culture.

 3.29.08

The culture of Africa greatly contrasts with what I know as familiar in America. So what better way for me to fully embrace Uganda’s beauty than to fully indulge in its riches? Saturday afternoon Laura, Jed, and I traveled by taxi van into the business of Kampala with Jen to visit the Kasubi Tombs. Jen stayed outside since she had been there before. Upon entering the area, Laura and I were given long wraps to wear over our jeans to coordinate with the tradition of women in skirts. Jed, Laura, and I joined a group of German travelers for the tour of the site.            

The Kasubi Tombs have the bodies of the past Ugandan Kings buried within the palace, which resembles a large, straw-covered hut. Before entering the palace, Joseph informed us that pregnant women or babies who have yet to develop teeth are not allowed inside. This coincides with a tradition set by the first king. Because he had so many wives and children, he found it difficult to find peace inside his palace with screaming infants and emotional pregnant women. He brilliantly established a rule to keep out this population to keep the serenity within his place. We followed Joseph, our tour guide, inside the palace to sit down on the colorful straw-woven mats. Joseph mentioned, “It’s not easy to sit like royalty,” as we all struggled to sit the proper way, with our knees bent for our legs to be under or to the side of the rest of our bodies. Joseph went through the entire history of the kings of Uganda, up to the current reigning King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II who is from the Mamba Lineage, which is within the Buganda Tribe. All kings must traditionally come from the Buganda Tribe. At the moment, the current king has one son, but officially he would not be able to take over the throne because his mother is from outside of the Buganda Tribe. Throughout our tour, we learned that Joseph was a relative to the king, so naturally, I took a picture with him!

Surrounding the palace are smaller huts where women live on the grounds. There are around six tribes within Buganda, and the leaders of each tribe choose one young, virgin girl of about twelve years old to present to the ruling king as a gift. If the king accepts the young woman, she will be limited to live within one of the smaller huts around the Kasubi Tombs and remain within those grounds for her entire life. As we left the site, we walked by some of the “Nakku” girls who were chosen by the past kings. The women who are related to the choice of the current king live in a house at an unknown location, and will not be moved to the huts at Kasubi Tombs until a new king has come into power. King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, however, is not as concerned with tradition and has only accepted one “Nakku”. The history and tradition is very intricate, but I enjoyed learning more about the culture with which I am currently immersed.

It has been ten days since my arrival to Uganda and I am working diligently to pick up Luganda, which is the dominating language in Uganda, after English. Every night, I sit down with Wilson and Sarah and have them teach me common words and phrases, patiently spelling out each and waiting for me to master the pronunciation so that I may phonetically write it down in my journal. I appreciate the tolerance they have for me as I struggle to correctly speak the language. I am very proud to have close to forty Luganda words and phrases in my vocabulary.

Everyday is an opportunity for me to build on my understanding and appreciation for Africa. I smile as I walk down busy dirt roads, dodging taxi vans and deep potholes, ignoring beckoning boda boda drivers, and waving to wide-eyed Ugandan children. Through all the chaos, I reflect on the time, which I have spent in this country thus far, and the exciting months ahead. There is a saying here: “TIA- This is Africa!” …And it certainly is a beautiful place.