Trip to the Village

In Uganda, people talk about ‘the village’ as this place – out there, somewhere, anywhere, BUT NOT in the city.  It basically means countryside. Nearly everyone in Uganda has a ‘village’ that they either grew up in, or their parents / grandparents grew up in. Often families in Kampala will have some of their children spending extended time in ‘the village’ with relatives. I have never had an opportunity to visit ‘the village’ before so felt privileged to be able to accompany my very good friends Harriet and Solomon and their daughter Jemima to their village on Saturday. They were returning a family friend to her home, who had been staying with them for the holidays.

It took us about an hour and a half and about 100 speed bumps (not exaggerating) to get there. The road got progressively bumpier and trickier to navigate as we got closer to ‘the village’ we were visiting. The term ‘village’ for me conjures up a pretty picture of a group of houses all together in a clearing, maybe the cluster of houses in a circle! This is not really what a Ugandan village is like. The houses can be spread far apart and some peoples closest neighbour is a mile or so away. We visited several homesteads before arriving at the family friend’s home who we would spend the day with.

I parked our car under an enormous mango tree and the whole setting looked idyllic. A brick house in a nice clearing, plenty of trees – chickens and pigs running around free range.

The view was amazing and there was a handy ledge on the front of the house where you could sit and pass the time. After living in Kampala for 8 months, the 2 things I could not get over in this setting were the quiet and stillness and the fresh, fresh air.  Even when there was noise in the distance as farm labourers shouted to each other – it still seemed peaceful. You could hear the birds and hear nature.

We were given such a warm welcome and I felt very much at home. Their home, although nice by village standards, was still very basic. Their only visible posessions, were a few chairs, a few tablecloths and plates and other crockery. No photo frames, ornaments, gadgets, TV, toys or any other STUFF. They had no electricity so that cut down on a lot of what they could have! No Table and chairs, just mats on the mud floor. They seemed to be a very vibrant, happy family and extremely hardworking.

As I sat and waited for food to be prepared, life seemed so slow. The pace of life so different from the city and certainly from the West.  I enjoyed watching Mayah play on a rope swing with her friend, enjoying life’s simple delights.

 We were served traditional banana pancakes first. The main course consisted of beans, matoke, cassava, g nut sauce and cabbage which I can actually say I enjoyed! What I found so wonderful, was that all the food came from their land. All of the food they eat comes from their land with the exception of salt, sugar and oil. No supermarket shops with trolleys full just many early mornings, digging in the fields and then reaping the harvest.

This simple way of life also comes with its challenges. Water has to be collected from some distance which I was told was ‘far’ (whatever that means!). What I couldn’t believe was when the mother told me that if the garden needs water she will collect 30, 20 litre jerry cans and carry them back one at a time on her head. That is devotion to your plants but then again it is their means of survival. Their daughter Robina, who was about 14 has to walk 1 and a half hours to school there and then the same home again. This would be preceded and followed by chores. A very different kind of life then what I experienced as a teenager.

Village life is certainly hard work but I love the simplicity of it. They are not consumed by materialism but just a simple existence. They do not have loads of STUFF to clutter up their lives but they have what they need – a loving family, good friends, water, great fresh food to eat, ability to send kids to school, a house and clothes to wear oh and a radio! Who needs more than this? I don’t want to feel guilty about what I have but I do want to appreciate everything I have and practice gratitude on a daily basis.  I desire to live life simply, not getting bogged down by what I think I may need to make me happier. Surely I have enough.

I am the one

This Facebook post had us really laughing last night as we could identify with most of them already, 'even' after only 6 months! Yes, I am the one.

