December's Place
After a breakfast of fresh fruit (watermelon, pineapple, banana) eggs made to order, toast and coffee; washing paint brushes and rollers; and dispatching the 3 rabbits received in gratitude for yesterday’s painting of The Fanton Hall of Faith——— school, it’s 10:30 am and we’re off to the home and school of December -bumpity bump over the rain-washed rural roads through the mountains of south eastern Uganda toward ———Bwindi. We stop next to an open market spread across the roadside - vegetables, fruits, fish, cloth, miscellaneous wares for sale - to wait for Sue and Gerald’s van to catch up. Then off we go past small goats, cows and chickens nibbling at the feet of miraid cultivated fields of banana trees, tea plants (second most exported commodity of Uganda), coffee trees (most exported) and brick making projects. Small coffee farmers farmers plant food crops among the coffee trees for subsistence. The laborious process of making bricks is done alongside the road for easy access. All stages of production are carried out there: digging, adding water and placing the wet soil in a 2-brick mold, then knocked out on the ground and dried enough to stack in large cubes (about 8x8 ft). After sufficient drying, the stacks are covered in mud, and fires are lit inside them to permanently set the bricks - a laborious, back breaking process carried out in the hot African sun.
Many houses are built along the road, most of which are fabricated using these bricks, often plastered over and made into quite respectable dwellings, store fronts, etc., depending on the economic condition of the area. Looking out across the verdant hills and mountains, roof tops sporadically dot the landscape which is divided up into large gardens and orchards, all hand-tilled and hand-planted and sometimes hand-watered. Most of the homes in this mountainous area do not have running water. It is therefore a daily chore to bring water on foot up to the homes in——-/ 15 liter containers.
Upon arrival we are warmly greeted by December and his family. On the lawn behind the house we are treated to hot sweet tea and bananas after the long dusty bus ride . We sit for awhile and listen to his kind words of introduction. In the meantime the local children gather in the yard with us, quiet, well behaved and as precious as new found gold. After this respite we weave though the banana trees up a steep dirt path to the new building which holds 2 classrooms for the preprimary school children of the area. It is just now being primed on the outside; and we have come, paint in hand to swath the inside walls with tangerine and mint green paint, warm sunshine colors to replace the thatched and dark decomposing cement walls of the buildings they are replacing. The kids paint the second room in 45 minutes! Remarkable how silence gives birth to efficient progress!
This ———Bwindi is an incredibly poor area witnessed by the appearance of the children who accompany us wherever we go. They are dressed in tattered, dirty clothing, but always ready to break into beautiful, beguiling smiles at the slightest enticement. After completing the painting, we are invited back to the house for a generous spread of plantains, sweet potatoes, rice, chicken, tiny egg plant, greens———, and delicious gravy to flavor anything we may think needs enhancement - a lavish spread for such a large group (at least 15) by these ———-impoverished but generous people!
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After lunch December graces us with heartfelt gratitude for the blessing of our work and of Sue and all the help and love she brings to Uganda. Then, accompanied by enthusiastic little ones, we make our way to the bus ready for our departure back to the Mountain Gorilla Inn.
After a day of sunshine, only threatening rain, it is a dusty bumpy ride home. We pass mostly rude dwellings and store fronts and mostly enthusiastically waiving, smiling, children. At the Inn we are welcomed with cool moist washcloths which take on the color of the dust in which we are bathed. Cold showers are the order of the day and gratefully taken. After a rest we listen to our magnificent chef who recites the menus for tonight’s dinner: it’s French vegetable soup, homemade rolls, fried potatoes, cinnamon rice, vegetable stew, and, of course, the proverbial fried rabbit, with lemon cake for desert. (Only one of us is able to resist the rabbit - on the grounds of a love lost!) As we have been accustomed to enjoying, our meal is exceptional! Gerald, Sue, Lanis and I remain at table after dinner to reminisce over the day’s happenings, tomorrow’s adventures and plans for the future. Then flashlight in hand, off we go to our rooms for a pleasant sleep under the protective aura of the mosquito nets.