Rural Homestay @ Kapchurwa

Brian tells me that Mt. Elgon, the widest mountain on the face of the globe, is where man comes from. The oldest human fossils were discovered there. It looks similar to the Rocky Mountains - an abrupt transition from flat plains to towering hills. The volcanic soil is so rich and fertile. Rural dwellers cultivate crops (mainly coffee, maize, and matoke) all over the slopes of Mt. Elgon. There is no peak of the mountain; it just gradually slopes upward as you move toward the Kenya border.

Day 1 - Friday

Our coaster was an hour and a half late coming from Kampala, so we arrived in Kapchurwa at night (thus I was later given by my family the name "Chelangat" which means "at night"). I was brought up the hills through the darkness and seemingly endless matoke forests where we reached the home of my father Patrick. His brother John also escorted me. I was welcomed into the kitchen where their nieces Karen (early teens) and Rachel (in Senior 3) were cooking for my arrival. They then brought the food into the house where I ate only with John and talked to him about the political history of Uganda. He also explained that the loud (but distant) major key, upbeat music was coming from the home of a girl who just died in a boda boda accident. "Someone dies from a motorcycle accident nearly every week," he told me. "Tomorrow we will go to the burial - in our culture we attend the funeral services of our neighbors."

Day 2

The first night of sleep was strange, as my room was pitch black at night. There is no light pollution even remotely close, and even those who have electricity in the tiny town of Kapchurwa are few. I wouldn't have a watch or phone or clock for the week, so I just got out of bed when I felt like it. Patrick immediately took me up the hill to a cave (created by volcanic activity) which is on his property. He said he was going to make it a resort someday haha. He then walked me around the hills. Every home seemed to house a relative, whether it be a cousin-brother, one of many mothers, etc. We visited some injured people. One lady had a cast on her leg, and another man had an arm in a sling. I think both were due to boda boda accidents. Back at the house, Rachel told me to photograph the slaughtering of a chicken. I was given the gizzard to eat since I was the guest. Then I went to the burial of the young girl. Patrick told me to bring the camera, so I did. There were so many speeches. I think some kids have never seen a mzungu before. There were times throughout the whole week that I was stared at literally for 45 minutes. Anyway, one guy spoke at the burial condemning boda drivers and another went off about the Catholic Church, which seemed completely unrelated. It started to rain hard, and the hundreds of people at this home tried to gather under the small tents. When rain hit again as we were walking back, we simply went under the roof of a stranger's home. It's common policy with the rain there. I was given a seat, the only one in the house, even though there were two ladies holding babies. I wanted to offer them the seat.

Day 3

Dad can look at the sun and tell me it's almost 5:25. It's amazing. That must be why he said I had slept in late, despite the fact that it was only 7 AM. He says he sees no point in sleeping much. He'll sleep 4 hours an ight and be completely rested each day. Ugandans are nuts like that. I was fed tea, 2 chapati, a banana, g-nuts, and an egg for breakfast. I then came outside to sit in the shade to wait for church. Karen did not wait long before she came up to me saying, "I want to serve you breakfast." I laughed because I thought I already had breakfast but she gave me a bowl of cabbage, a bowl of beans, juice, 3 sweet potatoes, and 3 bananas. I was so stuffed from before that I could barely make a dent in it. Church wasn't far away/ The service was 4 hours long, but my stomach bothered me the whole time. It would bother me for the rest of the week because I would always be given milk that came straight from a cow's utter. My body is only used to processed and fake foods. This real stuff destroys me. I can't wait to have more preservatives when I get to the states. By this point in the week, I had already learned more Kupsabiny (their language) than any other language I've heard here.

