Meeting Remarkable Females during Karamoja Village Tour

Meeting Remarkable Females during Karamoja Village Tour – What better day to highlight the contribution of women than today – Mother’s Day! We took a tour of the Karamojong village to see how the tribe lives and encountered several remarkable females – building homes, carrying water jugs, gardening and doing other chores. They reminded me of my own incredible mother who worked hard to support our family growing up in Pakistan.

 

The women are strong and independent, managing the families while the men are away herding cattle. We surveyed the architecture of the homes. Most had nothing inside other than leather mats upon which the families would sleep at night. The first lady we met was of the upper class – you can recognize such women by the necklaces they wear. Jewellery is a beautiful part of all cultures, and this one is no exception. These necklaces represent not only beauty, but wealth. The colorful glass beads may be of value to her if she ever has a need to sell them. The number of silver necklaces shows how many wives her husband has. The copper necklace represents the clan of the husband, in her case, the antelope clan. Although you see the life experience in her eyes, you also sense that she lives a comfortable life from the delicate smile on her face. But, not everyone is so lucky to live an easy life.

 

 

As we were completing our tour, I noticed one home in particular, with a woman sitting inside wearing a shocking pink top. Rays of sun fell onto her through the thatched roof, encasing her in their warmth. For an instance, she appeared trapped within the beams – the contrast of the light and dark was striking, and I needed to capture this moment! We approached the woman and asked if we could take a photo, she replied that she was blind and had been since an accident in her youth.

 

 

I found it inspiring that even without the ability to see, she was working to build her new home, and took care of her grandchildren with her young daughters who were nearby. I looked around and asked her about the fragmented roof. She said that she could not afford new materials, and so reusing the materials was the only way to finish the new home.

 

 

I decided that this was a wonderful opportunity to connect mothers across the world, so using the remaining donation I had from the IMAN USA charity group of interfaith moms, I offered to help. She smiled happily and humbly accepted the donation. I tried to communicate with them through gestures but they just laughed, and I was unsure if they even understood what I was trying to say. I grinned along with them, knowing that whatever they thought of me was certainly delighting them, and that pleased me very much. This interaction with these women made me realize that language is not just spoken words, but that true connection can be made through kindness and a personal touch – we just need to make the effort.

 

 

PS: Thank you to miss Safana, a hard-working mother for collaborating on this project for all the creative writeups.

 

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