On a bright Sunday morning when one is
expected to be enjoying the “Mazongoto” (bed in English), Olive was preparing
for Church, for blessings for the best in the forth coming training for
Transformation in Gulu. Church was all well, at Christ the King Catholic Church
in Kampala. Where I met the CEW-IT National Coordinator with the Family and we
drove to the CEW-IT offices at spear house-Jinja road where preparations for
the two weeks long awaited Gender mainstreaming training in Gulu was to be held.
Well preparations went on as anticipated, everyone was just excited, print outs
were made of the necessary documents, we picked up other vital materials and
set off to the Baganda bus park where the CEW-IT/CU team was to board a bus to
Gulu, the training was aimed at equipping Oxfam Novib partners with the
relevelant skills on mainstreaming gender in their organizations and partners
as well as the communities they work with.
OH…my God you created so amazing was it
when the bus started and we saw our selves heading to the land of the true
Africans. I couldn’t wait to reach there but just had to bear some paramount of
patience. The worst moment was the very poor roads as we had just left the
park, the port holes, and then the road after Karuma falls which is too narrow
oh! my God I couldn’t withstand the ups and downs. Okay as I said …yes I know
we’ll move and reach there…though was worried that I would not make it there in
time despite the very many stop over’s on the way that we would miss some mile stones
in the training.
It was such an interesting
journey..what listen I tell you, as we approached Karuma falls, alms of praises
to the living God from some passengers were raised…I know you should be asking
yourself the why but never mind to them It was a discovery ..to cross the great
river Nile, they used to hear and read on maps, I wondered and was then just
between the develo and the deep sea. My heart was tickled pink at what I heard.
The heavy pouring at the Karuma falls,
the wonderful stones in the water, the beautiful scenery with the very natural
Karuma forest…trees short the friends deep down their hearts and they all stood
hanging until we crossed the bridge. Though indeed felt like telling the driver
to make a stop over such that they could first enjoy the falls at full length
but time was not our best ally.
so we moved on guess what lots of
question were answered in people’s hearts, like why is the land too flat that
could have been the baseline of tne Lord’s Resistance Army, now the type of
farming in the land was also typical African, come to the housing style …so wonderful
and original..i tell you, even if the MUZUNGU brought the new arctitecture,,in
Gulu Acholi land you will never find a homes sated without A MANYATA..this
indicates true Africans.
Wow oh my God I always thought that
being in the North meant different a style of living but I was so much amused by
the very normal and common dress code of the people there, there is no big
difference since we are all Ugandans and we share the same blood, therefore the dress
code though typical African does not vary from the other Ugandans. and what of the booh, malakwang and atapa food stuffs, all very nice and tasty, just like we enjoy firinda and kalo back in Tooro. Talk of milk, its there, infact plenty of cows in Acholi, there is matooke for a muganda and G.nuts, so all are welcome. the story continues.....
Authored
by Kabatwairwe Olive
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