Getting down and dirty...

Well yesterday I finally got out into the field. I went to a small parish (it’s what they call an area where a village is) called Kitooha. I went with Francis on a motorcycle which took us about an hour and 20 minutes. It was quite the ride over some serious hills which cattle happily graze on. In fact I was forced to walk 3 times, but that doesn’t stop the men from riding their bikes with their loads of Matooke (see below). I am still surprised what a green country this place is.

When we arrived we met with the local co-ordinator and began to walk and boy did we walk. We walked about 5 miles. It was one of those uphill both ways type deals…no really it was…I have no idea how but we walked up hill there and back. We were doing this to visit each beneficiary (and prove that Muzungoes can do what the black do). It was really fun though and I saw a lot of the goats and what type of conditions they are living in.

It was also fun to interact with the women although they know essentially no English. This one lady was quite the farmer. She has the goats, matooke, green bananas and g-nuts. G-nuts are, as far as I can tell, exactly the same as peanuts or maybe in this case p-nuts. She showed me her little crop and then we picked some. She then laid them all out to dry on a mat made of old pants and other material. She was a really fun lady and she reminded me a lot of Claire Lint (for those of you who know her).

When we were finished we went back to the trading centre (which is the village centre) and it was lunch time. The kids were all out and of course excited about the Muzungo as they are even more rare in the villages. I asked one boy if I could take his picture and he said yes (not really knowing what I was asking). I took it and showed him the picture which all the kids were excited to see as they gathered and laughed. When I brought out the camera again kids came out of the woodwork just to be in a picture and see themselves (I don’t know when else the ever would have seen their own faces…they have no mirrors). I kept having to back up further and further to accommodate for the increasing crowd. Then I went into the little shack for a coke and the kids were all crowded around the door watching me. Women were even looking in the windows.

When I came out the old women were even interested in the camera. When I brought it out to ask if I could take their picture they got all giddy and arranged themselves. You can’t tell from the picture but they were really excited.

I came back from the field and realised my face felt hot….ahhhh stupid Muzungo didn’t put sunscreen on and has the red face to prove it. I have been liberally applying the Aloe all day and really hope I don’t look even more ridiculous in town today.