I was lost in thought, walking through a quiet neighborhood in Kampala when I heard what has now become my name — Mzungu! Mzungu! (White! White!)
I looked down and saw this little cutie, desperately trying to get my attention. After a brief conversation, he asked me to take his photo.
Next we were joined by this sweet girl, who used two splintery wooden beams as crutches.
More of their friends showed up to see what the heck was going on.
Then they ran off to gather even more kids. I was apparently the greatest entertainment in town.
These two older boys — one missing an eye, the other one blind — were shy at first and asked if I could take their photo. When I raised the camera, they struck a too-cool-for-school pose.
This soon became a party, with all the kids giggling, smiling and hamming it up for me. Sometimes they were so excited, they danced around in circles and forgot to actually look at the camera. They often ran up to me and stroked my skin, chanting a chorus of “Mzungu.”
As I continued my walk, the kids slowly trickled away, looking for fun elsewhere. Eventually it was just me and the blind child, rolling a tire down a dusty dirt road.
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