Uganda Day 70
Chikaste Yesu! - Praise the Lord in Kupsabiny
(to which you would respond)
Chikaste Koromiin - Praise him big
I assure you this greeting brought many a smile to the passerby.
This past week I spent time in some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen, Kapchorwa, Uganda. I also experienced some of the most gracious hospitality. For my rural homestay I was with the Chebei family,my dad, Joel, my mom, Jocelyn, Obed, Sarah, and Gaishon. While my parents have three children, only one of them lives at home. The others, Sam and Charity were at boarding school in Kapchorwa town. Sarah is the daughter of my dad's good friend (who was staying with them to keep me company) and Gaishon is a sweet boy who lives with them to help out with the cows.
Rural Uganda, Kapchorwa is captivating in all its natural beauty and also the beauty of its people. I am convinced that hospitality to them is a cup of tea and a snack. I averaged about 5 cups of tea a day. My family was often encouraging me to eat or drink more. Most days I went to sleep full to the brim and woke early only to be greeted with a cup of tea.
I arrived on Friday to my family's compound high in the foothills of Mt. Elgon. The roads up the hill were so bad because of rain that the USP van almost did not make it. Ugandan families just radiate beauty. I was welcomed so warmly into Joel and Jocelyn's home and their family. That first day I was thrown right into the work and helped make dinner. I learned that both of my parents are teachers in primary schools and that my dad is a headteacher or headmaster. The kitchen quickly becomes the hub of action after dark as we had no electricity and it got COLD. Mama, Sarah, and I all bonded together over the warmth of the charcoal stove. I think I learned more about the country of Uganda from this family in one week than I have all semester.
Saturday morning started off with a bang. One of our cows had a calf on Friday and had since contracted 'milk fever'. Thus, I got to witness African veterinary care and the fear of my family that the cow might be lost. These two cows (and new calf) are the life blood to my family, as tea is certainly central to the rhythm of their lives. That afternoon was a visitation day at Charity and Sam's school so Mama, Obed, and I headed into Kapchorwa town with a homemade lunch to share with them. Visitation days serve to inform parents of their children's performance in school and encourage parental visitation, like parent/teacher conferences. It was neat to meet Sam and Charity to complete the picture of my family, as well as, to learn more about the school system. Sunday was an adventure. At church I was introduced to the congregation, along with my friend Michael, and greeted everyone with the aforementioned greeting which was meet with rounds of laughter. The service was very traditional but definitely had an African flair. When the offering was taken those who cannot give monetarily give from their garden or cow(for instance, two liters of milk was given, a bag of g. nuts (peanuts), a chicken, a bunch of matoke) then the items are auctioned off to the rest of the congregation. I think this is a truly beautiful example of was is the African Church. After the service, which lasted about 3 hours, Michael and I were treated like guests of honor and were given tea and questioned by an elder of the church.
After church I got to help 'pulp' coffee, a major crop in the region which is exported for processing. Monday was by far more of a chill day. However, do not be mistaken, Sarah and I were busy. While Mama, Dad, Gaishon, and Obed were off at school, we washed clothes, dishes, sorted coffee, peeled matoke and other such chores. On Tuesday, I went to burial, or the end of one with Mama. The sky was a stunning shade of blue when we left the house, but about 30 minutes into our journey it started to rain. It continued to do so even after we left the burial. The burial was a lively affair with an MC and lots of food. By the time we arrived the body had already been buried and it was rainy and cold so we stayed for only about ten minutes. Let me tell you, trekking around Kapchorwa was about 10 times harder after the rain especially going downhill in shoes hardly made for hiking. There are many things I am in Africa, but graceful is not one of them. I think I managed to fall three or four times and to be honest the thing I was worried about the most was having to wash my skirt again. I washed clothes three days in a row while in Kapchorwa, certainly a record for me. While my limited wardrobe was complimented by frequent washings, my hands were in massive amounts of pain. Wednesday,after I finished washing my 'hill falling' clothing, I showed my hands to Mama Jocelyn and was basically forbidden from doing anything with water, such as dishes and laundry. Alas, the day managed to fill itself quite nicely anyway. Sarah and I went to Joel(Dad)'s sister's home, Jessica, and had some maize ground into flour. A trip that due to the necessary hospitality tea took far longer than we had planned, was followed by a hike up the hill.
When we got to the top it began to rain so Sarah and I sought shelter with a relative of Sarah's where we were again welcomed with tea. On the way home we visited Sarah's family and many others. I was told to come back and visit her grandmother sometime soon for she was currently out of sugar or she would have prepared me tea also. I declare, these people live in simplicity, but are so willing to share. Where has our society gone wrong?? Thursday I was planning on going with Mama Jocelyn to school, but it was a dreary day and began pouring at around 8 so even she did not go to school. Rain really does stop life there. They were pretty amazed that people continue to venture out when the weather is nasty in my place. Sarah, Mama Jocelyn, and I spent most of the day in the kitchen congregated around the fire for warmth. We did venture out for a bit to do some hoeing in the garden. I was, however, shooed away after about 45 minutes with a caution to take care of my hands. African women are so strong and joyful as they work. There is a good inspiration. I just want you all to know that I did manage to reach my goal and yes, I milked a cow!
Friday morning saw me leaving my sweet family and heading into Sipi, Kapchorwa for a different kind of adventure.
I learned so much from my family. I learned the joy of community. It is amazing how people flock to the light and warmth of the kitchen after dark when there is no electricity. There is a simple fellowship that comes from washing dishes together. Long nights without television or internet lend themselves very well to deep meaningful conversations. The school system in Uganda was a common theme of discussion. Uganda has free primary school education, but still does not uniforms to those students who cannot afford to buy them. My dad teaches at a 'public' school and therefore none of his children attend his school, but instead go to a 'private' school where families pay school fees in addition to buying uniforms. Education is Uganda fascinates me. There is really no benefit to primary education. It does not increase the chances for a person to get a job. Primary education is also taught in the local language until Primary 4. Thus in Kapchorwa, P.1-3 are taught in Kupsabiny and then everything after is taught in English. This is a new system as of the last five or so years.
It does prevent the problem of not having a sure enough foundation in one language to learn another (in theory), but at the same time it does make me wonder if the local languages of Uganda will continue to withstand the test of time. Another thing I found fascinating is that the Bible has yet to be fully translated into Kupsabiny. They currently only have the New Testament translated, though an edition of the Old Testament in in the works. It makes me sad that they do not have the full Bible available to them in their language, especially since Christianity is so widespread. My Dad did point out that there is still a large amount of the population that is illiterate. It almost makes me think of Islam and how it is only available to the population that can read Arabic or in this case English.
As the outside world becomes more globalized, I have to wonder if these people will be able to reap the benefits of such an interconnected system or if it will trample them in way of exploitation. It seems as the world stretches its grasp it is these small cultures that lose their unique place in the world. Life's just not fair.
This was the view on the way back from getting water. And yes carrying these little jugs up the hill made me feel totally out of breath, but I mean the scenery itself is pretty breathtaking.
Have a beautiful week everyone!
Happy Halloween.
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