Day 4

I picked coffee in the morning with Patrick and some visitors from the border of Kenya. Then Patrick and I set off for a long walk. We first went to a trade school where he works as an accountant (as if farming was not enough). I was welcomed, as always, with tea. Then I was brought to the staff room where people asked me questions. I ended up talking to one guy about my studies in peace and conflict. He asked me a lot about Mormonism, Satanism, the Qur'an, Christianity in the west, and Wicca. I was not able to answer some questions. I was cut off from our conversation to go meet Patrick's boss. He was very smart, having been all over the world. He delivered to me a convincing case that AIDS is artificial and was utilized by the American government to control the population of Africa. He was actually praising the guy who he said cultivated AIDS. He thought him to be brilliant. Patrick and I walked around that place and then set off for town. We arrived at the hospital where we visited some patients. Then Patrick took me out to eat to a place where he is able to watch Nigerian films. Search them on youtube to learn that they are the cheesiest and worst films ever created by humans. Patrick, as always, wanted me to take pictures everywhere. We then went to a shop of an Indian man, who told me he moved from India in search of work. He has been in Kapchurwa since 1995 I believe. An IT student named Justine was typing a fine write-up for a police officer, and because few here can type fast, I took over the job for her. Then I taught Patrick how to play Free Cell. On the way back, we stopped at a center to get a stalk of sugarcane (6 feet tall for 600 shillings/30 cents). A bunch of drunks were wanting to talk to me. Some kids were following me and cheering so I told Patrick to ask them if they would do the same if they saw Jesus. They replied, "Yes, we would cheer for him." However, I then asked, "what if Jesus wasn't a mzungu?" - and Patrick said, "but Jesus IS a mzungu." That was kind of disappointing to hear from such a smart man. I think we walked over 25 kilometers today.

Day 5

This morning I woke up before the sun woke up and I really wanted to call Suzan while the minutes were cheap but I couldn't even find strength to reach for the phone. I fell back asleep and then woke up to find Patrick had left to visit a patient, who now had a 10% chance of living. Last time I saw her she looked ready to die. I vomited outside that morning. I was not feeling well. I later called Suzan which was a breath of fresh air. Seth and Vincent showed up in the early afternoon to give me Pepto pills. I took them to the cave. When Seth and I reached the top, we turned around to see Vincent breathing heavy and sitting down, looking at the amazing view. "If you were in a relationship with a girl who was delaying the relationship," he said, "you would take her here to convince her of the relationship." "Would you take Betty here?" asked Seth, referring to Vincent's wife. "No," replied Vincent, "I've already convinced her to the maximum!" Later, Patrick took me and my 3 year old brother Jeremy to the summit of the area.

Day 6

The best stars I've ever seen are here when it is not cloudy. Seriously, I don't think there is a place in the states, except maybe somewhere in Alaska, that has a better view. Everyone was gone in the morning so I decided to pick coffee. After a few hours, I didn't even fill a basin. If workers fill a basin, they are rewarded with 1000 shillings or $.50 - in America we call that employee abuse. Patrick came back and asked me how I was feeling. I told him, "better, but not 100%" - so then Seth and Adelaine show up. I had no idea why. Apparently Patrick called thinking I was in a horrible condition and that they should come fix my body. He said he knows that Americans will often lie to be polite, as in, "Oh, I'm fine" when they really aren't. Later Patrick came home again from the hospital and I asked how the patient Annette was doing. "It's amazing!" he exclaimed. "I don't think the recovery is normal but she's already sitting up, talking, and I even saw her take a soda." To think that I only threw out aimless minute prayers for her about her condition, expecting her to die, made me feel really small. I could've physically seen her approaching the grave beforehand.

Day 7
We spent hours harvesting coffee on another plot of land Patrick owned about 3 kilometers away. It took several hours to finish that area. That night I explained to dad over our last dinner together how he had fulfilled 4 of the 5 criteria in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats for entering heaven instead of hell in just one week's time. He laughed, telling me he never heard of the parable. The conversation ended when he simply said, "If someone is suffering, you can't just watch." This is coming from a guy who has the same plea as the Christians of my generation: "Away with systematic church." Patrick doesn't understand why 4 congregations members each Sunday stand up to ramble about nothing or deliver a lengthy sermon. Patrick says that in my place you get consumed with yourself and forget about your brother. In Kapchurwa, the family lives together until the death, multiple generations under the same roofs. I think there are some things about Kapchurwan culture that are just inherently Christian. Is that possible?

Sipi Falls

My departure the next morning was hard. They asked me to stay for at least another month. They would've given me land to stay there forever if I wanted it. The place is basically paradise, so I won't say that I didn't consider it. I was also excited to get back to my family in Mukono though. I was given the gift of a photo album upon leaving so that I could share my experience from Kapchurwa with others. I hope to send them mail or photos sometime. Anyway, Sipi Falls was where we all got back together for debrief. We met with the USE students who stayed in Soroti. We went on a hike, which lead me to a headache, then to chills, then to coughing, etc etc etc. Now I am back in Mukono, still trying to recover from this miserable sickness which was at first thought to be malaria, but it's probably dehydration. It's good to be with family and friends again. Now I'm just trying to get my work done and still be healthy. My cough has gotten worse but I think my fever is somewhat going away. The headaches are also lessening.