Hoima, Uganda (Village Life)

We left Ndejje at 5:30am on Saturday, January 2nd to make sure we got on the MUCH slower Post Bus. we thought it left at 7am but we were wrong. We showed up and no one was even around. Finally, after making us sweat a bit it showed up. We left at 8am. The bus was slow slow slow and we will not be traveling that way again. It took us 7.5 hours to get to Hoima when the average trip is about 3 hours! oh well, at least we got to see some of Uganda and take it all in rather than speed by so fast that everything is a blur.

When we arrived in Hoima at 2pm, we hopped on a boda boda (the motorcycle taxis) and went to the hostel that Annet booked for us. We rested for about an hour and showered and then Annet sent a boda boda
to pick us up and take us to her house, which was not too far down the dirt road. When we drove up to her house, there were about 50 people gathered outside to greet us, mostly children! Every year, Annet's mom who is 71, has a children's party for all of her grandkids and neighbors and church friends, and 3 of her daughters were helping and other distant family members. Everyone in Hoima knows Annet's mom Vicky as "JaJa" or "grandma". It was awesome! And all of the children came up to us and kneeled (as they do here) and introduced themselves, some not in their local language but the ones that could, tried English.

Anyway, they fed us irish and sweet potatoes, matoke, millet, cassava greens, nakate greens, beans, peas, rice, avacados, mangos, g'nut sauce.....everything except the rice came from their garden!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly organic and made with love. It was so good. And they are poor. Not as poor as some people, but they are none the less, and they fed us SO much! Annet's mom is the kindest, sweetest most Christian lady I have ever met. In fact the whole family of girls is just like here. They prayed when we got there, they prayed before we ate, they prayed before we left. It was really neat. they all have a lot of love. They said, "A family that prays together, stays together." And they fed us everyday! and they always fed us, then make us eat more, and only then will they eat whatever we have left for them. It is a kind of hospitality that is so moving and genuine. (we try to eat modestly so they can eat a good meal too!)

So this is what our quick trip to the village looked like:
Saturday: Annet's from 4pm-8pm eating dinner and visiting the family. Annet and Alex, her cousin and best friend, walked us home.
Sunday: Met at Annet's at 8am to have tea and bananas and sweet bread before going to church. Church from 10am-2pm!!! WOW a long service, but probably the best preaching yet! And we took communion, which was interesting. Then back to Annet's for lunch. And then walked around the land to other family members' to visit, like Alex, etc. Later, one person from church invited us to their house for some sodas and fruit, then back to our place at about 8pm. Needless to say we were so FULL (our bellies and our souls) but we were exhauseted!
Monday: Walked around Hoima town, just the two of us, and then to Annet's to help with lunch. But instead we helped clear a tree that had been cut down. Manual labor. They didn't want us to, but you can't just sit and watch while others work. They think "mzungus" are so weak. They kept saying, "the sunshine is too much, you are too tired, you must need to sit, you are too tired." It was funny. But Annet said, "Mollie and James don't sit when their is work to do" which made us feel so good. Plus, they were hosting us so nicely we felt that was the LEAST we could do. We ate lunch after our work and then went straight to the bus park at 2pm. But the buses were full, so we had to take a taxi. Not exactly the best option, but we arrived safely in 3
hours to Kampala. Then switched to a taxi to Ndejje and home by 7pm. We were greeted by all of our friends and neighbors, especially the kids. They love screaming "mary mary mary high five high five (becauseI
taught them, oops)!!!!" and running and jumping on us even when we are carrying heavy things. Anyway, it was great.

So that was that. All in all a fabulous trip to the village. Except that the mosquitoes over there have malaria, so we returned and discovered that they had gotten us! But we are all better and excited to fill you in on the progess at Hope School. Just wanted to catch you up to date.