Rural Homestay Part One: Meet my Family

This is Papa. He was crazy. He spoke English pretty well and was all about me having the "Bush" experience. He also was constantly telling me to take "snaps" (pictures) of everything. I learned so much from him. He is the headmaster at the local primary school, but he loves agriculture. He had 8 different types of fruit trees (oranges, lemons, guavas, avocado, papaya, jackfruit, banana, and mango-my favorite). While the women in the family and all the village children bow down to Papa in greeting or in serving him, he loved well. He treated the children like they were the most important person on earth. It was cool to see how he valued people.

This is Toto (Mama in Ateso). Toto spoke some English, but not a lot. I still learned a lot from sitting and talking to her. She would tell me just how difficult life was. She was such a strong woman who demanded respect from men and women alike. Toto was so hospitable and anyone who came was taken care of.

This is my sister Dorfee. I followed Dorfee around all week. She is the eldest of the 9 children in my family. I would say she is in her late 20s. She spoke little English but had such a joyful spirit. We laughed a lot. Dorfee was always the first to jump in and start playing with the random children.

This is my 16-year-old sister Naume. She was in school a lot and pretty shy, but I enjoyed helping her cook and carry water.

This is my 14-year-old sister Loy. Loy doesn't know much English but she loved to dance while she was cooking and working. I helped her in the field a lot and enjoyed being with her.

And this is Tina. Tina is my little 4-year-old niece. She never left my side. She was one of those girls that just captured my heart. We would have full conversations, her speaking Ateso and me speaking English. She would repeat the ABCs after me. We had a handshake. She carried my Nalgene everywhere we went. Tina taught me a lot about humility as she taught me how to do so many things, like use a knife, peel cassava, do my laundry. Tina captured my heart.