Jinja Adventures

I went back to spend a few days in Jinja recently, with an orphanage and the dance group I met during the previous visit. We also came across some kids doing somersaults on a piece of dirt. This little Mafubira village is just full of amazing talent.

In the evening however, we got a call from a teacher back near Mukono that we know pretty well (Moureen), letting us know that her 16 year old brother that we’d only seen the day before had suddenly died. It was some kind of brain swelling cranial pressure related cause although they aren’t sure. He just had a big headache the night before and never woke up.

We went back home for two days to attend Moureen’s house and then the burial the following day. The whole village was there it seemed. A Few shelters were setup outside and many people mourned and slept there overnight. We ended up staying until 11pm.

The next day there was the burial and even more people were there. It was a very communal event after which they carried the coffin to a nearby cemetery and put it in the ground. Both days were really interesting with both mourning and a few laughs. Meanwhile, many of the children were quite unaffected and just kept sitting around me laughing and trying to play or teach me the local language.

Another interesting thing was driving home at night. I was really worried as the road has no reflectors at all. This is usually fine but when passing another car, you’re left driving blind for a moment hoping that there are no surprises on the road. Keep in mind that while passing cars you often need to go off the road a bit and there was quite a few people still walking by the road near midnight. All this becomes even worse when you pass a car during a turn.

Back to Jinja

When we returned to Jinja after the burial, quite few cool things happened. There was a bit of disorganization which I think was due to the dance group being new to the whole idea of receiving volunteers. It was still good though. We walked through the villages where we saw some interesting things.

A popular game for kids

This nursery looked very much like a concentration camp

A village cinema!

We bought lollipops for a bunch of kids who chased us each morning

We also briefly helped with some construction. It was quite satisfying to cut a branch by hacking it with a machete.

On two occasions I hired a local dance hall and DJ to record the dance group and it seemed to bring the village a lot of joy as many people came. Especially during a day where lots of children came and followed up the adult dancing with their own. 

All the kids dancing on stage after the adults were done

This kid shoved his shirt into his pants for some comedic effect

Here's a short video of the kids dancing: