On one of our recent Tours, on the long tiring Murchison Falls- Fort portal route;
It was 12:45 time for the team to look for an appropriate picnic stop; this can sometimes be a challenge because the guide usually wants to look for a setting with a unique landscape view under tree shades and that Is private enough (with no by lookers) as it often serves as a ‘bush toilet stop’ as well.
At 12.50 the 18 guests (tourists) were pretty hungry; the guide decided to stop by a home, a typical village home. The Driver parked as the guide went ahead to seek for permission. The owner (as we later leant was an old lady, happened not to be home, however the neighbors were” and the guide asked them if they thought she would be okay with the group using her compound, and they said yes. It was a typical home with cow dung in one corner and chicken strolling in the compound oblivious of the ‘white visitors’. The guide went back to the Bus and told the guests they could come out and stretch their weary legs, as he finalized the picnic site. He also pointed out that it wasn’t the ‘best spot’; nonetheless either hunger or generally being fed up of the bumpy ride they said it was okay.
As the team was unpacking the lunch boxes, the old lady came back home and the guide did not hesitate to introduce himself. He explained in his ‘Broken Runyoro language’ that they had invited themselves into her compound for a picnic lunch. With a graceful smile, “one that reminded me of Uganda being home to maybe the friendliest people in Africa” the old lady said it was very okay and that they were welcome.
As the guests and our team each got their lunch boxes and dipped in to savor the contents, the old lady went on with her chores at the back of the house, peeling green bananas (matooke) and preparing lunch for her grandchildren who were returning from school. The neighbours who had initially shied away from the bazungus (whites) now came closer but stood at a respectable distance. The lovely guests as usual, always wanting to know a little more had wandered the entire compound and backyard taking photos, of which I asked the old lady if it was okay and she obliged. The children arrived and got ecstatic at the sight of the visitors.
Then the idea came in that they had to say thank you to the old lady for the hospitality in a physical way because she never expected anything in return of her kindness to our team and the guests. The guide asked everyone to collect untouched fruits; cake, juices and sandwiches and anything that was still completely intact into a box. He then explained to the old lady that the food was okay and the guests wanted to give it to the children as a token of appreciation. Then one of our guests run into the bus, to pick some balloons he had brought along and they were given to the children. The old lady received a monetary gift, probably something to talk about for a few months from the ‘surprise visitors’. The visitors had a wonderful connection with the locals, something they will remember about their trip probably for their entire lives.
After our last dinner with the guests a business lady, humbled and touched by that lunch stop and with the events of that day still fresh on her mind, suggested that we make that part and parcel of each of our Trips, inform the clients prior that they can collect some funds (not Much) and buy a gift from Uganda, say a bicycle or sewing machine etc, that can be a used in a home but at the same time be used to generate some funds. For the start, we are now looking for village household items that are a necessity as we aim to make real contact between our Tourist visitors and the local communities.
If this was done for every village or even in every poor family on our tour routes then that would be a great contribution to the fight against poverty. There is now a new breed of Tourists that is really interested in impacting communities with as little as possible. Of course we have to be very careful NOT to encourage a begging mentality that is cropping up especially among many needy people in Uganda.
