With his thick moustache and faded prison tattoos Pierre was no stranger to a life lived rough. But you'd never know it if you sat down and had a coffee with him.

He had a gentle bearing and spoke impeccable English and French. Pierre didn't talk much of his...

Kampala's chaotic, dusty streets are always crowded. Women with babies selling newspapers, boda guys calling passengers over, street kids begging for money and school kids giggling as they walk home in their old-fashioned uniforms. But there's one sight you will rarely see, if at all: seniors.

This shouldn't be...

In Nyamata, a small, dusty town in southern Rwanda, there lies a tidy, red brick church. Its walls are riddled with bullet holes. The interior holds bloody smears on the floor, torn clothing neatly piled on benches, and rows of bones. They are memorials for the...

They come in the dead of the night, rappelling down from helicopters, armed with night-vision goggles and chain saws. They act quickly and ruthlessly. The target? Killing an elephant or rhino in order to score an ivory tusk or horn.

It's hard to believe an elephant tusk...

Last year, Uganda was thrusted into the international spotlight over proposed legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by death. Fortunately, strong international outrage forced the government to backtrack. And yet, the government continues to push a vigorous agenda against civil rights for gay people. Unfortunately, they have been...

They might have killed him over a bag of soccer balls. It happened on a sunny Sunday morning when Kampala is, for once, quiet and sleepy. I was on my way to the bookstore when I saw the young man running with the netted bag of balls. But he couldn't...

Early this week, physical contact was banned in Uganda. The re-emergence of Ebola, with two cases discovered in Kampala, has sparked fear in the country. And little wonder. It's a disease that could have been created by writers of a Hollywood horror movie -- a communicable disease that...

To be honest, I don't think anyone could have expected to be dancing to Adele's Rolling in the Deep while The Jungle Book played on TV screens around the dancefloor. But welcome to Kampala, the party capital of East Africa, where anything goes.

Nowhere are...

It was 6:59 p.m. Only one minute until the power comes on, the restaurant owner told us. Every night from 7 p.m to 11 p.m, she said, but at no other time. But the minute came and went, and the restaurant remained in darkness. The only light was from my...

Last week, Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) dominated the news in Canada. But there was little talk about our role in aiding or interfering with development in Africa - the story was focused on the $16 glass of orange juice and Oda's fall from grace. Meanwhile in Bunagana,...

Hemingway was never trapped in a mall. This is what I told myself as I watched the floodwaters rise around me last Monday. Before going to Uganda, I'd anticipated all manner of things that could go wrong -- riots, malaria, perhaps even being trampled by raging elephants. Hemingway was able...

Last week, I saw a street kid walking down the dusty road in Bukoto Markets. He was selling mangos from a bucket and wearing a Carleton University shirt. He stood there, in the midst of the dilapidated market stalls, surrounded by squawking chicken in cages and boda drivers calling out...

Recently, Toronto City Council did something that Mayor Rob Ford deemed "ludicrous and dangerous": They banned plastic bags. Perhaps Council was concerned about the estimated 500 billion plastic bags are used around the globe each year. Yet, while commentators such as the Globe and Mail's Margaret...

This past spring, Ugandan women did something unprecedented: in response to a brutal assault on opposition leader Ingrid Turinawe they took to the streets. People were shocked by the photographs that show police brutally grabbing Turinawe's breasts as she cried out in pain. Sexual assault is...

What is the price of unemployment? Ask the family of 26-year-old Justine Nalugya who killed herself this past March. She had been unemployed for five years and her suicide was the result of her despair about being perpetually unemployed. According to Nalugya's relatives, the young woman was "disgusted...

Ever since the collapse of the Asian and Celtic "Tigers," it's a good rule of thumb to stay away from big cat metaphors when describing emerging economies. But with the explosive growth of the Ugandan economy, it's hard not to wonder whether the Ugandan lion is emerging. Fancy hotels and...

If you have the money, shopping in Uganda is done at western-style shopping malls. Garden City and Nakumatt Oasis are popular with expats. Most Ugandans, however, shop as they always have -- from roadside vendors. Many vendors sell their wares from rudimentary stalls or just spread out on blankets. On...

Mariah Griffin-Angus is currently doing human rights and development work in Uganda. She will be writing regular dispatches about her adventures in Africa for Huffington Post Canada.

Africa. What do you need to know about Africa that you don't already know? It's the land of the Lion King and mythic...