Kickin’ It In Kitgum

After the breaking news about my site change, I decided that I needed to be proactive, explore my options, and pave a way forward.  This brought me to Kitgum.  Way up in the Northern part of the country. 

I was welcomed into this quaint, little town with smiles of the local children lining the streets and greeting us in a language that I knew nothing about.  Unlike Runyankore, which is a Bantu language, Acoli is a western Nilotic language, meaning there are no similarities whatsoever.  Well some of the foods are similar in pronunciation although that did not help me when I wanted to greet the locals, which is a huge sign of respect here.  I slowly learned throughout my 5-day stay.

As we walked backed to Joey’s house, the combination of the dusty roads and hot sun made for an immediate shower.  I was even treated with lukewarm water. 

The following days I was able to explore town more and even visit Joey’s site, Meeting Point Kitgum, MPK.  MPK works with people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS through various outreach programs, income-generating activities, and support groups.  I even got the opportunity to assist in making paper bead bracelets to be sold to the community.  The paper beads had all been constructed from a women’s group that exist within MPK and needless to say, they were beautiful!

It was a humble experience to be around such dedicated individuals who are committed to helping those live a healthy, positive life.  This has been identified as a possible site but Peace Corps and MPK have to now finalize the housing.

After my short time at the organization and talking with some of the individuals, I feel renewed and excited for the future.  This was exactly what the doctor ordered after the disappointing news. 

Kitgum continued on with its excitement with Ghirardelli brownies, watching the much anticipated, Breaking Dawn: Part 2, making and eating homemade baked ranch flavored tortilla chips, some animal TLC with the kittens, local malaquan (delicious and nutritious pasted greens), and softball.  The most unexpected part of my time in Kitgum was that I saw not one, but two (!), women boda boda drivers.  Boda bodas are motorcycles that Volunteers are forbid to ride for reasons of being insecure and unsafe, which are true.  

Now you may be asking yourself why seeing a woman drive is so exciting, shocking, or unexpected; don’t women all over the world drive?  Well in Uganda, gender roles are obscure and for some reason it is hard for people to grasp that women are just as capable as men to drive vehicles (no matter the amount of wheels), chop wood, and even wear trousers.  Hence why we teach this subject in life skills classes at schools and focus on gender equality at the camps.

As the bus slowly left the potholed paved road and made it on the dirt path that would carry me to Gulu, I thought to myself… I left a small part of me in Kitgum.