Twenty-eight miles on a seriously challenging dirt road, one mile walking on a gorgeous path in the forest alongside a river and one mile hiking straight up the face of a mountain that would be a black diamond trail were it a ski run (the last hundred feet a picturesque green hill), and we arrived at the village on our last Batwa visit. The fact that village girls must do this hike carrying water on their heads more than once a day is mind-boggling.
We were met at the car and at the village with an incredible welcome, adding to the joy of feeling that we had been hiking in a magical place and all memory of the journey was wiped away.
This particular group faces unique challenges that have prevented them from developing as much as our other groups, such as the greatest problem, access to water for agriculture. However today, we discussed potential solutions that we will be looking into and it was left on a very positive note.
Despite the significant issues, we were surprised to find that their Village Savings and Loans groups were doing quite well. A woman named Amret, who had two small children told us that she had been to save for a goat and a pig for manure.
The villagers, unfazed by the climb or descent, accompanied us back to our car. Such generosity of spirit…
I apologize that this blog entry is brief and not very meaty, but it is after 10:00 PM and I just now finished for the day. There is a good chance that we will not have wifi tomorrow, so speak to you soon…
