Motherland where my heart belongs
Motherland where my heart belongs
The
cocks’ crows wake this village! As the people turn in their beds trying to
cover their heads and coil for more minutes, the crows continue until they get
out of their sleeping mats. They yawn, stretch as their eyes adjust and notice the
light from the skies signaling daylight. The atmosphere is filled with melodies
from the birds. Up they arise and get hold of their hoes and other garden tools
and rush off to the fields. Much of the field
work is completed by the time the sun comes up and some people start their long
trek back home as others work on until the sun is above their heads. Some roots
like cassava, yams; vegetables and firewood are always brought back home. The
woman immediately starts the process of making food for the family as the man
bathes and goes to sit under that mango/ tamarind tree with a big bowl of
porridge as he awaits lunch. The children come around him and start playing. He
plays the baby sitter role as mama works on lunch
In
the urban setting, the hustle and bustle happens like in any other urban area.
Children are being prepared for school; the adults rush through to get to work
early. Many miss out on the beautiful big golden ball that rises from its sleep
before it sweeps over the town with its shining armour. Sometimes its kind to
us and the heat is moderate. There are days when it glares at us and we soak in
our own sweat! We love it; we get to see it every single day of our lives. It
helps us dry our clothes, foods before we store them
This
land is bestowed with fruits all year round! The people don’t lack; from Oywelo, to ocayo, to olelem, pwomo (the African star fruit), passion
fruits, sour sop, okwee munu (apple cucumber),
sugar apples, mangoes, guava, pawpaw, berries of all kinds, the list is endless.
Children roam the thickets in search for these mouth watering fruits in their
freshest states as they hunt for birds that they will later bring back home and
roast. Such a delicacy as one crashes the bird with its bones and lick each
finger one at a time. When it’s time to harvest sweet potatoes, the children
are the most excited as they wait for the evening so they can bake the potatoes
from the garden. Chunks of solid mounds are built to create a dome with an
opening where the potatoes are put in. The mound is pre-heated red-hot before
the sizeable potatoes are pushed in and the dome crashed over the potatoes and
left over night. The children return home eager for the next morning when they
go to pick the well baked potatoes, it is so tasty that even a passerby’s mouth
waters from the aroma. Around this period the children don’t mind about the
morning meals as they are kept full from the potatoes, they keep drinking water
all day long. They call this process goyo
abuu
When
the period of ocayo reaches, it is squashed together with boiled sweet potatoes
and the children dig in with all five fingers as they enjoy the delicacy. You
definitely should visit a village this December or January and munch away!
The
foods of this land are majorly pasted, and there is always Shea-nut butter to
add in certain foods for better tastes. We have vegetables (lalaa, malakwang, boo, akeyo, oyado…),
legumes (dek ngor, lugwiri, ladunga),
when you consume ladunga, remember to
drink lots of water or cry at poo time…, game meat laced in olel; you should
actually try the edible rat! It’s usually hunted same as guinea fowls,
warthogs, wild rabbits, antelopes, buffalos. Now don’t leave your mouth agape!
We have foods from the other lands too; you won’t die of hunger if you can’t
stomach this delicacy which is most unlikely. Say you need Indian meals, Ethiopian
meals, English foods, you definitely will find them in hotels around Gulu town.
However, if you really want to go local and have no home to provide you this
yummies, there are plenty of local restaurants all over the land!
The
children of this land are children and enjoy their childhood! They are always
at their mother’s side to clean out (eat) last night’s remain of food from the
saucepan, licking away the mingling stick that has some olel (pasted soup) or
kwon(bread) on it before it is washed. Odeyo is a must-have for children and it
tastes just like corn flakes; don’t question this unless you have tasted it!
When it starts raining, the children dance away and bathe in the rain; it is
the much-needed fun the children have been waiting for since the clouds started
gathering! They swim in any pond in sight, slide on any valley (small slightly
steep footpath) after the rain, they dance at every music that sounds, play
football from locally made balls from pieces of clothes and plastic bags, one
of the most memorable games is when mimicking a family with a father, mother , and children in place there is so much outdoor game that no child is left out
or gets bored. Do not pity them when you see them in those tatters for they are
better than a modern child in a million ways! They know true love, they know
family bond, they know healthy foods and they surely know how to have fun, a
lot of children rich with innovations and a very experimental lot! They learn
so much as they are part of the adult life and their childhood is always
respected
The
village starts talking about the market day weeks before the day! As the women
trek the long distance to the well talking about their challenges in the house/
homes, advising one another on how to hold on to marriage, talking about boys
and men. They can’t hide their excitement for the market day…
The morning of the market day,
everybody arises early, trying to wrap up the chores of the day. They carry the
millet, bananas, clothes, local brew straws, chicken, goats and head out to the
market. The women ensure that there is enough food for the children remaining
home.
