Another choice experiences was our visit to Mbale where we stayed a couple of days with our good friends the Rixs and provided some leadership training in their newly formed branch. While there we visited a beautiful area named Sipi Falls. As we drove up the mountain side and passed by small villages we were taken back with the beauty and splendour of the area. It reminded us of looking out over the plains of the Serengeti.
Although they live in primitive mud huts with thatched roofs and dirt floors, their yards and homes are kept clean and orderly. They sweep the hardened dirt surfaces in their yards and in their homes which gives a general appearance of cleanliness.
This little boy had a sliver in his toe. He wasn't crying or calling for his mother. He was just picking away at it, but we could tell that he wasn't a happy camper.
He wasn't too excited about this white ghostly man offering help.
A view of one of the many falls.
If you need a home, fetch some 3-4 inch poles, stand them up vertically, weave a lot of smaller sticks about 1" in diameter horizontally around the vertical poles, fill in and around the poles and sticks until you can't see them any more, smear some cow dung on the sides of the walls and on the floor to create a more durable finish that can be swept clean, and there you have it, a house where you can raise a good sized family. This one has two rooms - the sitting room where the door enters from outside, and a sleeping room about six feet wide.
This house is where the grandmother stays. She lives in the room behind the solid door to the right, and the animals are kept in the room behind us. This keeps them somewhat safe from predators, and she doesn't have to go far to care of them.
They have plenty of fresh water from a spring a little distancer from the homes. They think nothing of carrying water, having never know anything different. The children learn to carry water when only 5 or 6 years old. The plastic containers for the small children are relatively small. As they get older, the containers get larger, until by the age of 10-12 they can carry two 5-6 gallon containers at a time - about 50 lbs each. By age 13-14 they are often seen carrying one in each hand and one on top of their head - about 150 lbs of water. This they do every day.
As we come closer to the falls, we cover the camera to protect it from the damp mist caused by the falls, especially as the water hits the rocks below. A nearby farmer greets us and tells us about kinds of food he is growing in the surrounding hillside fields. We also paid him 2000 schillings for allowing us to cross his land to the falls.
The blueish grey field in the background is cabbage bordered by pineapple, irish (potatoes), maze, and french beans (string beans) and more.
This boy was very friendly and enjoyed answering Sister Thayn's many questions. Fortunately, he spoke very good English, which meant that he was a good student in school, since that is where Ugandans learn to speak English. In their homes they speak Lugandan.
As we neared the base of the falls, we thought we heard someone calling, "de plane, de plane". It had all the makings of a Fantasy Island, minus the ocean, beaches and a few other minor details.
Our guide was a young man who was attending a local college in preparation for going on to medical school. Their idea of medical school is a little different than ours. He plans to finish in 3-4 years and probably move to Kampala, where we live, so he can practice where the people might be able to pay money for his services. He would rather have a practice here in the Sipe Falls area, but he would also like to be able to get paid for his services.
Here is the typical African women bending over with her hands on the ground and her legs straight as a board. It makes the muscles and tendons in the back of my legs pain just looking at her.
Since banana trees are plentiful here, they use the leaves on most of the roofs here. It is faster to construct using banana leaves, but does not last as long as grass.
We secluded ourselves at the entrance of a large cave under the falls.
A mud hut with a thatched roof topped with a modern touch - a car tire.
Sister Thayn on her way to visit some ancient caves . . . . are not all caves ancient?
I'm still nursing the bump on my head.
These two had some fun talking about their age. They found that they were the same age. Sister Thayn told him that maybe she ought to start using a cane also.
We checked out these rooms to see if it might be a place to come and spend the night. We decided that $100, that's right US dollars) was a little steep for twin beds under a grass roof, little or no ventilation, and outside toilets. One of the huts had a double bed and an inside toilet, non-flushing for $150/night.
What more can we say . . . . this is Africa at its best.
