Part 1: Boomu women's co-op, Murchison Falls

Our vacation began 3 days ago and we have packed a lot in 3 days. We were picked up from Jinga by our tour guide and we spent the day driving to Masindi. On our way there we stopped at the rhino sanctuary where we saw...we know the suspence is killing you...rhinos. So awesome! An interesting fact is that when the mama rhino gives birth she rejects her previous baby and sends him or her to live with other rhinos. It just so happens that a mother just gave birth, though we weren't able to find her as she is too aggressive right now to be around humans. The sanctuary is not like a zoo. The rhinos are in the wild over a very, very large kilometrage and you have to go and find them. This is also the first time that we feel like tourists. It's almost like culture shock. We were appalled when we saw a woman with short shorts and a tank top. We know that we are tourists, but where we are working there are basically almost no other foreigners, plus we are working all day. After the rhino sanctuary we arrived in Mapingi and stayed at the  BOOMU women's cooperative. Basically it is a co op run by women for women. The work they are doing is amazing. They have a crafts store where 85% of the proceeds go back to the artist and 15% goes to the co op. They have a guesthouse, and a restaurant and provide workshops on basket weaving and food making. They also provide a guided walk around the villages where you stop at 3 different locations and learn about ancient hunting practices, birth practices, and ancient marriage practices. When we arrived we had dinner there and Edna the woman who runs the co op sat down with us and described the story of the co op as well as how it is for many of the local women. It is heartbreaking and unbelievably inspiring to hear about how much she has accomplished as well as the challenges they face. For example, they have bees and make honey, but have no money for jars. They don't have money for electricity so people often drive by not realizing that there is a guesthouse that they could stay in. The next morning we went to the basket weaving workshop which was very interesting and heard a horrific story about Edna having a sore tooth, went to the "dentist" who pulled out two rusty nails, decided that her tooth wasn't so bad so went back home. She then returned the next day because it hurt so much and was told to go home since she refused his services the first time. She returned again and had her tooth pulled with the two nails and she "almost cried"! Have we mentioned that women here are much stronger than woman in Canada? Afterwards we went for the guided walk and here are some of the more salients bits of info that we learnt:

1. Traditionally men hunted with double ended spears. They had 3 hunting methdods. They would dig a large pit for the animal to fall in, construct a huge net and chase the animals into the net or simply chase they animals towards men waiting for to spear it. The first man to spear the beast (usually a buffalo) gets to claim the hindquarter. However, if the beast does not die right away the hunter makes a deal with the beast. If the deast lies down to die the beast can claim the life of the first person to taste it's meat. In this case the first cursed bite is offered to a neighbour in the village rather than a family member.
2. During childbirth a woman will kneel holding onto the central post in her house and her sister-in-law will provide a hip squeeze while she pushes. After the birth the husband will bury the placenta outside the house, marking the spot with an arrow. He will also place a spear at the corner of the house so that passers by will know a baby has been born. Baby boys remain indoors for 3 days, girls 4. On the day of their emergence the old women from the village come and they are served millet and soughrum ground ceremoniously while the grinder sings a birth song.
3. In the past, when a man loved a woman he would approach her 3 times. Each time she would reject him. On the fourth time she would agree she loved him but insist that he marry her. The man would tell his father who would befriend her father. After the 6th or so meeting of the fathers, the boy's father would express his son's interest in marrying his friends daughter by saying he wanted one of the man's "hens". The father would deny that any of his daughters would want to marry and so the girls mother was called. The mother would call all her daughters before her and ask which wanted to marry the boy. After several inquiries the girl would admit her interest. Then an introduction would be planned. The girls family would visit the boys family and give the boy an envelope with money (a "cock") and list of things for the bride price. The boys family agrees to pay and he girls family goes home.  The whole community of the boy would contribute to the bride price (cows, goats, money, alcohol). On the wedding day the boys family would come to the girls with the bride price, new clothes for the bride and a floral necklace. Once the bride price is counted an approved they dance. Then they look for the bride. A row of younger girls is presented first and when the groom doesn't recognize any of them he must pay their transport home before assessing another row-same thing. Finally he pays a friend to bring a third line before him which contains his wife. He place the floral garland around her neck and they dance again. The woman is then asked if she accepts the man. If she does they feast and dance again. The mans family then goes home, the bride accompanied by 3 aunts who carry her the whole way. Upon their arrival the bride & groom together plant a handful of seeds and then hoe together. Three days later the aunties return and if the seeds have germinated the marriage will be fruitful. The woman is then gifted with 2 knives, 2 pots and plates and must cook a feast for everyone. After this the woman spends the next 3 weeks indoors.
4. Some tribes bury their dead in their house.
5. When a woman has twins and they die the twins are each placed in a pot, the lid is sealed and they are kept in the corner of the kitchen for 40 days. Each day their mom puts the cooking ashes on them. After 40 days the fathers family and mothers family walk to meet by a tree marking a halfway point- they throw small green tomatoes at each other, place the pots under a tree, exchange meals, eat and return home.

Afterwards we headed to Murchinson Falls which were beautiful and then made our way to our accomodations. We spent the night sweating like crazy and awoke to thunderstorms; however this was made up for by having a wonderful day of a game drive and boat trip down the Nile! The Nile! Our safari guide was terrific and managed to not get us stuck in the multitudes of ditches that were there unlike several other cars and their unfortunate inhabitants. So today we saw: giraffes, elephants, baboons, monkeys, bufallo, dozens of antelopes, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, and many birds. So cool! All of them quite up close. We were amazed by the gallantry of the giraffes, the speed of the elephants, the wallowing of the hippos, and the playfulness and jumping ability of the antelopes. We were surprised to learn about how many male species of animals reject their male young in order to maintain dominance. We were all really adorable in our geediness and gleefulness. Oh Africa! Such a country of extremes.

Lyanne, Sarah, Carolyn, and Alix