An Overly Large Critter and Lake Wamala

These past few weeks have been full of more power-outages, no internet connection, and sun sun sun…heat heat heat! Even still, the weeks have gone well. Office work has been directed towards planning and organizing a traditional healer workshop that will be hosted here in Uganda by PROMETRA Uganda in May. It’s going to be a big event…international delegates are to attend as well as various traditional healers from Uganda. There is a lot of planning that goes into it too…and in such little time! As for Buyijja Forest School, the past three Wednesdays have been pretty low-key…with the exception of this past Wednesday. That day I assisted one of my PROMETRA colleagues in facilitating Class II on learning about the symptoms and causes of hernias…I enjoyed it so much! :) Three Wednesdays ago, after classes ended at Buyijja, I hopped on a boda boda with one of my PROMETRA colleagues, and we zoomed down the road in the direction of an infamous Croc Resort in Mpigi District. The place sits on Lake Victoria and is both a small resort and a crocodile farm. The resort part was beautiful…very peaceful and relaxing! Along the beach there were so many fishermen fishing both with lines and with very large nets, that they tossed into the water with such ease and grace…it’s as though a soft melody floated in the air and guided them in their every move. After gazing at the water, the setting sun, and the graceful fishermen, we visited the actual crocodile farm There we found so many crocs ranging from very large to teeny tiny! All the crocodiles resided in various incubators depending on their age and size…in one cage there resided a very very very large male crocodile…and I mean huge! At one point, the gentleman escorting us around the farm climbed into one of the cages and…without any hesitation…swift fully picked-up a little crocodile with his bare hands and held it out for us to pet…ahhhh…the man was brave…and the crocodile was quite soft! :) We were told the croc farm produces for both the sale of crocodile meat and skin…it’s a good business here because of its ability to produce a food delicacy as well as a high-class fashion. It really was an interesting place…both a resort and a croc farm…what a mix! So on another note, I have finally chosen the herb I wish to plant in my garden…Akawulira…its used for hyper-tension, brainpower, and others I can’t recall at the moment. A traditional healer who helped me significantly in preparing my garden told me about the herb and said it would be perfect! :) Again on another note, the previous weekend was quite the ride. Friday came, and one of my PROMETRA colleagues and I left work just a few hours early to get a jump start on what would become a long long journey to a distant village, Kibale, in Western Uganda. By about 7 p.m., we arrived at the departure destination just within Kampala city center, where we met about ten other people who were headed in the same direction…we were to all pack ourselves into a taxi-bus and drive for hours into the night. I think it was between 8 and 9 p.m. when we finally took off! To make a long story short, we arrived at the bride’s home around 2 a.m…everyone then relaxed and reminisced a bit, then ate, then went straight to bed! Three hours later, everyone was awake and slowly preparing for the day’s celebration. Not till about 2 p.m. did the ceremony finally begin…from then it lasted till around 9 p.m. The event was really nice, full of beautiful gowns, up-beat music, and delicious food! After the Introduction ended, the music turned-up and people jumped out of their seats to begin dancing the night away. I lasted only for a short while, for exhaustion simply overtook me. I woke up around 3 a.m. to find the music and dancing still going strong! People here really love music and really really love to dance! :) So the next day, we woke up and began the long journey back Kampala by mid-morning. At one point during the journey, I looked up to see a very large…and I mean LARGE!...spider crawling across the ceiling of the taxi-bus!! I think my heart skipped a beat…I had to find a way to distract myself until the overly large critter was out of site…for all I could think at that point was “out of sight, out of mind”…hehe…I mean what else can you do when you are crammed in a little taxi-bus racing down the road, and all other passengers are quite calm about the awkwardly large spider tagging along for the ride?...hehe! Well it eventually disappeared and was never seen again…thank goodness! :) Let’s see what else has been going on…ahhh yes…the past three Thursdays have been days of research research research. One of my PROMETRA colleagues and I have stayed behind at Buyijja the past three Wednesdays in order to venture around Mpigi District the follows days. My colleague has been so kind as to hall me around on his boda boda from health center to center, sub-county to sub-county. After each days’ research is completed we have ventured all the way back to Kampala…about a two hour drive…on the little boda boda that could! :) It has been quite the journey and quite the experience, for I have been able to see so much of Uganda’s countryside while on a boda boda! Just this past Thursday, the research journey took us to the farthest end of Mpigi District (Maddu). It was a long but fun fun fun journey! After the research was complete, we, along with a traditional healer who accompanied us on the long journey, ventured to Lake Wamala…this lake is considered a spiritual lake and is very important to locals and spiritualists. The story goes…back when Uganda was being colonized by Britain, the lake dried up completely from improper/over use. After many many many years, spiritualists began to have dreams that the lake was going to be replenished. A very heavy heavy rainfall began and the lake filled once again. The belief is that an ancestral spirit was pregnant…when she went into labor, instead of delivering a baby, she simply delivered water which filled Lake Wamala. So that is the main reason for its spiritual connection and importance. When we visited the lake, I floated out onto the water alongside the traditional healer…a.k.a. spiritualist. Let me just say, it was a beautiful and empowering experience…it was evening and the sun was lowering just over the water…the water was clam and shimmered with the reflection of the setting sun…it was simply captivating! :) So that’s about all I have for now…I hope it’s a good enough update for the past few weeks…again sorry for the delay in blogging! For my final words…every day is a new adventure…an adventure in Uganda…hehe! I hope all is going well back in the states!

Keep the spirit alive – Ann Kyamulabi Louise Tezak