My week away

Well Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m terribly sorry that I did not post a blog for the last couple of weeks. The plan was to post one two weeks ago, saying that I will be living in a rural village for a week and will let you know how it goes when I get back. But alas, that didn’t happen. So SURPRISE!!! I was able to live in a rural village last week and in this blog I am going to tell you about it.

A short pre-story: Basically we organized this kinda out of the blue. I thought it would be really cool to be able to experience what life was like in a rural village here (man did I not know what I was getting into) and the next thing I knew, it was organized and we were good to go. I was gonna stay there for a week, Monday to Sunday, and do everything (as much as possible) that the villagers do, just basically living their life. But enough of that, here goes the real experience. Enjoy.

(sorry, it’s quite long)

Day One: Monday

                We parked the car at around 2:30 on the side of the road. The village was up in the mountain (about a 20 minute walk up) and the only road that went there was not a road. It was a mud path that had definitely seen better days. There was no way the car was gonna be able to make it up. So we walked. When we arrived I was able to meet up with Andrew and his wife, the people whose house I would be staying in, Robert and Frances, two people who spoke English and who I would be working with throughout the week, and Amos, one of the sons of Andrew who spoke English and who would also be accompanying me throughout the week. While we were all there we went to visit some of the relatives and clan members of Nelson (the person whose house I stay at in Mbale. It is him and his wife Agnes). This was all interesting, being able to see the various people and get a lay of the land. We eat some food together, and then Nelson and Agnes left. It was from this point that I started to get some mixed feelings. Anxiety, excitement, nervousness, wonder, etc. But most of all, what the heck was I doing in a village on the side of a mountain, that doesn’t show up on the map, and with nobody that I knew? Oh man. Well by nightfall I was dead tired and, by like 8:00, it was pitch black (there was electricity… kinda. It was taken illegally from the main lines by using barbed wire and the family were able to rig up a system of tiny little lights that definitely make it not pitch black, but don’t do much more. My room was pretty much pitch black the whole time). So I went to my room, a 5ft by 7ft room with a bed and floor space for my bag. It was all that I really needed though so it wasn’t a problem. Goodnight and see you tomorrow.

                Alright so before I move on to Tuesday let me tell you about the house. It is a small house. It’s made of mud with iron sheets for the room. The kitchen is tiny, with about enough space for one… maybe two, people and it contains a pot positioned on three rocks with fire wood underneath. This is the stove. The washroom is next to the kitchen. It consists of a bucket that you fill up and wash with. Then there is the place where the chickens are kept, the place where the goats are kept, and the outhouse. Alright, day two.

Day Two: Tuesday

                Woke up, don’t know when exactly (my phone is off and I have no way of telling the time), I think it was around 7:30 though, and I took my first bucket shower. I’m feeling a lot better than yesterday and hopefully it’ll be a good day. As we are all getting ready for the day I saw a man walking on his hands and knees because he was crippled. He is the family’s neighbor and they help him with various things. Not gonna lie though, mildly intense. After a delicious breakfast of chapatti, Frances and I walked to the local market. Disclaimer: when someone here says it is not far, it is blinking so far away. The market wasn’t actually that far but keep in mind this is walking up and down the mountain. I think they said it was about 3 kilometers away. Then, on the way back we walked through the plantations, which was so serial. I don’t know why. It was cool though. Alright, well although the market was good, by lunch I was exhausted and disoriented and I didn’t really feel like spending a week like this. You see, I was exhausted from all the walking and disoriented from the fact that I didn’t know the time and the eating habits were different there and it felt like it was a lot later than it was… not fun. Then, in the afternoon, we rested, listened to the radio, and played cards (yeah we played a lot of cards during this week). We then went to fill up the water buckets from the stream (kinda. It was coming out from a pipe but the pipe was connected to the underwater stream that came from the mountain. I didn’t drink this water though. I brought my own bottled water). After that we went out for a “short” walk. Notice the quotation marks around the word short? Yeah, well Robert said it would be short… we were out from 4:30 to 7 o’clock. We weren’t walking all that time but just to put it into perspective. When we got home and had something to eat, though I was still confused as to the eating habits. I thought it was dinner but it was only supper (not that I thought there was a difference) and then, when dinner came, although it was amazing, I wasn’t able to eat much of it! I know! Not fair! Oh well, I guess I’ll go to bed and see you tomorrow.

