I run up the red path, banana plantations to my left, a pineapple garden to my right. How do pineapples grow? On the ground in little clumps, apparently. Two seconds later a stream of little children trot along behind me, giggling and yelling:
“Mzungu Mzungu!! (white person white person!)”
“I’m fine I’m fine, how are you?” (chirped at high pitch)
“You give me my money!”
“You give me sweeties!”
On one occasion a little boy even said “give me balloon!” (Balloon??!?) Charming aren’t they… for a long time I wondered where these kids got the idea that all mzungus constantly carry with them small change, sweets and balloons. Apparently a ‘children’s mission’ visited a couple of years ago and well meaning Brittish folk distributed many boxes of sweets and balloons. And have thus plagued western visitors in the area for evermore…..
I run to the ‘the mast’ (radio tower high up in the hills) most days, and unfortunately create quite a spectacle, firstly because I am white, and secondly because nobody seems to run here, especially not up hills. Some people laugh and smile and wave “agande!”, some joke and follow me for a while and some stare blankly.
After a few weeks I met Shellinah. A tiny girl came running from her home towards me chirping ‘I want to talk to you I want to talk’. And she did, bright eyed, in perfect English, not asking for anything. Shellinah is a pretty bright cookie, and wants to be a doctor. Her father died five years ago, which has made things pretty hard for the big family, although her mum has kept the family plot of land flourishing well, complete with several goats and pigs. Shellinah is blessed to have sponsorship that pays for her schooling at the very good (private) Kissizi primary. Her brother (one year older, 11) is not so lucky and is now herding goats. School fees are fairly ridiculous, NZ$150 per year, while a hospital laborer like Shellinah’s late father earnt $400 per year. Government schools are much cheaper but by all accounts rubbish.
That made me sad, because he too is a keen spark…he didn’t ask for sweeties. Infact, when we were discussing children begging mzungus for sugar he declared:
“Sweets give you tooth decay, a disease called tooth decay!”
He also noted seriously, ‘Smoking and Alcohol is bad, they can give you lung cancer and asthma.’ Alcohol gives you asthma? Education is a beautiful thing.
Visiting Shellinah is an interesting experience. They live high on the hill in a mud-brick house with separate kitchen/cooking-fire overlooking their ‘garden’ (patchwork crops). Shellinah showed me her room and prized English bible, then her family showed me their photo album, a common occurrence when you visit someone. Photo albums are full of serious portrait shots of family members and friends at important events (baptisms, deaths, weddings, school ceremonies). Notable in their album was:
1) The ‘men’ with a disembowled ?goat?!? A triumphant kill for a special occasion
2) A photo of a man who none of the family knew
3) Scantily clad western models cut out of a magazine…..don’t ask. I have NO idea why.
You may well ask, where are these photos printed? How are they taken? Well. There is no electricity in this village and no running water in houses but there is still more than one photo studio in these remote remote hill villages of Uganda. Photographs are important here…and exchanging photographs is very meaningful!
I wave goodbye to Shellinah, her brother Josiah and the rest of the family and run down towards the hospital…what are they thinking?
My impression is that Shellinah and her brother like hearing about strange places and telling me about their lives, and listening to my MP3 player. Shellina listened to the Beatles: “a yellow WHAT?” ….try explaining submarines to a land-locked 10yr old who has never traveled beyond her village. I think her big sister wants me as some sort of permanent donor to the family…while Shellinah’s mum seems quite chuffed to be visited by a mzungu (arghhh so wrong!).
January 16th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
nicccceeee
January 17th, 2009 at 8:25 am
(Nick) Hey Ira love your comments. That one was ever so detailed and informative.
“To be honest” though I must say I did not expect to see you commenting on our blogs, I thought you may be too slack (like dave and james).
Hope things are going well for you, I really do. Kama simwe
January 18th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Really enjoyed reading this Tessa -a wonderful snapshot of your experiences in Kisiize!
January 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
simwe kama nick (or tess… or any of their patients, or anyone in general who’s reading this)
talked to dave… he said you’re blogs are too long so he would feel guilty about posting responses to something he only got half way through
D is leaving for sydney soon… i’m getting ready to comfort james in all the ways i can (raises eyebrows)
loving you guys
kama simwe ( had better not be some clever ploy to get me swearing in the native tounge)
ira
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:50 am
Hey guys, great to hear the updates
How’s your drugs stuff going Tess? How much longer you in sweet Kisiizi?
Stay cool, and watch out for that tooth decay…
January 24th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Haha.. alcohol = asthma? The wonders of Education.
And yes, do be careful of that tooth decay guys! Take care!!
PS I got accepted into all the university courses I applied for, bar one, whose entry score went up from 90 to 97.6!!! Even an Asian like me can’t raise his score to that degree within a span of two weeks! I have decided to study IR (I bet you’re smiling at this now Tess…) at the ANU, which is in Canberra. I gotta touch down in Canberra by February 15th, so I hope you guys will be back by then :):)
January 24th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
yo guys.
love you both tons - so many prayers and thoughts have gone your ways i thought i’d better send a web-post too.. because that’s important.
i’m nutting out working full time and studying.. plus planning my year - it’s great to read your stuff and keep everything in perspective. you both write so well, though by god’s grace you’ve so much to write about i guess it comes naturally enough.
am so impressed by the honesty of your encounters - and the way you write about them - i think that’s so key and you’ve got it so sorted.
btw nick, taking a trick or two from your bag studying tonight - vanilla coke and (now mostly empty) bag of lollies in tow.
may god’s strength keep you charged in his work, his mercy keep you faithful and true to those around you, his grace make up for everything you cannot be, and his love shelter you in the work you do.
kama simwe,
lyndon ;D
January 25th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Hey guys thanks so much for taking the time to comment, it really means a lot.
We are leaving Kisiizi in less than 2 weeks now which is pretty scary…
Great to hear the news Ben, except I thoght Asians had magical top grade powers which they could invoke at any point….
And I can’t believe you are studying and working full time Lyndon, thats nuts. I hope the law study is the priority :p (nudge from the other side of the world), and thats what they call it here, “on this side”. Thanks for the encouragement and kind words
Nick
January 25th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Hi Nick & Tessa, Great to read your story about visiting Shellinah, you would have made their day by taking time to visit them. The end must be drawing near for you and you will no doubt be leaving with mixed feelings but changed by meeting families like Shellinah’s. We hope the rest of your journey goes well for you take care and keep reporting back on the blog. Ross & Pauline
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:50 am
While I was there instead of “Give me sweeties” or “give me balloons”, we had “Give me Guinness”!! From a 5 year old… We told him he was far too young, not that that will deter him I’m sure!