Saturday, March 21, 2009

uganda VII

how can one say they have had a life changing experience and expect people to take them seriously.  i was in uganda (never been there before) in a small village (one of the first two white men to be there) and walked where no white man has ever walked before.  how can that NOT be life changing? 

tuesday, august 19/08

what a long, arduous ride to get out here!  probably three hours or so but 2/3 of the way is on red dirt roads that, thankfully, have been settled with rain.  but it could have been much worse if we had come by taxi.  "taxi" is an experience i've yet to have.  they are like econoline vans that are licensed for 14 people plus a driver and a conductor.  they have been known to take more. that would have been brutal on these roads.  beezman, steve, and parisai came out in a taxi.  i must say that i feel somewhat guilty about that but our hosts want to treat us well.  and the taxi is how these folks get around so there was no complaint from these people.
the home that roger and his brothers and sister lived in right in the village is basically a small room crammed with 2 couches, a coffee table, and and bureau.  behind a hanging blanket is a sleeping room.  steve still stays there when he comes home.
when we got there they were in the middle of their weekly market.  it was interesting as a cultural event but disappointing on other levels.  cows and goats were bought at market and were being taken to the big city for slaughtering.  the truckers and their workers were were incredibly cruel to the animals.   the cattle are crammed in front to back with heads twisted in whatever way necessary to make a fit.  the goats are piled 3 high and crowded like the cows.  we saw truckloads on the way up to the village with legs stuck out the sides of the truck.  brad went to take a picture.  they began to yell and swear about mzungu just wanting to take the pictures and sell them.  roger began to argue with them.  he didn't say we weren't selling the pictures but said, "what are we all here for?  people sell things, people buy things.  that's what the market is."  i think he likes to argue/debate a little bit.
after a walk around the  village meeting people, followed by children and accosted by the market-day drunks (thank goodness for steve - everyone knows him and likes him; he was our protector to a certain degree) we headed off to uncle george's farm compound.  on the compound is a house for george and his wife,and three clay, thatch-roofed huts housing 3 families - 2 daughters and their husbands and children, and 1 son with his wife and children.  also a clay cook house where they cook their milk and make yoghurt (which was fabulous, by the way).

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