An Unexpected Adventure

Any time I step out the front door I know I will have an adventure. Uganda seems to be the land of constant adventuring as far as I am concerned. For a small town girl who loves schedules and patterns and would drive the exact same route home every night it can be a challenge. Somehow though, each day, adventuring seems less and less scary.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to town all by myself. Got a boda by myself. Went to the bank by myself, and then began shopping by myself. Kishanje, where I will be moving to (tomorrow!) is remote. Really remote. If the roads were good, it would take maybe 45 minutes to reach it from Kabale (the nearest big town) but the roads are terrible. Two hours is considered miraculous, some friends have even spent the night on the road sleeping in the car because the roads were unpassable. Anyway, I had to shop for some things to bring with me. The sun was hot, the road was dusty, and I had a big list. I was successful in purchasing many of the items I need. Yay!
Then RA, Mr A, and I went to the church outreach a friend of ours was holding. We rode three on a boda (for ex: driver, me, Mr A). It was a time of closeness to say the least. The program was nice and the children were sweet. After church (where I was corralled into being an “extra” in the skit) they showed the movie “Magdalene” pastors translating the movie all throughout. The town we were in is considered a dark area- full of thieves, con artists, and generally sketchy people. Even the locals fear it. The pastor friend of ours is my age and he and two others have begun a ministry there. They have faced a lot of opposition but they are doing a great work. One thing I really admired was how they are feeding the neighborhood children and caring for the widows.

I got up early this morning to meet RA at a junction so we could go together to a friend’s house. I left my house at 8:20 to meet her before nine. There was a side road off the main road that was heading in the direction I wanted to reach, I asked a passerby if it would lead me to the “police station” road. They said yes. As it was a new short cut, nothing looked familiar. By 9:20 I had spoken to three other people who kept directing me through fields, banana plantations, over fences and up and down many hills. So I called RA….. can you imagine trying to describe where you are and what you see? “Grass, lots of massive cows, plantations, and a forest”….. was pretty much what I told her. A man came along while RA and I were on the phone so I stopped him to ask for help. I told him where I was trying to go(after greeting him of course) and he started laughing at me – “you are lost” he said. (duh) I actually wanted to cry when he said I had to go back where I came from. So back up and over the hills I went. Hopped over two fences, prayed the ginormous bull would stay under his tree and let me pass. (ginormous bull…. HUGE…. Black, horns about five feet long EACH). The third herd of cows had cow herders with them. I greeted them and met “bruce” whose name changed throughout the conversation as far as I could tell. Bruce didn’t speak English, so using my LIMITED Runyankole I told him where I wanted to go. He spoke on in length, (I understood nothing) pointing to the road I was on. So I pressed on. I had to get through the herd of cattle…. So I clapped and shooed them and passed safely while Bruce and his companions laughed. I think he appreciated my braveness (which at this point was nothing more than a desire to get home) so he ran after me and accompanied me to the road. Not just the road, but MY road, the one I know. Bruce continued walking with me even though I was doing my best to assure him I was fine now and continued talking to me nonstop. Finally a woman passed (who I greeted) and she came over, sent him away and accompanied me till she reached her stop. She turned out to be the teacher of a few of my kids so we talked about them. I continued on alone and finally reached RA by 10:15. She had called out the troops (ABIDE guys) and was able to call and tell them I was fine. So I am fine…. Just a bit sore…

It was an unexpected adventure. It was a bit out of my comfort zone. Lessons learned: don’t take shortcuts through fields, forests, and banana plantations, and ask directions in the local language. I need to step up my studies and memorization of words!!

By the way, I was laughing when I realized that for the first time I removed the whistle my cousin gave me before I left the house this morning. RA was telling me to shout and they would listen, and I was like, oh, I should use my whistle…. Hahahah….
Tomorrow early morning RA and I will go to the bus depot to get a bus to kabale: three big bags, two backpacks, 25 kilos of millet and two girls. Our good friend PT will meet us in Kabale (hopefully with another strong guy!!) to help unload and then we will find our way to Kishanje. Keep us in your prayers.