The Smells of Gulu

The only pool in Gulu-Acholi Inn Pool

Every day when I leave my apartment, my nose is accosted with so many different smells both repugnant and pleasant. First, as I walk out my door, I smell the delicious scent of corn meal (poshe) and beans cooking in the pots of our neighbors. It is a delicious and warm smell and it makes me hungry. I am hungry a lot here because I don’t eat regularly. It’s not that I don’t have the money to buy the food; it’s just not convenient for me to walk to the market everyday and get what I need for my house. I try to have at least one good meal out each day, but the rest of the day I am hungry. Yes, I have lost weight, but I needed to do that anyway. I need to go hunting for some new pants that aren’t so baggy. I just can’t bring myself to buy skirts like I should, though. I have never liked wearing skirts and dresses.

I was the video recorder for the repair of the Custom Corner Borehole Well- Repaired by Frontline Engineering & Inv LTD and funded by Rotarians.

As I leave my yard, I am repelled by the strong scent of the raw trash pile across the street. It smells like rotten food and sewage. If it’s a very hot day, the smell is even more elevated. When I throw my garbage on the pile, the children in the neighborhood will go through it so see if there is anything they can use. I worry about this. We throw some gross things away, like everybody else! I was told it would be better to throw it out at night when the children are asleep, so I have done that.

Two kids at the orphanage are too tired for lunch!

I continue up the hill to the main road. The smoke from the fires of the mud thatch houses slowly come over to me. I love the smell of their campfires; it reminds me of all the camping my family use to do in Texas. On the corner of the main road and my road, a homeless man lives, cooks and sleeps on the garbage heap here. He suffers from the disease Elephantitis, a disease which causes his left leg to be very large and swollen like the leg and foot of an elephant. He also has a bit of mental illness. He is both very nice, yet scary at the same time. He always greets me when I pass and I say the Acholi greeting back to him.

A woman's soccer game.  It was fun to watch!

As I head into Gulu town, the charcoal sellers are on my left. The burnt smell of the trees they have burned to create all this charcoal violates my senses. Pile after pile of charcoal is stacked by the ladies whose feet and hands are as pitch black as the charcoal they are handling. Their children sit in the charcoal dust and their clothes and bodies are as black as night. Now I have reached the market. The delicious smell of peanuts and sesame seeds being ground and mixed together into a paste at the mill is a delight to my nose. I have bought some of this paste, and it is delicious. I continue past the mill into the market where the overwhelming strong smell of the fish market invades every pore of my body; Dried fish, smoked fish, big fish, little tiny fish, and fresh fish with their heads and tails still on. This is the fish market. Flies are everywhere. I move quickly here because the smell is just too much for me. I next enter the fruit and vegetable market. The wonderful smell of bananas, oranges, papaya, pineapples and tomatoes and so many other delicious fruits mix together to become a large fruit and vegetable salad to my nose. These are the foods that make up the majority of my diet. This is where I shop for my groceries. After the fruit market, there is the beans and peanuts and corn flour and millet market. When I buy raw peanuts, by neighbor will roast them for me. It is the most amazing smell ever- warm roasted peanuts. In Gulu, peanuts are mixed with ground sesame seeds to make a delicious paste similar to our peanut butter. I use it on rolls and crackers. These are the smells of Gulu.

Kayla and I dancing the night away with friends

The dust is always blowing in the air. It gets in our eyes, in our noses, and all over our bodies, especially when the wind blows just before a big storm or when the boda bodas zoom by too fast. Dust is something we live with always. It is all over our house, on top of everything. Even burnt pieces of paper come through our windows and settle over everything. It is from the open burning of garbage and weeds.

This is very busy mother!

This is the Gulu I love. It is a beautiful place to be right now at this time of my life. I have learned so much here. Here is an example. One of my dogs is very sick at home right now. In fact, even worse, they have been placed by my ex-husband with strangers as he did not take them with him when he moved. I was crying for my dogs and the possibility that I might need to give them a new home for I am unable to provide for them for quite some time. My African friend let me know that a woman does not cry for dogs or any animal. Save the tears for the death of a mother or father or child. Crying is saved for the very serious things, not a dog. I was very humbled by this and I am learning. We in America live a much softer life and we love everything too much. In Gulu they have lost many family members to death, kidnapping, torture, and rape. They have a reason to cry. I don’t. I can’t worry about what is going to happen to my little babies at this time because I am too far away to do anything about it. I get no sympathy from my friends here because they think I am silly when I cry for an animal. I will have to tackle this problem when I am back in the USA.

Rotarian Ben Abe was here in Gulu from Seattle for a week.  The man on the far left is the District Commissioner (like the Mayor of Gulu). They are in their warrior position.

I went dancing last weekend for the first time, and it was amazing! Kayla and I had so much fun together. We laughed, we danced, and talked with friends. It was an amazing evening. You can see by the pictures how much fun we were having! Our work continues at the orphanage and helping young girls get to school. Tomorrow I will be paying the school fees of FOUR MORE GIRLS!!! Yeah to everybody helping me do this! We are working together to change the lives of some wonderful young ladies.

Kayla, Frederick and I