This past weekend I joined the School Outreach Team from my church on a trip to Tororo, which is a town very near to the Uganda/Kenya border. The team is made up of upper-high school students and young adults who are members of the church. My host father, Steven, is the leader of the group, and Tororo is his home district.
The purpose of the trip was to teach youth in Christian high schools about HIV/AIDS from a faith perspective.
Each presentation lasts about two hours and includes things like skits, cultural dances and songs.
Early Friday morning (and I mean early--like 3am!) we piled into two trucks and set off. We stopped for breakfast at Steven's aunt's home in the "village"--and by village, I mean a real African village! We had to haul water from a swamp, cook over a fire, and showering was done by bringing a basin of water into a little lean-to type shelter made up corrugated metal and splashing water onto yourself with your hands.
Oh, and I have to mention the lovely challenge of eating with my fingers! I felt slightly incompetent and I will never get used to seeing grown men in a suit and tie not using a fork and knife. Although to be fair, it's not easy to eat rice with your fingers, and eventually someone felt sorry for me and found me a random spoon to use.
The perception of white people --and in particular white women-- in Kamuli (and I imagine most of rural Uganda) is that we are very delicate and have a great deal of difficulty enduring "harsh" conditions.
Those of you who know me will probably agree that I am not exactly the sort of person who is going to be able to contradict that perception...haha...oh well...(My name is Amanda, and yes, I brought a hair straightener with me to sub-Saharan Africa)
I will answer some of your questions soon. In the meantime, please don't forget to stick your email address in the sidebox, and please leave your comments!
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| Doing a traditional Basoga dance |
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| Monkeys on the side of the highway |
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| Fetching water among the papyrus bushes |
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| A typical group of huts in the eastern-Ugandan countryside |
