Ask me about my chicken....
What an adventure I had today!!! In the morning I found an excellent boda-boda driver. His name is James and his boda-boda is pretty new. He drove well and offered a fair rate. We agreed on a fair of 10,000 which is good. The other driver offered to do it for 20,000. It was a long drive out to Pabo. My partner teacher, David, lives out in Pabo and makes a 2 ½ hour bike ride to school each day. He invited me to spend the day with him to meet his family and see his farm. The ride out was breathtaking. The long road is made of red clay and dirt. On either side there are rolling hills and valleys covered with trees. In the distance you can see larger hills (almost mountains). The further away we drove from Gulu the more interested the people seemed by my presence. I put in my I-pod and enjoyed the ride.
When we arrived David seemed so happy to see me. He wanted to introduce me to all of his friends and family. I spoke with James, the boda-boda driver and asked him if he could keep time (be on time). He said he could so I agree to pay him 20,000 for the return trip if he came back at 2:00 to pick me up. He arrived 15 minutes early. He is now my favorite driver and I plan to ride with him out to St. Jude’s orphanage on Sunday. He is “born again” and he has 2 daughters ages 8 and 4. I really like him.
David took me to him house. On his wall he was a bunch of pictures of the pope, Ugandan martyrs, Arsenal soccer players, David and his wife Vicky, and the picture I gave him of our family. The house is simple, but clean. David’s son is named Omara Daniel and he is 3 years old. He was wearing a Blues Clues shirt. On a side note, it is interesting to see all the western style clothing here. Used clothes flood into the market and actually have a negative affect on the prices of traditional clothing and on the tailors.
David and I hopped on a boda boda together to go and see his father’s farm. When there are three people on the ride it is a rough experience, especially for the tailbone of the person in the back (me). We cruised through the displacement camps. Many people are deserting this place to return to their family farms. I saw real signs of poverty on the way. It was about a 30 minute trip out to the farm. When we arrived I was greeted by David’s mother. She offered me a live chicken as a gift. I asked David what I should do. He said I should accept it and either sell it or eat it. I thanked her and watched her chase the chicken around the farm. She looked like she was having fun. While she was doing that, David and I took a walk around his father’s farm. He showed me the maize, beans, rice, tobacco, millet, sugar cane, sunflowers, potatoes, g-nuts (like peanuts), and some other vegetables that I’ve never heard of. He wanted to show me his plot so we started what I thought might be a short walk. We walked for at least 2 miles into the middle of nowhere and finally found it. On the way I stepped into a nest of giant black ants. When they bite they don’t let go, so I jumped up in the air shaking them off. I’ve never seen David laugh so hard. He doubled over as I shook my leg and jumped around. It was a good bonding experience for us and I avoided getting bitten. On the way we met one of David’s brothers who was working in the fields. They wanted to see me till the ground, so I gave it a go. Apparently I was doing it wrong and they thought it was pretty funny. When he came back to meet David’s mother, she had the chicken tied up for me.
We carried it upside down and walked up to the main rode to get a ride back to David’s house and meet to Mose. The Mose is an honorific title for David’s father. He is a well respected man in his community and anyone who lives to be 60 around here is worthy of respect. I was wondering what I would do with this chicken. I was thinking of naming it Crispy because that is my favorite type of chicken out here. When we arrived at David’s home, his wife Vicky had a meal prepared for us. In this culture, the women do so much. I came across a student drawing of an African woman with a basket on her head. Inside the basket there was an outline of the continent of Africa. What powerful symbolism! Here Vicky got on her knees to greet me and serve me. It was a bit awkward. David has been thinking of getting a second wife. I asked him what qualities a man looks for in a wife. He said, “she must be able to bear children, greet visitors, work in the fields, cook well, and take care of the children.” It is such a practical view, but I’m so thankful for the type of marriage I have. I think all of those things may be good, but it is the friendship I have with Lisa that I value most in our relationship.
We had a nice meal of posho (maize and millet), rice, beef, spinach, and bananas. After the meal, the Mose arrived. He had spent the morning trying to resolve a land dispute with people in the community. This will be a greater problem as time goes on and people try to return to their land. The Mose is a very warm man who had a picture of Obama on his belt buckle. I took some nice family photos for them.
Later, David and I walked down to the nursery school to pick up his daughter Apwoyo Chan Winney. She is a cute little girl, but when she saw me she started to cry and ran away. The white skin scares some kids. Later I gave her and her brother a mango and they both warmed up to me. When it was time to leave, David told me that he wanted to ride into Gulu with me. I wasn’t expecting to take him back and I felt bad for James (the driver) So we hooked the chicken onto the handlebars and crammed onto the bike. I’ve got to be honest, the ride home was terrible. It hurt and it was tough to make it up hills or over bumped which only prolonged my agony. When we finally arrived in Gulu we dropped David off and continued home. I leaned up to James and told him that I would pay what we agreed on, but I felt bad about the extra passenger. I asked him if he would consider taking the chicken as additional compensation. He loved that idea so I felt that we were square. We took a picture with the chicken and that was that.
I went down to Café Larem and ordered a scope of ice cream. It’s the best ever!!! Home made with cream….yum. I was able to chat with Lisa on Facebook. I miss her so much, but thank God for the Internet. I’m terrible about writing letter, but this makes it so much easier to stay in touch. I really couldn’t imagine this trip without it.
At Larem there are so many people from the states that roll through. It’s fun to hear stories about what is going on. I love Wednesday’s because it is the day of the Watoto cell group. Patrick was away in Kampala, but the group still met. These folks have become fast friends and it is so good to have a common bond. We talked about miracles and faith. There is a passage in either 1st or 2nd Samuel about a woman who makes a room for Elisha and is given a son as a blessing. Her son dies and she calmly seeks out Elisha for help. We talked about what God might want to accomplish in our lives. The things asked for are so profound. Evelin wants God to provide school fees for her kids. Helena wants a home, but she is quick to say she wants to have it for the right motives. Dennis would love to have a wife and Mike wants to see his kids follow Jesus. I love this group. I’m challenged by the raw reality of their faith. After meeting and praying I went over to the IC house to see Bryn and Elena.
It’s been a few days since I last saw them, so it was good to catch up. We all find it hard to put words to our experience. They have seen all 11 schools that IC works with. They are impressed by the wisdom of the IC approach. It is one of the few NGOs that has immediate impact that is implemented in a sustainable way. I’m so impressed by the work that is being done here. The will share some great stories about the kids there have met. Bryn spend the day with the equivalent of the yearbook editor. Today they are going out to spend the day with a mentor. When IC gives a scholarship, they also give the student a guidance counselor to follow up with them and help them finish their education. It’s all about finishing well. Elena seems so much more at peace with her role here. They are here to learn and they really are learning so much. Bryn remarked that looking at IC from the states; you would have no idea what a rock solid organization it is here on the ground. Most of the IC staff here is Ugandan and most of the programs are designed to eventually be completely run by Ugandans. I think that this experience is going to have such an impact on these two. I know that both of them will live a life of service in some way and it is so good to see them thoughtfully take in this approach. When they came I mentioned that there isn’t really any good thing you can do here without some negative side effect. I think they now see examples of what that means. It certainly doesn’t mean that you should do no good thing. It just means that impulsive acts of kindness can sometimes backfire. It’s an important lesson for me to hold onto. If you’ve made it to the end of this post, pat yourself on the back. Sorry it was so long, but hopefully there is something worthwhile in there for you. Blessings!!!!!
