Tuesday 6.16.2009

Sunday night, after we got home from the rhino sanctuary, we went to dinner at a local family farm. The owners were Tom and Rose. It was amazing. Amy (my supervisor) said that she wanted us to see the other side of Gulu and how some people live in Uganda. The house had central air! And it was decorated beautifully. And the bathroom was about as big as my room back home. And the garden was amazing! It took my breath away. It was just the rejuvenating visit that I needed to prepare for this week of teaching. It is very American of me, I know, for me to need central cooling to feel rejuvenated. J
When we arrived, they gave us sodas (orange fanta is my favorite here) and Tom took us for a walk along his grounds. I spent the whole weekend in nature but this was even more amazing. They had some flowers, I will include the picture below so that you can tell me the name of it if you know it, but they reminded me of the little singing flowers in “Alice in Wonderland”. I would love to have a whole garden of those! They are my favorite, I think. I also got to play with a tiny goat. I tried to give him some orange fanta but he wasn’t a fan.
After the walk, Tom brought us out on his patio and we sat while he told us his stories. Holy geezum’ petes! Talk about a life…Tom’s father was involved in politics during Idi Amin’s reign. At one point, Tom and his brothers were in Tanzania fighting with the army that was planning to overthrow Amin. His father was arrested and brought to Amin’s prison where he tortured and killed people in “secret”. One day, Amin walked into Tom’s father’s cell and asked him if his sons were fighting against him in Tanzania. Tom’s father said, yes. And Amin said, well, why would you let that happen? Why don’t you tell them to come home and stop fighting? (in so many words, of course) And Tom’s father said, “Didn’t you overthrow the government to come into power?” And Amin said, yes. And Tom’s father said, “Well, did you consult your father in the process and receive his blessing?” And Amin let Tom’s father return home without harming him. Crazy tunes…
There are so many more stories that are equally amazing that I will have to share when I get home.
I did have an interesting talk with him about Kony and the bill that is going to be proposed at lobby days in a week requesting US military intervention. Tom said that it is too late. He said, with all of the satellite technology in the world, if someone actually wanted Kony dead…he would be dead by now. But too many governments are profiting from the war to actually try to end it. Mainly Musseveni, of course. I started to tear up when he said it because it just seems like there is such a fragile peace here for these people and I can’t imagine living somewhere, having the images in my head that they are scarred with, and knowing that it could possibly happen again. Tom says that if Kony were to ever come back that it would not be the same as it was because the people wouldn’t roll over and take it like before. He says that they would fight back. I agree with him…I just hope that it doesn’t ever come to that. Please remember the Acholi people in your prayers. They have such a special spirit about them and deserve to live in peace.
We had an amazing dinner! More tilapia!!! Yes!!! And cake! As Tom and Rose were walking us out we had a very funny moment. We were shaking their hands and hugging them saying, “Thank you so much, your stories have changed our lives, etc…etc…” And then, all of a sudden, we were all attacked by the giant army ants. It was dark so we couldn’t see them but they were crawling up everyone’s legs. We must’ve looked ridiculous. Stomping around. One girl, Dana, yelled…I have to go take off my pants! And she ran inside. They are not dangerous ants…they just sting like hell! So, we made jokes later, that we were having such a heartfelt goodbye with these amazing individuals and then all of a sudden we started cussing and yelling for the driver to step on it to get the hell out of there! It was awesome…I still laugh about it...