Day 7 - old MacDonald

Sue and I enjoy a great breakfast at the hotel, but unfortunately Jackie and Davis have had less than stellar experiences with their sleeping arrangements.  We are going to Jackie's family home in the country which now houses Farida, Sophia and their families, but we have a number of chores to manage beforehand.

I have run low on cash, and we spend about 45 minutes running around to various ATM's before we find one that will accept my RBC client card.  It is daunting, because on a previous trip I was charged the full amount for an ATM withdrawal which failed, and RBC said they had no way of correcting the matter.

Next we order take-away food (goats meat & chips) from a restaurant, then stroll the busy street of clothing vendors unsuccessfully before venturing into a huge marketplace (reminiscent of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar) which specializes in recycled clothing.  There we do find a couple of satisfactory black sweaters which hopefully will serve Sarah & Shakira for this coming year.

Jinja street scene

matooke vendor outside the market

Jackie and Sue negotiate for sweaters

leaving the bazaar

We return to the restaurant three times before the food is finally ready, then head out to the countryside.

waitress eyes me awaiting the food promised to be ready 30 minutes ago

Jackie's family owns this house and surrounding land, which was the home to her Mama Remy before she fell ill and died.  Now the siblings all have a claim on a portion of the acreage, but none care to live there, which is fortunate for us.  Our Kulikayo moms Farida and Sophia have fallen on hard times and were being evicted from their dwellings, while Jackie's family members recognized it is better to have the house occupied and the fields worked than having them abandoned, so they agreed to have these moms and families move in.

village scene enroute to the farm

neighbour with her baby greets us as we walk to the house

we're welcomed into the house by Farida & the kids

the children enjoy their lunch

Everyone is thrilled to receive their hot lunches, and it is a pleasure to re-unite with these kids.

Farida has about 5 female chickens who produce eggs, but no rooster to produce chicks.  She has planted matooke (a plantain vegetable) but expects no harvest for another 5 or  6 months.  She is hoping to plant beans and maize on other portions of the land.  She also has a couple of goats.

Farida, Sue, Shakira & Moses

Sophia, Jackie & Farida

Farida shows off her maize while Shatra looks on

Saleh & Shatra with neighbour baby

kitchen shed in back of the farmhouse

Farida & her kids occupy an outbuilding, while Sophia stays in the main house

Sophia with neighbour baby

Sasha gets her turn cuddling the baby

Sophia has a couple of female chickens and has some early plantings of matooke, but hopes to also plant watermelon, ground nuts, and maize for popcorn on her allotted land.  She says she has a contact who works for the government providing education to people involved in agriculture, and she would wish to take such a course to learn more.

Farida models the new dress we brought as a gift

Cutie

Charlotte

Sasha

Shatra

Shakira with baby, Charlotte & Sasha

farmhouse viewed from the fields

Farida shows her pair of goats

Sophia & Farida among the young shoots of matooke

Sue gets help pulling burrs after tramping through the fields

Sophia with her new dress

The moms state they are well and they have no particular concerns about their children.  We look over the 4 bicycles which are sitting in a small unfinished store-room in the house.  All have at least one tire puncture, most have at least one tire needing replacement, one or more broken brake levers and/or cables.  One bike has a broken seat.  It's obvious to us that the bikes have experienced very hard use with damage over and above what one would expect from the rough terrain and pothole-strewn paths typical of this country.  Repairing them to functional status is probably not economically feasible and, besides, the kids have grown.  We decide that, for now at least, other priorities like education and food security will need to come first.

bicycle graveyard

Moses, Farida, Cutie

Shatra, Sophia, Shakira in back, Saleh, Sasha & Charlotte in front

Fond farewells  (no, we didn't leave Jackie behind)

We wave some sad good-byes, then head back to Jinja and search out Surjio's Guest House & Pizza (not an easy task when being mislead by Google maps) where we enjoy some of the best pizza we have tasted in Uganda. 

path to Surjio's - where is the Canadian flag???

lovely pool with a peek of the Nile in the distance

It's been a full day, and we are glad to arrive back to our beds.