back to wimunu pe cek

back to wimunu pe cek (a missed blog from before so the references will be out of order from the rest of the blogs... )

i love the culture here. it's a huge part of everything. there's such a strong communal feeling every second of everyday. once we came back to wimunu pe cek (i think that's where i left off) we gathered once again in a big circle and there was a discussion about how the filming went. you could tell they were proud to share the specifics of what they captured. these discussions were very formal, when info is presented here, there's a lot of formality and protocol. leaders re-introduce people and gratitude is stated in a formal way. the women were more open about sharing than the men. a woman who was the leader of her filming crew named beatrice (LOVED beatrice) spoke about who they interviewed and where. she was thoughtful, well-spoken and full of humor.

i had a copy of the oregonian's travel section and took a moment to explain to the group the tradition in our city of taking a picture in a different country with the oregonian's travel section in the picture. so, all 50+ of us gathered in the sun for a picture and a couple of them held the paper up high. i hope it makes it into the oregonian! it's a great picture.

we said our farewells and made the road trip back to mercy corps in the city of pader.

later that evening mercy corps put on a formal dinner for us at their headquarters. it was festive and delicious. again, we had formal introductions and acknowledgements and expressions of gratitude. the team in pader is just amazing to see in action. they're mostly made up of ugandans which is why they are so effective i think. roger horton was the main guy and was full of information about the programs our money raised will go towards...he was awesome.

then we went back to alice's place (the woman who runs the ccf program with the child mothers) and gathered for a concert (given by me) under a big tent. it was dark and loud from the intense rain , but they brought out a couple lanterns and we made the most of it.

all the ngo's in the area were there and the concert was loose and so much fun! a bunch of the young women from alice's project were there as well, so many of the audience members didn't speak english very well. i told some stories before the songs which when translated evoked a ton of laughter (even when the stories weren't intended to be funny at all) so i have no idea what was being translated before each tune! 2 hours and many many songs later, we decided that this should be considered the concert kick-off appropriately beginning in pader itself. it was really a magical night. the staff at those ngos NEVER get concerts, in fact it's rare and almost nonexistent for ugandan musicians to actually sing their songs live. most "live" concerts include bands with pre-recorded music/vocals and the vocalist will stand in front of the audience and lip sync. so it was extra special for people to hear a live musician and live vocals.

the next morning we had just enough time to visit obolokome and wimunu pe cek (the resettlement sites) one more quick time before flying back to kampala. our team (of diana, betty, james and me) split into two so we could cover more ground. betty and i went back to obolokome to visit the schools and talk with the elders while diana and james went back to wimunu pe cek to continue interviewing the youth.

betty and i arrived at obolokome . -i have to interject here that EVERY road trip to and from the sites are very lumpy and very long adventures in and of themselves. dolly parton and kenny rogers are ALWAYS playing on the radio. i think i heard coat of many colors 27 times at least. it kept things perfectly ironic somehow to leave these sites and then ride in the jeep blasting dolly's coat of all the colors. and meanwhile passing by women carrying huge loads of rice and kasava root balanced on their heads while we pass through these floody areas where the water comes up above the tires of the jeep. -

so because this was our 3rd time back we were immediately welcomed and recognized many faces. i joined a group of school children under a big tree. they were studying english and there was a chalkboard leaning against the trunk. richard (a staff member of mercy corps from the same region of pader) was with me and translated while i spoke with the kids. someone rang a giant bell and all the kids gathered around . we were going to have a song session with all the kids. okomo david was the music teacher and he taught me their school song so i could play along on the guitar. a few hundred kids were sitting around us and they were so well behaved. so different from kids i've seen in our school system. (!) david was an awesome teacher and helped me teach them some songs as well. the kids were so full of life, fun and passion. they have been through so much but they're still just kids being kids. making fun of each other and giggling throughout... i spoke to them about songwriting and how it's a great way to express your feelings. one of the kids stepped forward and said he wrote songs/words/melodies.

afterwards a young man named donno (or donald) and i went a few hundred yards away so he could share a few songs he wrote with me. we went under a mango tree in a small opening b/w 5 huts. he and sat on these little wooden chairs and he looked me right in the eye as he sang a few songs for me. i LOVED this guy donno. he was so excited to share these songs and described each of them. i figured out some of the chords and it became a "jam" session. i asked him if he could teach me a simple song. he taught me

atema tema oolojo. atema tema oolojo, atema tema oolojo
kioolii me nono... and so on

which means

we are tired of temptation
they capture you for no good reasons
whether you are a girl
whether you are a boy
they capture you for no good reasons

we sang/played/danced together under this mango tree. once again such sad content about the war... but the happiest sounding song. you'd think we were singing about the sun high in the sky by the sound of it. mothers and their little ones gathered around us. like i said i LOVED donno. he was so open and full. we laughed at how much i screwed the words up as did most of the women around us.. but it was a blast.

i tried to memorize him, the community, the school with my eyes. its hard to describe what it feels like to hang out in those communities. you feel so protected. and cared for. physically, emotionally, spiritually. i know there's violence and gender issues in those camps... but they weren't out in the open... so all i could feel was the beauty of the land and the playfulness of this community.