Among the champions for the preservation of Karimojong Culture

Florence Naduk is fabulously a woman of substance; she is a true daughter of Karamoja of Uganda. As the Director of Kara-tunga Arts and Tours Karamoja she is among the champions for the preservation of Karimojong Culture.

One had the pleasure of meeting with her and chatting with her at her Kara-tunga guest house. With a passion she shared more about Kara-tunga:

“We started this touring organisation in July of 2016 as a way to see how we can preserve the Karimojong Culture. Our idea is we are basing more on community tourism and eco tourism. We don’t want to do this wild game … big, big, big things.

We want to remain within the community, conserve the culture. Involve the community. For example we have village visits, we have kraal visits. We hike on the mountains – all the four mountains of Karamoja – Mount Morungole in Kaboong, Mount Moroto in Moroto, Mount Kadam in Nakapiripirit, and Mount Napak in Napak District.

We have nine guides, we have trained them locally, and who actually take the tourists around.

Within community tourism, apart from hiking, we have village visits where they go and visit a village where people live – a real traditional village. They see how Karimojong people live – their homesteads –the activities that they perform there in their homes.

We have organised the community in such a way that when we take guest there – both international and domestic tourists – they see how the Karimojong people live; in their simplicity.

We take them around the households and see what they do. And the members of the communities visited also explain, they tell their stories. They play Karimojong games and then they do the Karimojong dances as the last thing.”

This is Ubuntu at its best!

Written by Norah Owaraga is Teso, Ugandan African influenced first. She has appreciation of the influence on her of global western formal education and cultures. As a cultural anthropologist she launches from the philosophy and logic of the kind espoused by Okot p Bitek’s Lawino of the famous classic Song of Lawino as her epicenter from whence she appreciates other cultures.Source: @TheHumanistView