A Walk

I walk out of my house and slide the latch on the door into place with a clank. It is 7:40 and I am heading to the clinic for the day. The night watchmen have left, and the compound is relatively quiet as I head for the gate. I open the section of the gate that is for people walking, and pass through being sure to pull it closed behind me. I continue down the lane and see ladies walking down the road with bags of sorghum on their heads. As I reach the road, I am greeted by two schoolgirls who saw the Mzungu (white person) coming and decided to wait and walk with her. I can greet in the local language, Karamojong, but that is about it. Unfortunately I haven’t learned how to say I don’t understand or I only speak a little so they continue to try and ask me questions as we walk down the road together and dodge piles of poop left by the goats or cows. As we walk on I catch the phrase, “What is your name?” and tell them my name is Jenny. They laugh and try to say it. I don’t understand what they are asking me, but through broken English they finally ask “Where are you going?” I point down the road and tell them “I am going to the Clinic.” They reply to my inquiry of where they are going by saying, “School. Alamacar.” They then begin to point at my bag and grab at it, and ask what I can give to them. They ask for my water. They ask for my pencil. They ask for my book. All their requests are met with the response, “Mam” which is “No” in Karamojong. At this point, we meet others walking down the road and greet them. I meet the old man Peter and greet him, I meet Lucy and greet her. She asks me in Karamojong why I have not washed my outfit yet. She is the one who washes our clothes, and she knows this one has not been washed since I wore it last. Oops J I missed getting it out in time for her to wash yesterday because she came earlier than usual. Oh well. Tomorrow it will be washed. By this time we are at the crossroads and I part ways with the schoolgirls and head to the clinic.

This is a typical walk and I usually do it four times a day. I go down in the morning for work, back and forth for lunch break, and then back home again at the end of the day. It is frustrating to not be able to communicate, and hard to always be asked for things. If it would help them, I would give them my belongings, but that would really just hurt them. So in my walks I resolve to learn the language to the best of my ability so I can communicate with these ones and give them one thing that won’t hinder them from being responsible: my conversation, my time, my friendship.