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<\/a><\/div>\nThis chapter of The Revealed Truth<\/strong> opens up with some classic bargaining by Judas. Ugandans love to make a deal<\/a>. Judas may seem overacting here, but I would get just as expressive trying to buy passion fruit from the neighborhood bodega or setting the price for a taxi. When you’re in the mood, you can get some really great deals. If you’re tired and just want to make the sale, the vendors will rip you to shreds. Most commodities don’t come with a set price. The vendor will begin by sizing up the consumer. As I was a Muzungu<\/em><\/a> (white man) the seller immediately inferred that I was also an Omugagga (rich man)<\/em>. Prices start on the astronomically high side.\u00a0 I’d counter with something ridiculously low and hopefully we’d meet somewhere in the middle.\u00a0 If all else fails, turning your back in the middle of the transaction can get you a dramatic discount. Bargaining is true capitalism because each transaction reevaluates the product’s supply and demand.\u00a0 Switching to English during a deal will automatically chalk up a muzungu tax.<\/p>\n As Jesus figures out how He’s going to feed the masses with two loaves of bread there is a disturbance in the background. One of the shepherds chases the neighborhood kids around and swats at them with a stick. The shepherd also doubled as the play’s enforcer of crowd control. If a child got too close to Jesus or the disciples he would beat them. It provides some real life foreshadowing of Jesus’s Let the Little Children Come to Me<\/em> sermon, but nobody watching the performance seemed concerned about the violence.<\/p>\n America is on the other end of the spectrum.\u00a0 We put our children on a pedestal.\u00a0 We spoil kids and make them whine from overindulgence. The youth culture fuels our economy with the music, movies, and media that makes our country famous. Yet, all expenses are paid with a parent’s credit card.\u00a0 Most American children under 12 years aren’t their family’s breadwinners.\u00a0 We have child labor laws against that.\u00a0 In Uganda, if a child doesn’t bring home the bacon, then they don’t eat.<\/p>\n The Revealed Truth Blog Series<\/span><\/p>\n This post is the fifth of a nine part series that takes an in-depth look at the The Revealed Truth<\/strong> and how rural Ugandan culture influenced the making of the film.\u00a0 The\u00a0 movie is about an hour\u00a0 long\u00a0 but I’ve broken it down into 5 to 10 minute blog-size episodes.\u00a0 The next post will feature the Last Supper.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_1TlEAO6LHJc\/TB0AaFLRRWI\/AAAAAAAAA9g\/Jl3G3ixDuwk\/s400\/Subtitles%20Part%20IIc%20Beating%20children.jpg\")
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<\/a>While Uganda’s youth empowerment agenda looks very progressive on the books, it’s not practiced. Corporal punishment is illegal<\/a>, but I saw students at the school caned many times. When I ran into a teacher flogging a kid I’d go into shock and just stand there. The teacher usually would look up, see me, get embarrassed,and take a break until I left. Most headmasters will publicly acknowledge that child abuse is wrong and bad for donor relations.\u00a0 However, when faced with the choice to stop they don’t know an alternative.\u00a0 The issue runs deeper than discipline. In one study<\/a> 98% of the Ugandan children interviewed experienced physical or emotional violence at home.\u00a0 In the hierarchy of society children are one peg above animals because they have better motor skills.\u00a0 It’s a utilitarian mindset. \u00a0 Children are valued because they can work. There are no microwaves or washing machines, but there are lots of kids. Many students attending my school were from child-headed households and had no parents to advocate on their behalf. The education was free, but many days out of the week their classes took place out in the fields where they were “learning” to dig trenches or clear brush.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_1TlEAO6LHJc\/S9ZSWsL5V9I\/AAAAAAAAAkE\/a7W1rO4vUlI\/s288\/Family%20Caved%20in%20House.jpg\")
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<\/a>Perseverance of families in this environment is amazing.\u00a0 Despite the prevalence of abuse, strong family bonds are the key to survival.\u00a0 Take Julius, the actor who plays the prodigal son.\u00a0 He was in his mid twenties and living with his parents.\u00a0 He wasn’t a deadbeat sleeping on the couch, but working side by side with his parents and sister on the farm.\u00a0 During the month of the play’s performance his family’s home collapsed.\u00a0 Subsistence farmers don’t have home insurance but Julius helped his aging father salvage what he could and they built the structure over again.\u00a0 There is a loyalty to family, clan, and tribe in Uganda that is not found in the West.\u00a0 In such an impoverished country there are very few street gangs<\/a>.\u00a0 The communal nature of the village doesn’t allow them to form.\u00a0 Even if a child’s parents weren’t in the picture, their aunts, uncles, and grand parents were around to provide a support system.<\/p>\n
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