Day Three: Wednesday

                So its morning and we are out in the garden digging (that’s right… digging) and I ask the time, presuming that it’s close to nine. It’s blinking 7:45 in the morning! What the heck. We had been digging for what felt like a long time but was probably only 45 minutes. It was good though. I was able to let a lot of my feelings from yesterday go as I dug. And, yet again, in the morning hours I felt positive towards the day. After digging we had breakfast and I got ready for the day. This morning Robert, Frances, and I would visit one of the local schools. Well this school also turned out to be blinking far away. (Sorry, I use the word blinking a lot). The school was interesting. I was able to learn a lot about school life there. Like how many of the teachers have over 100 children per class and how the children rarely get a morning or lunch meal at home. It was quite intense. Also the classrooms aren’t exactly at the peak of their existence. Well, after a while we had to head back though and we left the school behind and went home for lunch. By lunchtime I was extremely exhausted but my disorientation was easing so that is a plus. In the afternoon it was raining but only slightly so we went first to fill up the water buckets. Then we went to pick some pawpaw (akaed in the US as Papaya). That was cool because I was able to see how it was done and be a part of the process. We also picked some coffee beans and I attempted to carry the bucket of fruit on my head on the walk back. Oh man!!! That is so tough. I have a lot of respect for the people that can do that. In the evening I was able to help by crushing the Ground Nuts. They were put in a wooden bowl about a foot tall and half a foot in diameter and you take a big stick and just bring the stick down repeatedly, crushing the Ground Nuts. Btw, by repeatedly, I mean repeatedly, and for a very long time. So its evening, I’m exhausted, and the days still feel like they won’t end. But I guess it’s getting easier. I don’t know, we’ll see tomorrow. Goodnight.

Day Four: Thursday

                Happy Thanksgiving.

                We woke up early again this morning to go dig. This time I was able to work for a lot longer which was good. By breakfast I’m tired, but don’t worry. It’s the good type of tired. And I know its morning but I can tell that it is definitely getting easier. After breakfast we went to visit another of the local primary schools. I was able to see how some of the classrooms consisted solely of the frame of the room and the roof. No walls. We had a long talk with the main lady there which was really insightful. I was challenged just by seeing and realizing the intensity of the problem here in rural Uganda regarding many different things, including schooling. So after that we visited a family there and then went back up the mountain. When we arrived we had lunch, rested some, and after that, we planted tomatoes. This was really fun, unless you don’t like getting your hands dirty, but I didn’t mind that. After the planting, we were going to watch a local football game but it was raining so we waited a bit. Then, as the rain died down we went, only to be caught in the rain right before we reached the game. So we waited some time, then, as it died down again, we went to watch the game. It wasn’t a bad game. The pitch was slippery which made it hilarious to watch. The problem was that it was getting dark so we had to leave early (we had to walk up the mountain in the mud so we didn’t want to wait till dark). But as we got to the path we ended up being caught in the rain again so we waiting by the road at the bottom. There were some small shops here so we had some shelter. So, despite the efforts not to, we ended up walking up the mountain in the dark in and in the mud. It was alright though. I was in a good mood and you really just have to smile in those situations. Never in my life before now did I think I would be struggling up a mountain path in the mud and darkness, only to be heading to a mud house in a small rural Ugandan village where I would live for a week. Gotta love it. Alright so it’s still raining as I head off to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.

By the way, my thanksgiving dinner consisted of Matooke (a species of banana that is eaten when it’s still green), greens, Posho (corn flour), and a sauce with cabbage and G-nuts in it… I think. I can’t really remember exactly. It kinda all blurs together.

Day Five: Friday

                We woke up later than usual because we were not going to dig this morning. Then went and had the most delicious breakfast of Milk Tea, Ground Nuts, and a Chapatti. It was a lot because we were going to be moving around the market later on in the morning and we needed all the energy we could get. So after breakfast we walked down the mountain to the road and got a Boda (if confused, see earlier blogs) to the market. We were going to walk but we didn’t because, for me, it was blinking far. For the people here it wasn’t bad. The market was insane though (it was a different, bigger market than the one on Tuesday). There was a mass of people, vehicles, food being sold, and mud. It was crazy. There were just people everywhere selling everything from shoes to rabbits to sweet potatoes. I loved it, just being able to move around and see this completely new experience. We were able to look around a bit before we got what we needed to get, along with some other things, and headed back to have lunch. After lunch we rested for a bit, because it was raining, and played some cards. After a while, though it was still raining, we went out to go slash the garden (a different garden). Ok, so there are two types of slashing the garden. One is when you use a device similar to a golf club only that the end of it is a double edged knife. You pretty much just swing and you cut the grass. Or there is the other way, for gardens with less grass and more weeds and other plants. Basically you take a machete, bend down, and just have at it, cutting the plants as close to the ground as you can get. Yeah we did the later of those two. It was kinda fun but also really hard work. I felt like a wimp though because the area that I cut looked so bad compared to the rest. I started to get the hang of it after a while though. We did this for a while and then went to go cut some matooke for dinner (in yet another garden). When we arrived back at the house we rested for a bit and then I was able to learn how to make Mandazi’s (which, btw, are so delicious). Man we ate a lot of Mandazi’s that night. Alright so that’s the end of that day, see you tomorrow.

