The second goal of the
Peace Corps states, “To promote a better understanding of the American people
on the part of the peoples served.”
Simply put this means to share American culture with those
that we live amongst.
What better way to do
this than through a traditional American Easter?!
Easter is quite possibly
my favorite holiday. Waking up to a
basket left behind by the Easter Bunny filled with chocolate covered
marshmallows and a hard-boiled egg dyed in my favorite color is a simple
reminder of family traditions. This year
I didn’t wake up to an Easter Tree tied with gifts or a hunt that included
plastic eggs filled with money. Better
yet I decided to share some traditions with the awesome children who
stay at House of Love along with Clair and Emily, two other PCV’s who wanted to
help out.
House of Love (HOL) is
an orphanage located about an hour west of me that a fellow PCV is placed
at. Many of the children at HOL
participated in National Camp GLOW and National Camp BUILD, so upon arriving I
saw many familiar faces. Irene, the
administrator of HOL, welcomed us with a traditional Ugandan meal but
unfortunately we had ate prior to arriving.
She insisted we eat but our stomachs could not take any more. We decided that taking a glass of soda would
suffice. As we sipped our Fanta out of
fancy wine glasses, the children started to enter and greet us with the traditional
kneeling. When I saw my camper from
GLOW, Maureen, there was no kneeling… Only opened arms that welcomed a hug.
Maureen and I
Once all the children
had arrived, we had them decorate their Easter baskets. AKA brown paper bags. While they colored away Clair, Emily and I
decided to play the role of the Easter Bunny and hid the eggs over the
facility. Once we finished we returned
to the children to find them eagerly waiting.
Emily decided to share the story of the Easter Bunny, which the children
found amusing and interesting. Oh
America and your crazy traditions of having a bunny lay eggs.
Ugandan Easter Baskets
We instructed the
children that they were allowed to find one egg. The younger children headed out first with
the biggest of smiles and searched high and low for eggs. After they each had one we allowed the older
group of kids to search for the remaining eggs.
I had never seen so many smiles and laughs among a group of children. Many snaps (pictures) were taken with their
treasure.
Fatuma with her egg
Little Faith
Michael with his dyed egg
The younger children after they found their eggs. Their smiles couldn't get any bigger!
The older kids
A-freakin-dorable
Once everyone had their
eggs it was time to dye them. Now the
eggshells here are brown in color so we did not know how they would turn
out. Thanks to Pinterest we found some
alternative ways to dye the eggs, including cracking the shell so the whites of
the egg get colored. See picture.
Thank you Pinterest!
As we began to clean up we
heard music. Music only means one thing…
Dance. Clair, Emily, and I headed out
back and the children were anxiously waiting for us to begin the party. After working up a sweat with some sweet
dance moves the children sang for us and did some short dramas (skits). This is a common way to show thanks for guests
then they come and visit.
Dancing the day away
The goodbye song sung to us prior to our departure
Leaving HOL was
bittersweet as the children lined the gate, waving their hands goodbye. I know this will not be the last of my visits
to HOL as I have already planned with Irene another visit to do a health and
Re-Usable Menstrual Pads (RUMPS) workshop in May. Whenever I visit HOL I feel rejuvenated and I
am reassured that the work I am doing is somehow worthwhile.
After HOL Clair, Emily and
I headed to The Cave. The Cave is a
rustic campsite and resort located in the next town. You can learn more here by liking the
Facebook page that we worked on: The Cave. David, the owner, welcomed us with warm
towels to clean ourselves with and glasses of fresh passion
fruit/pineapple/orange juice. He then
showed us our room, which he did not make us pay for as we were going to teach
them how to make brownies that night. A
very hospitable gesture.
Our banda was the one just beyond the table and umbrella
Just over that hill is another crater lake that makes the two of them twins
We walked around the
property, which sits on the edge of a crater lake. We ventured into the cultural museum, which
gives guests an idea of how many Ugandans used to live and how some still
do. We walked down to the cave, for
which the property is named. We sat in
the dark and listened to stories the cave’s history, including how it was once
used in offering local sacrifices, cleansing ones misfortunes, and used as a
hiding space during Idi Amin’s regime.
Water runs through the cave, which is thought to come from the wetlands
around the area.
After the hike, we sat and
watched a local dance group perform some traditional dances with some warm gin
and tonics. Jim then showed up and we
moved down to the campfire while we waited for dinner. David came to tell us that dinner was ready,
which included fresh vegetables from his garden, parsley potatoes, and a choice
of chicken or fish marinated in fresh herbs.
This was quite possibly one of the best meals I have had in Uganda. Warning though. The fish comes whole. No fillets here.
We spent the evening hours
playing pool with the locals and teaching the staff how to bake brownies in a
dutch oven. David shared his story about
how he came about obtaining the land for The Cave and what his hopes are for
the future. It is an inspiring story and
he is definitely in my top five of favorite Ugandans.
David. Our awesome host, friend, and supplier of fresh, organic greens!
All in all, Easter weekend
was a huge success.
P.S. Mom and Dad, even though I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I still anticipate an Ester egg hunt and Easter tree in 2015.
Until next time...
