Going to the Market

Our Itinerary: 

Kasese –> Rwentutu –> Bwera –> Mpondwe -> Bwera -> Kasese

Today (Friday) we skipped school and left our lovely town to venture to Mpondwe, home of a large market on Tuesday’s and Friday’s.  The market is on the Ugandan side of the Uganda-D.R.C. border.  The market is huge with many different items for sale including fabric, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, dried fish, grains, salt, home wares, shoes, ect.  The market draws a large crowd of both venders and customers from the D.R.C.  Venders come from the D.R.C. to sell fabric and customers come from the D.R.C. to buy food.  Salted fish is a popular item because it keeps well and it has salt, something difficult to access in the D.R.C.

Bwera

Before reaching the market we stopped in Bwera, where we went to the government hospital to get a better view of the layout of the town and geography of the region.  Bwera is where both Enoch and Edson are from.  Enoch explained how you could see the growth and history of the town just by looking at the roofs type and condition.  50 years ago Bwera was just a trading center and now it was a town.   

Mpondwe

Once we reached our final destination of Mpondwe I was overwhelmed.  The traffic getting to Mpondwe was very bad.  Enoch, Jenna, and I hopped out of the car and walked to the market eventually meeting up with Edson and Janet.

A view out of our van.  A long line of big trucks driving straight at us makes for a bad traffic jam.

At the market Jenna and I drew a lot of attention, as it seems we do when we go anywhere.  People we very kind and were very excited that Jenna and I could greet and carry on limited conversations in Lhukonzo. 

The hills and homes in the background are the D.R.C.

At the market our main goal was to buy fabrics to get made into skirts, dresses and shirts.  Most of the fabric is brought to Uganda from the Congo.  It was very overwhelming choosing which fabrics to purchase; there were so many options, colors, and prints! 

This is a small sample of some of the fabrics available.  The one on the left is my favorite!

After being in such a busy place I was happy to be heading home to quiet Kasese… Until I realized I was sitting in the back of the van next to Enoch’s thanks giving Sunday lunch, a few chickens he had purchased at the market.  They were not happy about being packed in the van, and sporadically made loud squawking noises.  I was convinced they would escape from the back and come peck my feet.  Fortunately they stayed put, however they did manage to exact some revenge by pooping on Edson when we dropped Enoch and the chickens off at his home.

:(