A tale of two worlds
You came back in one piece," was the first welcome back greeting a colleague at work managed to offer the moment he set eyes on me after a trip to Gulu. (forget that my name must have clearly spelled out that I was no visitor to that side of the world).
As I tried to digest what he really meant by this, images of a rather annoying incident with an American acquaintance who had tales of Africa, Uganda especially being a remote village without the luxury of tapped water and electricity, came back to me. It is amazing how much we live in our cocoons totally oblivious of life outside our circles.
This colleague obviously lived in the illusion of bullets flying from all directions, decaying corpses leaving the ground with barely any legroom, not to mention the stench in this little town of Gulu. I longed to tell him that the potholes he suffered in Kampala were a myth in Gulu town not to mention the dust and pollution.
That youths full of life littered the town's streets clad in the latest of outfits, driving around in uptown cars; that the nightlife in Havana Club and other hangouts in Gulu would make you think twice about coming back to Kampala.
But then again who could blame him, for this life was simply within the town area. Behind this curtain, it pained the heart to see the immense suffering of those living in the IDP camps. Hopeless men playing cards by their huts, women carrying babies converged as if to console each other and pot bellied children with flies swarming around their bodies stared in anticipation at visitors to the camp.
But anyhow, all I felt for him was pity. Pity that the reality of two worlds had not come to him. This might have been Gulu but the bigger picture proves one thing. We may all live in one world but the realities of life are different.
Look no farther than our own slums around Kampala or your neighbourhood. You drive out of your gate in that luxurious car past the dirty looking woman or man to whom it would take a year to earn your month's pay. And even if you don't have a car, for you the realities of life are simply getting by on what you think is peanuts and grumbling about how hard life is yet you can afford to throw food in the garbage bin.
Your thoughts are captive of your circle and class in society because for you that is all that matters in life. Truly a tale of two worlds.
As I tried to digest what he really meant by this, images of a rather annoying incident with an American acquaintance who had tales of Africa, Uganda especially being a remote village without the luxury of tapped water and electricity, came back to me. It is amazing how much we live in our cocoons totally oblivious of life outside our circles.
This colleague obviously lived in the illusion of bullets flying from all directions, decaying corpses leaving the ground with barely any legroom, not to mention the stench in this little town of Gulu. I longed to tell him that the potholes he suffered in Kampala were a myth in Gulu town not to mention the dust and pollution.
That youths full of life littered the town's streets clad in the latest of outfits, driving around in uptown cars; that the nightlife in Havana Club and other hangouts in Gulu would make you think twice about coming back to Kampala.
But then again who could blame him, for this life was simply within the town area. Behind this curtain, it pained the heart to see the immense suffering of those living in the IDP camps. Hopeless men playing cards by their huts, women carrying babies converged as if to console each other and pot bellied children with flies swarming around their bodies stared in anticipation at visitors to the camp.
But anyhow, all I felt for him was pity. Pity that the reality of two worlds had not come to him. This might have been Gulu but the bigger picture proves one thing. We may all live in one world but the realities of life are different.
Look no farther than our own slums around Kampala or your neighbourhood. You drive out of your gate in that luxurious car past the dirty looking woman or man to whom it would take a year to earn your month's pay. And even if you don't have a car, for you the realities of life are simply getting by on what you think is peanuts and grumbling about how hard life is yet you can afford to throw food in the garbage bin.
Your thoughts are captive of your circle and class in society because for you that is all that matters in life. Truly a tale of two worlds.
Labels: rants
posted by Duksey @ 3:34 am
3 Comments:
At 4/30/2007 7:34 am ,
The 27th Comrade said...
Maybe you've noticed that this was one of my running themes in the past blogging flurry.
And some blogger told me, when I told him that he had posted a very new picture of Gulu and that I wondered which the right picture was, he said `there is no right picture of Gulu'.
Hmm. We are all victims of one form of brainwash or another. Maybe I should stop blaming the Americans for being so naïve about Africa, as well ...
At 5/01/2007 10:18 pm ,
Anonymous said...
You are right we complain about small things yet there are people having it worse than us. Never been to Gulu but hopefully i will
At 5/03/2007 1:51 am ,
Duksey said...
Comrade,i couldnt agree more on the brainwash.Sometimes i just think we are living in some make believe world.
@bsilent;You ought to visit Gulu sometime.It is very interesting especially if you are one to hang out.
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