Day Six: Saturday

                Church today. After a massive, and slightly odd, breakfast of matooke, potatoes, chicken, and Mandazi’s, we got ready for church. And here, like in Mbale, dressing up for church is pretty important. The only difference here is that there is mud. So I’m standing there in a smart dress shirt, dress pants, and… gum boots. It looked pretty legit. So we headed off to church, which was so far away, and on the way we had to cross this stream but there wasn’t really any stepping stones and the only stone there was slightly submerged by water. It was good fun. When we got to the church we entered a small mud building and sat down. At the end of the service the mother where I was staying got up and thanked me for staying with them and she said she really liked having another son for the week and she wished I could stay longer. Oh man. Touched my heart, let me tell you. I think that one moment right there made the entire week for me. If nothing else, the fact that they appreciated me being there was enough for me. After she said that, we left and headed back home. For the rest of the day we just relaxed and, in the afternoon, visited different families. This was really interesting because I was able to meet with many of the people in the village and talk to some of them (the ones that knew English). After that we just went home and chilled till dinner time. Oh yeah, we also played a lot of cards… good stuff. Well that’s all for today, check back in tomorrow, the last day!

Day Seven: Sunday

                Well, because a large part of this trip was to get experience, I ended up attending church on Sunday as well. Although the family didn’t go to church on Sundays, Frances did and I went with him. The thing was, his church was blinking even further than the one I went to on Saturday. First you walk down the mountain, then you take a Boda, then you walk back up another blinking section of the mountain. After getting off the Boda and looking up the mountain I asked how far away it was. “It’s not far, about half an hours walk up.” HALF A BLINKING HOUR (sorry). It was so far up this mountain and by the time we reached I was done. I was so tired. So we rested for a bit. Luckily the church didn’t start for a while so we had time. When the church did start it was so much fun. It was a meeting of all the churches connected together so there was a bunch of dancing and singing and clapping hands. Good stuff. But, alas, I had to leave early to get ready. So we walked back down the mountain, took a Boda, and then walked back up the mountain to the house. From there I packed up and had lunch. I didn’t actually get picked up till around 5 so for the rest of the day we just relaxed again and talked. Then, when they did arrive, in keeping with the culture here, we talked for a bit and went up to visit other members of the village before heading back down. Not gonna lie, it was kinda sad to go. The mother was definitely holding it back. I could tell she really appreciated me coming. And honestly, though it was tough, I’m glad I had the opportunity (but I’ll talk about that later. Back to what happened). So what follows is another reason why I’m glad I came. Basically, in local culture, if a visitor comes and you enjoyed their presence, you give gifts. So, as I’m leaving, the mother gets the boys to chop down a big thing of Matooke and she gives it to me. (Actually someone else carries it down on their head because I can’t). I felt so touched. But it didn’t stop there. By the time we reached the vehicle there were 4 big bunches of matooke (I didn’t even know about two of them), a pawpaw, a couple smaller gifts from Frances and Robert, and a chicken. (Heck yeah a chicken). And I just want to say real quick, it wasn’t the fact that I now have this stuff. It was the fact that it meant that much to the family that I was with. I’m so glad that they enjoyed having me for the week. Well anyways, all good things must come to an end, and we all said our goodbyes and we drove off, not into the sunset because the sun had already set, but into the darkness. An end to an intense week.

                So, pretty much, the week was intense, nerve-racking, fun, exciting, tough, stressful, relaxing, insane, crazy, rewarding, enlightening, humbling, difficult, and totally worth it. I learned so much that week and I am so glad I chose to go. If not for anything else, for the fact that it meant so much to the family that I stayed with. Looking back, I loved the experience. It was blinking tough and at times I hated it. But it was so worth it and I think the tough times helped to make that. I was able to realize what it was like for a rural villager and, although I will never know entirely because I was just there for a week and there were many things that I didn’t do, I was able to get a taste of life there. So worth it. They are amazing people and it was an amazing trip. Would I go back?… not sure. If I got the opportunity to go back there specifically I think I would. But if I got the opportunity to go somewhere I would want to go somewhere different because there is so much else in the world and so many other cultures and people groups that I would want to continue learning from as many places as possible.

                So there you have it. My week in a village in rural Uganda, attempting to live life like the villagers; learning as much as I can and experiencing life there. My main fear is that this description of the week doesn’t do it justice but I hope it gives an insight into what happened. Oh man, so good. It was one wild ride that’s for sure. I hope you’ve enjoyed my telling it.

Until next time.