Livin' the True African Lifestyle...Rural Visit

Sunday, January 25, 2009

This weekend, our group was split up into groups of 5 to experience a rural home visit with our field assistants. My field assistant’s name is Paul. We actually learned later that he is known as Jimmy in his village, Mitch at church, and Paul in Kampala. So, he basically has 3 first names. Anyway, we began our travels on Friday at around 11 or so…our trek to Ilowya, the village, which was supposed to take 5 hours ended up being longer than expected. We took a very late lunch break at 4 in the afternoon. We stopped at a hotel restaurant, ordered right away, and waited for over an hour until we finally got our food. We had to eat quickly so that we wouldn’t be late for dinner at his family’s house. When we were driving on the way to his village we saw baboons. It was so cool! We watched the big and small baboons interact along the road…a mother was carrying her baby on her stomach. We threw bananas out the window so we could watch them eat. We took lots of pictures.

Finally, we arrived at the house and met Paul’s family. He has around 32 brothers and sisters, but not all of them were at home. His father has a couple wives. Everyone in his family was very kind. When we stepped out of the mutatu, his mother and sisters started screaming, ran to us, and greeted us with warm hugs. They were so happy for visitors. Once we unloaded the car, we got situated in our rooms. The girls, Suzy, Anna, Monika-Paul’s “sister,” and I stayed in a bedroom towards the back of the house. The 4 of us slept in the same bed…it was quite the crunch. Also, two other women slept on a floor mattress in our room. The guys, Wes and Eli, stayed with Paul in the room beside us.

Friday evening, Paul gave us a tour of his home and its surroundings. Behind the house were two huts, one for cooking and one was a house for the chickens and other animals, I think? They also have cows in the pasture behind. It got dark quickly and we went inside to talk with his father while we waited for dinner. There was no electricity. His father shared many interesting stories. Apparently, he was involved with the government and was highly wanted by rebels. The place where we stayed was battlegrounds during the war in the late 1980s. We had tea and bread with butter prior to our meal. At around 10 or so, dinner was served. We ate around lamplight. The women did not eat with us, as it is traditional that only the men eat and are served the food and the women who prepare the meal eat separately. Before we could eat our meal everyone washed their hands in a water basin. The meal included rice, meat, spaghetti stuff, millet bread, posho, and other food dishes I don’t remember. The same foods were prepared for all the meals except for breakfast. I liked the rice, spaghetti dishes, and fruits but did not care as much for the other things…but I tried every dish! Then, we went to bed. We used the latrines for brushing our teeth and going to the bathroom. Friday was a difficult sleeping night. Besides sharing a double bed with 4 other girls, the women talking, bats squeaking, rats’ pitter pattering on the floor, and pounding of rain on the tin roof kept me awake for most of the night. However, I was able to catch a couple zzz’s early in the morning.

We woke up early and got ready for the day. After breakfast, tea, bananas, and bread with butter, Paul gave us a tour of his community. We saw the huts that he and his brothers built, his old school, a woman digging for cassava, a barber shop, medical center, world vision center, um…and I think there were other places too. We pretty much saw everything in his village. It was a lot of fun…and a lot of walking. We went home to rest and eat lunch. We ate outside picnic style with his family. They had lots of fresh fruit-mangos, pineapple, jack fruit, apples, and oranges…all so good! I took a quick nap before heading to our next day event, the soccer game. Around 4 we left to go see his village and his neighboring village play a game of futbol as they call it here. I had a lot of fun…African soccer games are very different than American. These guys play barefoot or in sandals and use wooden sticks as goalie boxes. I began to take pictures during the game and all of these kids started crowding around me to see…I began to take pictures of them. The kids here always say, “Hey muzungu….” and always look at us with blank faces. People in the village aren’t used to seeing white people…we met a man around the age of 50 or so who has never seen a white person before. They are always so excited to see us.

Anyway, after I began taking pictures of the kids, they continued to follow me and ask for me to take their pictures…I’d take the photo, show it to them, and they would laugh with huge smiles on their face. Priceless moments…We left during half-time because it started to get dark and we didn’t want to go home and not be able to see. When we arrived home, we sat on the outside front porch and ate our tea and bread. Paul told us traditional riddles, proverbs, and stories that he was told as a child. We talked for a long time and I was beginning to get very tired. I feel asleep and wanted to go to bed…but had to stay up for dinner. Finally, around 10:30 dinner was served. Again, we washed our hands and shared the meal of rice, noodles, meat, and millet bread. After the meal, Paul had a prayer for us and a worship song for us to sing. This was my favorite part of the night. We, the visitors, sang a worship song we knew and then they, the hosts, sang and danced for us. It was awesome! They were screaming, clapping, and dancing to the beat of drums and singing. All of us enjoyed the entertainment and clapped along with them. We went to bed soon after that. Saturday night I slept like a rock because…I HAD EARPLUS, the best thing EVER!!! I love earplugs, they work wonders.

Sunday morning, I woke up early and got ready for church and packed up my things. Before breakfast, we slaughtered a chicken…this is an honor for all guests, to cut off a chicken’s head. Paul and Eli held the chicken so that Wes, the brave soul, could cut the neck. I wasn’t as grossed out as I thought I would be. After the chicken is dead, they stuck it in hot water so that the feathers are easier to remove. Then, the insides are removed and the chicken is skinned. This was our lunch for today. We had breakfast and sat in the living room until everyone was ready to leave for church. I loved this time of the day…Anna and Eli played the guitar and we all sang worship songs.

We went to Paul’s church and worshipped with his community. There were few families there, but the service was very good. The people welcomed us with open arms and expressed their love for God. There was lots of jumping, shouting, praying, dancing, and singing for two hours. They asked us to introduce ourselves and one of our songs…we sang “God of Wonders.” They really enjoyed our form of worship. After church we attend a funeral rite close by. The funeral rite was a celebration to honor and remember the person who died. However, the individual passed away 1 year ago…I believe that this was the last funeral rite ceremony for this person. During these celebrations, children and Adults come together to sit and talk in circles while sitting around a pot of millet beer with big, long straws. To fill up the pots, people continued to poor boiling water into the pot, there was a millet foam on top…it didn’t smell very good. We didn’t stay there for very long because we needed to get back for lunch. We ate with Paul’s family for the last time, took a family photo, and headed back to Kampala. It was a long bus ride…very, very bumpy, but we got home safe and sound.

Although I enjoyed this weekend very much, I was ready to get a shower and change into some clean clothes. However, after seeing and living in the rural village for a few days, I recognize the many blessings I have in my life. After seeing so much poverty this weekend, I almost feel guilty for everything I have. Children walk around the streets with dirt on their faces, holes in their shirts, and no pants to wear. It makes me question, why do I have the life I have and they theirs? It doesn’t seem fair or right. Yet, at the same time, I recognize that, despite the little that they have, they are filled with pure joy. And seeing these people filled with true happiness has made me recognize the many things I take for granted in my life and how much I need to be more appreciative for the many blessings I have.