Nnindye
Nnindye is comprised of 11 villages in a several square mile region between Kampala and Masaka. Kampala and Masaka can be located on the map to the left. Nnindye borders Lake Victoria. The vast majority of people are farmers of beans, Matoke (African cooking banana), cassava, watermelons, ground nuts, maize, or sweat potatoes. The scenery is beautiful!!
My Vignette: "Nnindye was an incredible place to spend the summer. I still think about how, in America, when a stranger comes to the door half the time my family pretends we're not even home! When I told people I was going to Uganda for the summer, some people cringed as if they were seeing me for the last time. In Nindye, I was welcomed into different homes every single day. I never felt scared for a second, because people were so genuinely, base-level, kind. They didn't expect special favors or money from me (except a few shop-keepers), and took time out of their day to make my experience in Uganda chock full of colorful memories."
I spent the majority of my days roaming the winding dirt roads of Nnindye, saying Hi to people in their yards and asking if they belonged to SILC groups. If they did, we sat down on a colorful, handwoven mat to have a chat. If not, sometimes I got gifts of fruit anyway!
Whenever people ask me what my best memory from Uganda is, I don't say rafting the Nile river, or staying on an island in a lake, or any of the other fantastic travelling I got to do. I always say that my favorite thing was getting to visit a different home, every single day. Most of the time, I just sat and listened, but it was so powerful, a rush every single day that I was actually welcomed into a home around the world. I didn't know a thing about agriculture, and I sure as heck could never have survived as a farmer in Nnindye. It was never far from my mind that the people I was talking to were experts about farming, and a culture, that I was a complete novice to. For example, one woman I talked to in the village of Kikota laughed uproariously when I told her that I didn't know what a cassava plant looked like. She made sure I went home with a sack of cassava that night.
I was treated kindly as a friend. I definitely say that the people of Nnindye gave me the gift of a safe, warm, summer. Everywhere I went there were children trailing behind, waiting to kick the soccer ball or just to hi-five.
I have included a link to Notre Dame's baseline survey of the Nnindye area which contains some really cool information about Nnindye's villagers. Page 33 of this document starts the baseline survey
My Vignette: "Nnindye was an incredible place to spend the summer. I still think about how, in America, when a stranger comes to the door half the time my family pretends we're not even home! When I told people I was going to Uganda for the summer, some people cringed as if they were seeing me for the last time. In Nindye, I was welcomed into different homes every single day. I never felt scared for a second, because people were so genuinely, base-level, kind. They didn't expect special favors or money from me (except a few shop-keepers), and took time out of their day to make my experience in Uganda chock full of colorful memories."
I spent the majority of my days roaming the winding dirt roads of Nnindye, saying Hi to people in their yards and asking if they belonged to SILC groups. If they did, we sat down on a colorful, handwoven mat to have a chat. If not, sometimes I got gifts of fruit anyway!
Whenever people ask me what my best memory from Uganda is, I don't say rafting the Nile river, or staying on an island in a lake, or any of the other fantastic travelling I got to do. I always say that my favorite thing was getting to visit a different home, every single day. Most of the time, I just sat and listened, but it was so powerful, a rush every single day that I was actually welcomed into a home around the world. I didn't know a thing about agriculture, and I sure as heck could never have survived as a farmer in Nnindye. It was never far from my mind that the people I was talking to were experts about farming, and a culture, that I was a complete novice to. For example, one woman I talked to in the village of Kikota laughed uproariously when I told her that I didn't know what a cassava plant looked like. She made sure I went home with a sack of cassava that night.
I was treated kindly as a friend. I definitely say that the people of Nnindye gave me the gift of a safe, warm, summer. Everywhere I went there were children trailing behind, waiting to kick the soccer ball or just to hi-five.
I have included a link to Notre Dame's baseline survey of the Nnindye area which contains some really cool information about Nnindye's villagers. Page 33 of this document starts the baseline survey
uganda_information_packet_2012.pdf | |
File Size: | 1095 kb |
File Type: |