, but not anywhere close to Kampala.

Stuff On My Bike 2, by Shannon

As promised, here is the second round of "Stuff on my Bike". Although we were usually all in the car together yelling, "On the right! On the right!" or "Bike, 2 o'clock!", these particular shots were captured by Shannon. They are a pretty good collection...hopefully this will motivate Rachel to get hers to me also for the fullest representation of this wonderful phenomenon of balance, creativity, and strength. The shot above is an amazing stack of mattresses, and the first two below are of the most common material transported, jerry cans for gathering water.


Soda or Beer?A schmorgazboard of random things...among others, I can identify a coffee table, two patio chairs, a trunk and a jerry can.


A long pipe and peice of moulding.

Pineapples (with a very proud owner).




Housegoods...welcome mats, brooms, buckets, etc...

Pile o' wooden furniture.
Blankets?
Stay tuned for more pictures of precariously stacked goods on bikes!

Stuff On My Bike, part 1

This is just a quick-teaser of a blog post.

During our trip last year, Courtney was blown away by the amazing efficient use of the bicycle in Africa. On every street or dirt path or such, you will see the most amazing sights of men transporting crazy things using their bikes......huge bags of maize, furniture, chickens, etc. We decided that it was a visible picture of a euphamism for when you have so much going on you don't know what to do...we all know that feeling....."I just have so much stuff on my bike!" Before leaving, Courtney presented me with a "Stuff On My Bike" award....a wire statue of a man with piles of "stuff" on the back of his bike. It proudly sits in my living room in New York.

This summer, our team was again constantly amazed by the bikes full of stuff, and decided to do a project where we tried to capture as many photos of "Stuff On My Bike" as possible. So, in anticipation of the "Stuff On My Bike" and, the soon to follow sequel "Stuff On My Head" posts, I wanted to send a little something out to whet your pallette, so to speak. This photo was taken by Kathleen Lindeman, who traveled with Fount of Mercy this summer, serving on another team.