We Are One Village by Nikki Lovell

Author:Nikki Lovell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
ISBN: 9781742694979
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd
Published: 2012-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

Jane bought disinfectant from Jinja and she saturated the bathing area with it. We asked Andrew if he could ask people not to urinate there and he said he would try. The next week we organised a community meeting. It was open for anyone to attend but we specifically invited 30 key players from Namwendwa, such as local council members. The purpose of the meeting was to explain how we were working in the area as health educators, mainly by teaching health in the primary and secondary schools. We also wanted to learn the community’s core concerns for Namwendwa.

We were holding the meeting in the local council building. It was a cement block, with open windows and an open space for the door. Inside were wooden benches, and a wooden table and individual chairs up the front for Lillian, Wemusa, Jane, Andrew Opio and myself. The day was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. but by 12.30 p.m. there were still only 12 people present. While we were waiting in hope for others to come, Andrew explained that some people would have liked to attend, but to do so would have meant less time working on their land. The majority of people in Namwendwa lived off sustenance farming, meaning what they grew was what they ate. If they didn’t work on the land during the day, then they would literally go hungry that night and so would their family.

Given what Andrew had told us, 12 people suddenly seemed like a reasonable number and we began the meeting. Lillian and Andrew mainly conducted proceedings because it was all in Lusoga, so when one of them wasn’t speaking, they were translating for Wemusa, Jane or myself. It was a little frustrating to feel like I was observing the meeting rather than participating in it. No concerns or issues were raised; people mainly just expressed their gratitude for us coming to work in Namwendwa. But I kept thinking about Andrew’s comment—the thought of people not being able to leave their land for even a day.

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