AN EXPATRIATE OR A FOREIGNER KNOWS HE'S BEEN IN UGANDA FOR TOO LONG WHEN:

…seeing someone speeding towards you in the wrong lane seems completely normal …You find yourself pointing with your lips and saying "yes" by raising both eyebrows. …You can masterfully employ a variety of "Eh!" and "Eh eh!" noises to convey a range of meanings …You know "Come back tomorrow at 10:00 a.m." means whatever you're trying to get done is NEVER going to happen …You start using the words "even" and "ever" in places you never would have ("Even me, I'm feeling hungry," or "I have ever done that") …You start referring to people as "this one" or "that one" …You willingly drive into oncoming traffic just to avoid the potholes …you can speak Uganglish so well that - you talk with a Ugandan accent; use words like 'shocked,' 'fearing,' 'extend,' 'balance,' ''somehow,' 'even me,' and 'can you imagine' and 'are you sure?' far too often... …you know the load shedding schedule by heart …When you come back from being out of the country and conversations go as: Them: "you have been lost!!" and your response: "I have been found!" Them: "how is there?" and you: "there is fine!" Them: "you have gone fat!!!" and you are lost for words because you have forgotten how frank Ugandans are …You emphasize how you like something and they say: "Are you sure?" …someone calls out your name and your reply is: "I am the one!" …you end the conversation with "ok please" …You ask for someone, and you know the answer "He's within" means everything from "He's within the building" to "He's within the city" or even "He's within the country". …you start sentences with 'As for me, I ….' …you get 'Am Fine' as a reply to your 'hi'. …Clothes becomes a two-syllable word. Clo - thes. …You know the man asking for Lose actually refers to Rose. …your handshakes last an entire conversation …your home does not have an address …people walk into your house and you say "You are all most welcome!" …you think "eh" in a high pitch tone is the correct way to respond when a boda drivers price suggestion is too high.


We are now local already folks somehow, yes, you are shocked? Eh! Even me, I am a local! 

Extend your eyes this way and enjoy the pictures - can you imagine? You are all most welcome. 

Ok, please.

I feel like I fit in much more and just disappear into the background when I dress like this. Healthy tan, eh?

Jam anyone?

I'm never letting Sue drive a lorry ever again.

Now it all suddenly makes so much more sense!

Visiting in the slums

I don't often get the opportunity to visit families in the slum communities as I am busy with the girls and other commitments but recently I have had the privilege of visiting some families as part of some research that John and I are doing. Whenever I visit families I am overwhelmed by the welcome we receive and the warmth that is shown among the desperate situations that we witness. I just wanted to share with you, my visits to a few of these families to give you a picture of some of the people we are working with.

Mama I is a 19 year old mother originally from the Congo. She has a little boy who is around a year old and is bringing him up alone. My visit to this Mama's house was one of joy and hope. Mama had recently returned from a 3 week trip to a re-feeding and training centre which Revelation Life had paid for and taken her to, due to the severity of her son's malnutrition. As I sat in her one roomed home, she excitedly told me about her experience at the centre and how well her little boy was doing. She had the laminated timetable from her stay at the centre on her wall and was now following the same routine at home. She laughed and chatted, showing me the forms with baby I's weights at different stages and spoke with confidence about how she knew that baby I would not become malnourished again, as she now knew how to cook well for him. She spoke so fondly of the revelation life team and their faithfulness. She showed me the cream which the team had given her which healed a terrible rash that innocent had had. I was left so humbled and grateful for what I had in my own life. This Mama was so over the moon and grateful for having been given a pot of cream, some mentoring in how to cook and people that truly cared for her. Her home was very simple, she had few possessions, no husband to take care of her, no job but she now had a healthy son and was full of Hope. The team continue to visit her a few times a week to check in with her, deliver her food for her son and monitor her progress. Well done Mama Innocent for your positive approach to life and for showing me how small things can make a world of difference.