The
market is alive with people milling all over, music booming in one corner, the
traditional dancers on one end, people buying and yelling and catching up on
village gossip. The men admiring the women and drawing pictures of how they
will end up with the women later in the night in that nightclub being quickly
put up with some bamboo rids, some will find a wife on this day…as the
afternoon draws in, some men have started drinking the local brew. A group of
about 6 men each are seated round massive pots sharing a straw as they drink
and chatter away, their laughter boom through the market. The women adding hot
water to the brew wiggle their waists around as they attend to the pots. In
this particular circle, we can see the chemistry of this beautiful dark skin,
long-legged woman, as her hips sway, the man who will definitely end up with
her swallows hard sending the circle into another roar of laughter as the other
men tease him…By evening the women are in circles dancing away and the men move
closer to watch. The younger women dance in quite seductive ways, their smiles
are infectious; some men join the women dancing. The drummer is definitely
enjoying the act…as darkness swallows the market place, many of the elderly
women have returned home with more gossip. They feel refreshed! The night disco
is already on and when you glance at the legs of the dancers, you get the point.
The dust has risen to their shins but they carry on until very early in the
morning…
Known
for so long for its over 2 decade’s war, Gulu is healing. If no one told you what
this place was like about 20 years ago? You would never guess. This town has
crawled from the shadows and it is being noticed. The war hit it so hard. Many
people, in fact, the biggest number of internally displaced persons moved to
towns. A tiny house that should have housed about 3 people housed about 10
people in the town set up. Many people
have returned home where a homestead consist s of many huts; for the family
heads, the guest wing, that for the boys, the girls, grannies, aunts who have
returned home and the kitchen. Granaries are a must-have in every home! At the
centre of homes always sit big bonfires where much of the education takes place
every evening.
The
streets of Gulu town are none like you used to know, they are smoother. If you
last came here about 3 years ago, you would get lost in this town. Structures
have sprouted in all corners. Business is booming! When you enter the “main”
market, you will feel the excitement of the vendors, they are always singing to
a tune playing on a cassette or dancing to one of those Acoli songs (lakubukubu). It is a beauty to behold
watching such jovial people!
People
who love nightlife don’t get disappointed, there are pubs, dance places scattered
all over the place from low to high end! The fun is always epic! Those who stay
home even just a few kilometers from town chatter away around bonfires
Motherland!
Behold your beauty! The streams! The borassus palms are beautifully aligned and
give a beauty many are yet to see from this land! The webbed leaves stand tall
on uniquely shaped stems showing off their orange fruits that the community enjoys
annually and use it as teeth whiteners. The fibres get off all the dirt from
all corners of the teeth leaving it sparkling. The people call this yummy orange
fruit Tugu and from the planted seeds,
sprouts (ocwiji) are dug out, boiled
and eaten around August through to October.
The
physical features of this land are breathtaking! The natural vegetation,
Baker’s Fort known by the locals as Fort Patiko where Sir Samuel Baker set a
fort that helped propel the Arabs out of the land. When you visit that place,
you can still see the panga marks that the Arabs used to execute locals who
were being rebellious in the slave trade time, the ditches around the fort manned
by lions then and only one man managed to jump across it to his freedom,
something the locals still talk about. And did you know, it is believed that
Sir Samuel Baker and colleagues dropped the seeds of the Tugu after eating them? We now know how the tree came about!
The
people have never gone in denial of what happened in their land. There are
memorial sites within the region that bring to light what this beautiful land
went through. The people are determined to catch up with the rest of the world.
A jolly town it is! Less than a kilometer from the heart of town, the birds
sing away. From any part of this land, you can watch the beautiful sun go to
sleep and watch the silver from the sky wash the town as the moon wakes up to
take charge of the night. The stars twinkle away.
Photo credit: Walter photography and the internet
Through the eyes of AYENYO Joanita
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