...and That's How a Monkey Punched Me in the Face

After a gruelling but highly enjoyable 8 hour hike up the mountains of the "Swiss Alps of Uganda," with fellow interns and new friends from the Bunyoni Eco Tourism Resort we had the opportunity to climb inside a deep cave and visit traditional blacksmiths. The resort caters to both international and local citizens and boasts a private island, a tree fort as accommodation with an outdoor shower and toilet surrounded by bamboo and canoes for transportation. As part of the many activities offered such as laser sailing (I am not quite sure what that entailed), a double volleyball/badminton court and even a tour of 'Punishment Island,' a small island 12ft by 12ft that young, unmarried pregnant women were sent to, even as short as 50 years ago. We had the opportunity to climb up an inactive volcano and crawl into a cave meant for people escaping civil war or other dangers. Slither on your belly inside and you will find old fire pits, cooking areas and a large cavern with a waterfall. After that we went to see five male blacksmiths that were creating spears for hunting and needles for crafts. Through a translator they told us that everyone in the village, even the women, are skilled blacksmiths and as I watched the young children continuously blow air into the coals I believed it.

I often refer to the 'pornography of poverty,' because I find that many Canadians are more interested in hearing stories about bad living conditions and daily struggles, while I try to discourage this and focus on the wealth of knowledge and culture Uganda offers, still I was struck by the poverty in these rural mountains. Many of the children had potbellies caused by malnutrition, the school children were following us and demanding money and many of the adults held out their hands.

Along the trip I had a few painful blisters but as I watched Veronica, the girl to my left in the photo, walk in sandals with broken straps down rocky canyons, I decided this was a good lesson in character building for me. As Veronica and I were chatting we wandered a bit farther ahead of the group and came upon two local women and started to converse with them. One of the woman was an elder and carried a large sack of potatoes on her head. I asked if I could carry them for her and after telling me they were very heavy, and was I sure? The woman agreed. I placed the sack on my head, very excitedly, and started to walk alongside her to her house. As we passed by a large field that several women my age were working in I heard surprised laughter and received a lot of thumbs up. After dropping off the package I asked Veronica why the women had laughed so much. "Muzungus always try to carry things on their head but they never can," She said," ...and they asked where you were from, when I told them you were from Canada, they said oh, Canadians are so kind."

I will post the picture as soon as I can charge my camera but recently lightening hit our house and destroyed our television, fridge and fried our electrical cords. I am not missing any of the appliances because the electricity in Uganda is so undependable we do not have much use for it anyway. It only took once for me to put fresh milk in the fridge one night when the power was on, to drink sour milk in the morning when power was still on to realise the power had gone out in the middle of the night. It tasted like evil, if you were wondering, even worse than the fried grasshoppers you can buy in the local market.