My visit with Mama T (in the picture above) was somewhat different from the one I described above. Sometimes when I chat with people and they tell me their story, I can't believe how so many tragedies can happen in one persons life. It was like this with Mama T. I sat on the floor on the edge of a thin dirty mattress as there were no chairs or beds in this tiny windowless one room home. Never the less, mama was extremely welcoming and was happen to tell us about her life and her situation. She had 2 babies living with her, baby T who is a year and a half and B, his younger sister, who is about 6 months. Both looked weak and unwell although there was an obvious bond and love between them and there mother. As we chatted I found out that her first husband had died and that her three children had gone to live with her in laws family (am unsure if this was against her will, her choice or just a necessity). She had left the countryside for the city in search of work and found a new man. She gave birth to a boy but sadly due to illness and lack of money for medical fees, he did not reach his first birthday. This profoundly affected Mama and she has not really been the same since. To add to all of this, when she was pregnant with baby B she found out that her husband had been killed in Somalia where he was a soldier. So much loss in one persons life. Life is tough in Kampala's slums, especially when you have no man to take care of you. There is no benefit system, so if you want to eat you have to somehow earn money even if you have no job. My heart went out to Mama T and her desperate situation. I wanted to hold her and for all the pain to go away. Although she had been given lots of help and support from Revelation Life, her situation failed to improve significantly because of the severity of her situation and her loss of Hope. We, however, are not losing Hope in her and now look to the future, considering what Mama T and others in a similar situation need to help get them back on their feet and re-find hope for their lives.

Making toys

Short and sweet!

Not just this blog post but these two lovely children who are about to teach you some cool new skills to try out:

a) with your own kids

b) with pupils at school

c) on your own, on a cold, wet, English Sunday afternoon ;-)

I made this one the other day. Daniella is Mayah's friend and our friend, Harriet's daughter.

This is an old one, but please watch it as I'm trying to break the 250,000 views mark! 

Round houses and mud chairs

I went up to Gulu last week, which is in the north, where the LRA (Kony and his mates) and the Ugandan Army did some very, very terrible things. But let's not just define the place by it's post conflict status - it was a really great place to visit and is doing well at getting back on its feet.

We spent two days 'in the field' out in Amuru (about 2 hours each way on very potholed and slippery roads). The homes were all like those above and the compounds were exceptionally clean and tidy, I did feel a bit of a slob when I imagined how they might react if they came round to ours - even though it's actually pretty good (you do a great job Sue!). My main reason for going was to find out about mud furniture and a bit more about groups and how they work well together, so we had lots of questions and listening to do.

I was also there to make a video about building a chair out of mud and bricks so that I could a) show it to the people in the slums where we work b) share it with the world on Youtube and c) make a bit of money by doing it for Send a Cow - fair enough eh? Making the video was simple as we worked with Jennifer, her friend and Andrew (below), who were really great and let me boss then around to help me get the right shot - which isn't easy when there is harsh sunlight outside and darkness inside their homes. Isaac King and I surprised ourselves by actually feeling really sad when we'd all finished up at the end of the day, that's how nice they all were (Isaac also said that he would like to spend a holiday in one of the huts, which I'm sure we could arrange).

So, because of the light I decided on a photo-video as it would have been too blurry otherwise. If you want to know how to make one of these beautiful items of furniture then watch this and you'll be rolling up the carpet and getting bricks from the garden quick sharp.

Make a mud & brick chair 

Or just take a look at these beauties...

Mud up north

Next week I'm heading 'up north' to a place called Amuru. Unlike going up north in the UK, this trip doesn't involve extra rain and extra eyeshadow, but it does involve strong accents. Why the 5 hour drive? Well, there's a group of Send a Cow farmers there who have been innovating in making all sorts of household furniture out of mud and a few sticks. I must admit, I've no idea how they do it so well, but that is why I'm heading up.

I'll also be gate-crashing the Send a Cow Social Development meetings, which will give me a really good idea on how to help groups increase their resilience to shocks, change and challenges - which we all know come our way in life. I'll be updating when I return, for now, here are some pictures of the kind of things these groups make. Maybe you'll start seeing them in IKEA soon?

For those who like maps like I do, here's a  map...

View Larger Map

Rain, rain

We are all anticipating some heavy rains over the next few months. For us, this will just mean coats on and a few slips in the mud, but for many in the slum communities it means flooded homes, cold nights and sick children.

It's not something that can change overnight, but it is something that we can work with the communities on; helping them to adapt their housing and run off trenches as well as trying to get in touch with the local council so that they can do their bit too.

I made this little video to show the impact of just one mornings' rain so that if I do meet up with a local political bod, I can whip my phone out and show them this...