Kitgum

For the last six days we were in a district North of Gulu called Kitgum. The district is "a stone's throw" from the boarder of South Sudan. I am not exactly sure how far that is, because if we ever ask our professors how far we are from something they say a stone's throw, but we were really close to the boarder. We went to Kitgum because it is a rural area that suffered from the war, and is in the process of rebuilding. Our first two nights were in a guest house and the last three days were in a home stay. The staff was worried about how the students would do in such a rural area, but most of us wanted to stay longer. I LOVED our living situation and am so grateful for the experience!

Here are a few of my siblings (I think there were eight but I'm not exactly sure. There were just kids everywhere) and my Kitgum host dad. We are standing in front of the kitchen. There is another hut that had two bedrooms and a sitting room. There were a total of four huts in their compound that belonged to various family members. The traditional Acholi way of life seemed more preserved in this village than in Gulu and it was so fun to experience. When I got home from class I would help with dinner. The women started cooking around 4:00 and we ate when it was finished around 9:30. They tried teaching me how to make a few things. I can now shell groundnuts (which are just like peanuts), make porridge, and use a charcoal stove.

 

This is me making cipati for breakfast, it's like a really thick crepe. Cipati is delicious but really filling. The charcoal stove that they cook on is behind me. This whole trip has been a balance of eating enough to not be rude, but not so much that you get sick. Being a guest comes with being pampered and well fed. Some of my classmates had three separate breakfasts before arriving to school at 10:00. My family was a little more understanding of how much I could eat, but I still never got away from a meal without having seconds or thirds.

This is my Kitgum host mom in her traditional dress at our home stay goodbye celebration. All of the women and some of the men were in traditional wear, I felt underdressed to say the least. There were several thank you speeches given and then a lot of dancing. I still can't master the Acholi dance moves, but I'm starting to see how important dancing is to the culture. 

Kitgum was an incredible time and I'm struggling to find words for it right now. I'm hoping to go back and visit my family during the research portion of the semester. I did miss my Gulu family while I was gone though. Gulu is starting to feel familiar which is really fun. I am learning my way around and can move pretty independently in the city. We are only in Gulu for three more days before we leave for Kampala, Jinja, and Rwanda. The next couple weeks are full of traveling which is exciting, but also terrifying because I know how fast the days will go.