Ants Ants Ants and Cards Cards Cards

So good good news! I finally got my herbs planted in my garden! :) This past Wednesday at Buyijja turned out to be quiet with extra leisure time as well as muddy muddy muddy! It had poured rain all morning causing the forest to be a mucky mess. Oh and just to inform you, when it rains, the ants come out! They begin migrating to dry land by the hundreds of thousands, which means they traipse across the walking path, and you have to step lightly but quickly with high knees…even so, you still get bit…hehe…it’s inevitable! Well any who, because the day was so quiet, I took some time right before lunch and ventured to my garden with the company of a traditional healer trainee. She provided me with both the herbal seeds for three different plants good for anemia as well as help in planting them! Come to find out, she is also from the Mbogo clan…so when she found out I am now also from the Mbogo clan, she wanted to help a fellow clan member/sister out! People in Uganda are very very generous and constantly assist one another in anything…it’s considered a blessing to help a fellow person. More importantly, here in Uganda when you meet a fellow clan member, it is truly wonderful and lucky and accompanied with happy loving greetings…it’s as though you are meeting a long-lost family member :)! So because we are now from the same clan, she was so so so generous in assisting me with my garden…she even gifted me with sugar cane, guavas, cassava, and yams!!! It was all so NICE!!! So now my herbs are planted, and I can simply up-keepthe garden and wait for something to hopefully spring-up…wish me and the garden luck! On another note, I have learned a really fun and quite exciting card game that is infamous here in Uganda…you can play and play and play into the night and up till odd hours of the morning…just like we do with dominoes on Thanksgiving (for those of you who have experienced the craziness of that event)…hehe :) I have heard no name for the game yet, other than cards…but the name is not important…you just play! :) I’ll show you all once I’m back…and it could become another option for Thanksgiving game nights…wink wink! Any who, after Wednesday came with rain and ended with a late late night of cards…hehe…Thursday arrived, and all us PROMETRAns climbed into the land cruiser with the company of three visitors and ventured around Mpigi District. We visited two traditional healers’ homes to see their gardens and cultivation, as well as visited three different traditional healer groups that are attempting to develop themselves through marketing and selling of herbal concoctions and treatment. The day was full of so much activity…driving on muddy bumpy roads, climbing in and out of a packed land cruiser, walking around lush, incredibly bountiful gardens, and watching traditional healers mix and prepare herbal soaps and herbal vaselines. I was fascinated to see such dedication and integrity! These traditional healers are so so so knowledgeable about various herbal plants and their use in treating illnesses, and they manage such large variety-packed gardens as well as keep livestock and raise families! People here have so much heart and strength…I admire their drive! :) Well I think that is about it for now. I am back from Buyijja for a few days and will hopefully enjoy a fun relaxing Easter weekend! Happy Easter and enjoy the weekend!

Keep the spirit alive – Ann Kyamulabi