I live in Texas and many of my friends are cowboys-either the Urban kind or actual ranching cowboys. 
The picture you see here is a real cow in Uganda. Those massive horns are the distinctive mark of the Ankole cattle of Uganda. They are know as the “cattle of kings” among the Watusi people who almost worship them. When we see those huge horns, my Texas wranglers can never again boost of the Texas “Bevo” being the most impressive horns ever seen.
While I am here in rural Uganda, it is a common sight to see these Ankole cattle and their huge, heavy, horns everywhere. They are mostly herded by boys who keep watch on cows- thus cowboys!
No stetsons, spurs and horses here; just kids living their daily lives in a pasture surrounded by horns. The puzzling thing about seeing the Ankole bulls along the roadside, is that only a very small percentage of Uganda’s cowboys will ever eat beef themselves. The cowboys who own these cows are too poor to slaughter even one cow for personal consumption. The average income in Uganda is only $1 a day. The vast majority of the poor seldom eat any thing beyond a fish from Lake Victoria, and some roots, maize or rice.
Having been here over a week I can testify to eating lots of rice! All those who do missionary work in the African bush can relate to the absence of so many comforts we take for granted. Here in rural Uganda while I am eating my rice and fish once more the electricity goes off, and the hotel has no candles! ASA…..Africa strikes again! I have learned to live with this acronym- ASA. It is the African equivalent of Murphy’s law- if it can go wrong- it will go wrong!
God has blessed each American enormously beyond what we can even imagine. The poorest among us are rich! So, while you are sitting on your recliner in your comfortable home, while multitudes have so little, count your many blessings, name them one by one. Meanwhile, a Uganda boy sits under a tree, switch in hand, counting his cows! Cowboys??
