Matt spends most of his work day at the villages of Ruhiira, Nyarushanje, Nyaktunda, about an hour drive from our house. Yesterday Zeph and I decided to go along with Matt to check out his work and photograph the commissioning of two SharedSolar sites (more about that in the next blog posting).
The staple food in this area of Uganda is matoke, a kind of banana, and it is PLENTIFUL in the villages that we visited. The matoke trees flow down the sides of the rolling hills and pool into the valleys, as if someone poured them down the mountains.
When we arrived at the first village, we were greeted by this pile of matoke, a perfect backdrop for a family portrait, don't you think?
It was really beautiful to see the brick buildings and red dirt contrasted against the vast sky.
We stopped to watch the local entertainment, of course! Outdoor games of pool...
...and creative kids making up games with discarded tires...
We stopped by the gas station:
And, we saw herds of cattle, which are also signature inhabitants of the area:
The best part, was, of course, meeting the people!
He made lots of friends and soaked up all the attention.
Eventually, we made it to the school where Matt has been working to install one of the SharedSolar sites. It was very exciting to be present on the very first day that the school had electricity! We spent a few hours with the school kids as we waited for it to get dark.
What beautiful faces!
We found ourselves passing the time in a picturesque dirt-floor classroom, which Zephaniah thought was fantastic! I quickly gave up any hope of keeping him clean and laughed as he entertained me and everyone else as we watched him sit, dig, "swim," scoot, crawl, and roll in the dirt.
Truth be told, it was difficult of any of us to keep clean. My beautiful pedicure (which cost $4, by the way, Ladies), was taking on a whole new look.
I hadn't exactly anticipated Zeph getting so messy, but I did bring his PJ's along. So, at dusk, we bathed him with 1/2 of our liter-sized water bottle and managed to rub off most of the dirt.
We contined to wait with the eager children as the sun went down.
5 comments:
I love the photos of Zeph in the dirt. That kid is growing like crazy!
Thanks, Adam! Matt and I were just looking at pics of David on Kristin's facebook page. It's amazing how fast these boys grow!!!
I delight in reading your blog! Zeph is such a cute, happy kid! And your toes look amazing covered in dirt. Big hugs, beCcA
You have such a way with words and photos Jacinda!! I always feel like I am right there along side you as you adventure each day. Thanks for taking me along! I love you guys so much!
It's fun to see Zeph discovering the world around him, beautiful to see the people's faces as you said, and also beautiful to see so much hard work and devotion starting to come to fruition in the simple but vital lighting that the project is providing! I love you all so much, and I'm so proud and amazed by your bravery, love and dedication!
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