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I left off last time with the Ugandan wedding. On Friday it was the introduction ceremony, and it was very long! They had created a sort of marquee by making a structure with wood and hanging fabric all around, so it looked lovely. There was a special seat for the bride and groom and the guests were all sat around on benches borrowed from the school. From what I could gather, the groom’s family sat at the front and various groups of people (women) to do with the bride would dance in and kneel in front of them and answer some questions from the compere. At the beginning, Allen, the lovely teacher from the school, acted as the bride’s grandparents and opened a string that was strung across the entrance. In the middle of the formalities, there was some kind of sketch involving a man dressed as a woman doing a dance – it was pretty weird! Walking back from the ceremony with Pastor John, the children and Allen was crazy – it was so dark and we didn’t have a torch. But the children led the way through the trees – I don’t know how on earth they knew where
they were going! I was terrified of either falling over or being left behind! I carried Anna for a while as she is so small and it was so late, but I was convinced I would go flying and drop her. The other children shared the carrying of Nikey, the youngest. I do love the night-time here though, because there is an immense amount of stars. I can’t really make out any constellations as there are so many, and every night I sit and look at them and feel very insignificant! Anyway, the actual ceremony was similar to an English wedding, and Pastor John took me into the church and put me right near the front – I couldn’t argue, however, as the bride was halfway up the aisle! It was much livelier than an English wedding and the bride had to kneel in front of the groom at one point, which I wasn’t impressed with! This culture involves a lot of kneeling – the children kneel for the teachers and I think you are supposed to kneel to elders. The reception was at the groom’s village, and it was the bumpiest ride I’ve ever had with a two-month-old baby
on my lap (Allen’s baby)! It seemed similar to Friday’s events, except I was made to get up and dance in front of everyone with Allen, Agnes, Pastor John and a few other people! It was embarrassing, especially when one of the bridesmaids got up and gave me a 100 shilling coin. Apparently it was a gift for dancing, although I reckon she just felt sorry for me. Nobody else got one.
On Sunday I began painting the outside of the school, and did some handwashing, which I am pretty awful at. Pastor John went to Kiwangala on the motorbike with his son at the front, then Pastor John driving, then his wife Agnes, and then Allen at the back – with the baby! It was mad, but the kind of sight I am becoming more used to. The baby, Jonathan, has to come to class with Allen, so she is either carrying him while she teaches or he is on the floor in the corner. Sometimes she is feeding him while marking books, and often he is passed around the small children to carry. Mary’s young children also have to come to class with her. Martin is only
just walking and is often trying to demand her attention while she teaches letters on the blackboard to 50 children. Her daughter, Peace, is three and a half, so she is included in the class, but she is still very young. Peace is the most beautiful child and just smiles up at me. Mary told me that her husband left when she was pregnant with Martin – her fifth child – and she doesn’t know where he is. She had no money for a midwife and she and her children were hungry. She didn’t even have milk in her breast to feed the baby. It sounds like a pretty dark time, but I think things are a bit better now. She is so cheerful and says that if only her house was in a better state and not so old, she would be happy.
After a quiet weekend in the village, I had some muzungu time on Tuesday evening. I met Emily, Esther, Lucy and Caroline in Makondo, the next village where KCV is, and we sat and drank a beer. It was hardly a rave, and the power in the village went off so it was pretty dark, but it was nice to have a chat about normal things! I felt pretty tipsy after one beer – they are large bottles and strong! Emily is going to Murchison Falls National Park on Sunday with a friend, so I am going to tag along and am looking forward to it. Emily, Esther, a girl called Beth who is volunteering in a hospital in Masaka, and I are in Kampala now, and it is nice to get out of the village! Spending my evenings with a vicar and his wife (who doesn’t speak much English) and going to bed at 9.30pm is a bit of a change of pace for me! Pastor John and Agnes feed me so much food that I often try to avoid them! Lunch and dinner are always huge, stodgy meals – a massive plate of matoke (mashed plantain) or posho (mashed maize) with either beans or some kind of stew, such as ‘small fish soup’, which is pretty self-explanatory. You eat the fish whole, and while the soup is quite nice, I don’t enjoy eating the fish so much. I’m not too keen on posho either, but apart from that the food is fine, they just give me too much. I usually eat less than half of what they give me, especially on the days that they make me an omelette at about 8pm before dinner at 9! I’ve had some lovely avocado, and also fried cassava, which is nice. I’ve also had some delicious passion-fruit juice and pineapple juice, which you can buy in a plastic bag from the village.
I have painted two classrooms, with help from Pastor John and Esther, so thy look much brighter than the grey cement walls they had previously. Esther and I are going to paint some educational things on the walls to make it a more stimulating environment, and I am making some posters and trying to improve their English resources. Samuel, one of the teachers asked me to re-do a poster he had of masculine and feminine versions of words, so I have dutifully removed antiquated words like ‘authoress’ and even ‘negro/negress’…cringe!! So I am just trying to be useful, and I have bought some cement for them to finish the floors in a couple of the rooms and Esther and I have bought some desks for one of the classrooms. You can fit three people on a desk so ten desks is enough for one classroom and costs 400,000 Ugandan Shillings (just over £100) from the carpenter in Kiwangala, so we are looking forward to seeing these when they are finished next week. At the moment the children sit on benches, so when it comes to writing up work, they have to kneel on the floor. Considering that the oldest classes, P6 and P7 who are, I think, between 13 and 15, are at school from 8am until almost 6pm, this must be horrendously uncomfortable.
Today I am in Kampala though, enjoying a shower and electricity, which is exciting enough, but tomorrow I am off on safari!
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