First Weekend

This weekend was very fun. I worked Saturday morning but then was able to take some time off in the afternoon. Most afternoons slow down and allow me time to read, take a nap, or just take a walk which is nice. But Saturday I got a little more time and made some progress on finishing the book “1984”. Yes, everyone has read it in high school but somehow I missed out so I’m reading it now. My mother and I have developed a code phrase for taking a nap which is “I’m going to read my book.” What usually happens is we open our books and promptly fall asleep after making through a page or two. Saturday was much the same.

            On Sunday I was invited to go on the Batwa Experience (http://www.batwaexperience.com/) by one of the managers of the program. One of the primary reasons the hospital I’m volunteering at was established was to provide for the outcaste Batwa pygmy group who once lived in the forest nearby. In 1991-1992 the Batwa were forced out of the jungle so that a national park could be established to protect the remaining 350 gorillas in the area. The Batwa pygmies were not given any recompense nor where they prepared to live outside the jungle. The Kellerman Foundation, which established and supports the hospital, was created to support the Batwa people and help them get basic education, healthcare, employment opportunities, as well as help to preserve their cultural heritage. The Batwa Experience is a guided tour to educate the tourists who come to see the gorillas by showing them how the Batwa people used to live. The profits from the tour of course go to support the Batwa and their programs. The tour lasted about 6 hours and was made all the more interesting by 2 Italian couples who I joined for the experience. On the way to the cultural center/village we passed a small local village where I got to see people preparing coffee beans and making bricks. We saw the village center where the school and church where. I thought they had a great way of calling people to the service with large drums. After hiking up a steep hill covered in tea and banana plants we arrived at the cultural center. Some very lively elders of the Batwa gave the tour. We were shown traditional dances, different styles of huts, and some of the traps they used for hunting. I thought their clothing wasIt was like going to Mesa Verde and seeing the old villages but also seeing the people who lived there (except the Batwa were nomadic and wouldn’t have any structures that would survive the centuries.) It was a great experience and a certainly a privilege to see this living history.

            After the tour on Sunday I followed some of the staff down to an open field where two local soccer teams where playing. It was big game between the village where the hospital is and the village we passed through on the way to see the Batwa pygmies. I again was the only Mzungu (white person) and had many people staring at me. All I can do is smile and try to look friendly and people usually just smile back at me. The game was played on a field with mounds of dirt, tufts of grass, cattle/goats just off the side and a line of people essentially forming the boundaries. Because it was Sunday many people where wearing their Sunday best which made the whole event seem all the more of an event not be missed.

            Thanks for reading the blog and for all the prayers. I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I’m getting more and more used to life here with it’s more relaxed pace.

Bricks being made out of the mud by the side of the road. They would then be fired in a kiln. 

A man shelling the coffee beans after they had been dried.

The church bells calling the village to the service.

The Outside of the Church.

The inside of the church.

An elder describing some of the plants used for medicinal purposes. Their clothing is actually made out of tree bark.

Basket weaving and mothering.

Batwa huts made in trees to avoid predators like big cats and gorillas.

A Batwa women showing us a common shelter made under a log.

A traditional dance. 

One of the traps they showed us. Used to crush large and small animals.

After the tour on Sunday I followed some of the staff down to an open field where two local soccer teams where playing. It was big game between the village where the hospital is and the village we passed through on the way to see the Batwa pygmies. I again was the only Mzungu (white person) and had many people staring at me. All I can do is smile and try to look friendly and people usually just smile back at me. The game was played on a field with mounds of dirt, tufts of grass, cattle/goats just off the side and a line of people essentially forming the boundaries. Because it was Sunday many people where wearing their Sunday best which made the whole event seem all the more of an event not be missed.

It seemed like the whole village turned out for the football game.

            Thanks for reading the blog and for all the prayers. I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I’m getting more and more used to life here with it’s more relaxed pace.