Two somehow related events.
My friend Lutale's sister's life has been sadly, unexpectedly and abruptly taken in a boda (motorcycle taxi) accident. I'm not sure exactly what happened, when or where, all I know is that I couldn't get a hold of Lutale for some time when I finally received news from his friend Abdallah that they were in the village for the burial of Lutale's sister who had just died. Today, I found out that it was a motorcycle accident and against all hopes, she didn't make it.
Sorry bambi.
In times like these, I believe that no amount of words can suffice, heal or fix things. It is what it is. The circle of life gives and takes. The universe acts in mysterious ways. It's heavy news and I can't help but feel like lately, all the news I get is about death and tragedy. You think it's true what they say? How we must know sadness to know happiness, to know darkness to know light?
One afternoon somewhere on a bumpy dirt road between Lake Bunyonyi and Mgahinga Gorilla NP, I had a conversation with Alessandro and our driver, Gorsham. Gorsham was arguing that evil people and atrocities happen for a reason - so that we might learn from them and so that other people can stop them. In his view, genocide must happen in order for us to learn that genocide is bad and for some part of humanity to have its opportunity, its shot at destiny, to fight genocide, so that perhaps genocide will not happen again. God makes some people evil so that God may make some people good.
Typical to my contrariness and love for argument, I disagreed. Without even getting into the whole religious aspect of his view, I will not agree that we must all experience genocide to know that it is a horrible thing that should not be permitted. I have never been privy to witnessing such an atrocity, I mean, yes...in my lifetime various genocides have been committed around the world....but not by machete or AK-47 in my hands, in front of my face (minus media, of course), to my very family members. And yet, I can say definitively with every cell and sub-cellular particle of my being that it is wrong and should be prevented by all means possible.
Never again, as they say in Rwanda. I've been told that in Kinyarwanda, "Never Again," actually means "again and again and again". What this might mean for life and the universe, intrigues and perplexes me; but, I'm sure it will make for some interesting discussion in times to come.
Lutale's sister's death....for what? Is Gorsham right? So that we might learn something? To heed the warnings about taking bodas? I'm lucky I survived an accident with a scarred up knee and a healthy bit of fear. This fear fed by the hour and a half of horror stories rattled off to me by my friends in the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) transport office about motorcycle accidents, animals chasing motorcycles through the parks and their riders up trees, people assaulting or killing riders to steal their bikes, and so on. All this to lead me to my second bit of news.....
I'm buying a car.
Today's the day, I'm handing over 8.5 million Ugandan shillings to some guy with a green log book and some transfer papers for a small 2-door (they call it 1-door here, 1 on each side) 1998 Toyota Rav-4. My first car.
I'm still in a state of semi-disbelief. I never thought I'd be the kind to buy a car. What I really wanted was a motorcycle. Open road, two wheels, wind in my hair, not to mention it's way cheaper as a means of transport and fuel would cost less. Or maybe I should say, what I really want is to never have to buy a vehicle and to just have awesome public transport everywhere I go. But in a world all-too-influenced by automobile manufacturers, all these events in my life, the accident, the UWA stories, Lutale's sister's death....I feel like the universe has something else in mind for me. So soon, I will be the awkward owner of a small 4x4 that with a couple new tires and a complete servicing, I will take out to the parks in a heartbeat. I'm itching to be back out in the field. That, and I'm becoming slightly concerned that I don't have enough time!
Time, that funny people-made abstraction. It's not just that I'm nearly 1/3 of the way through my Fulbright, but it's also that I'm ever so vividly aware that life is a fragile thing. Every day, species extinct, gone forever. Every day, individuals pass on to some other form of existence. Every day, must be lived.
"For only this actual moment is life."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
My friend Lutale's sister's life has been sadly, unexpectedly and abruptly taken in a boda (motorcycle taxi) accident. I'm not sure exactly what happened, when or where, all I know is that I couldn't get a hold of Lutale for some time when I finally received news from his friend Abdallah that they were in the village for the burial of Lutale's sister who had just died. Today, I found out that it was a motorcycle accident and against all hopes, she didn't make it.
Sorry bambi.
In times like these, I believe that no amount of words can suffice, heal or fix things. It is what it is. The circle of life gives and takes. The universe acts in mysterious ways. It's heavy news and I can't help but feel like lately, all the news I get is about death and tragedy. You think it's true what they say? How we must know sadness to know happiness, to know darkness to know light?
One afternoon somewhere on a bumpy dirt road between Lake Bunyonyi and Mgahinga Gorilla NP, I had a conversation with Alessandro and our driver, Gorsham. Gorsham was arguing that evil people and atrocities happen for a reason - so that we might learn from them and so that other people can stop them. In his view, genocide must happen in order for us to learn that genocide is bad and for some part of humanity to have its opportunity, its shot at destiny, to fight genocide, so that perhaps genocide will not happen again. God makes some people evil so that God may make some people good.
Typical to my contrariness and love for argument, I disagreed. Without even getting into the whole religious aspect of his view, I will not agree that we must all experience genocide to know that it is a horrible thing that should not be permitted. I have never been privy to witnessing such an atrocity, I mean, yes...in my lifetime various genocides have been committed around the world....but not by machete or AK-47 in my hands, in front of my face (minus media, of course), to my very family members. And yet, I can say definitively with every cell and sub-cellular particle of my being that it is wrong and should be prevented by all means possible.
Never again, as they say in Rwanda. I've been told that in Kinyarwanda, "Never Again," actually means "again and again and again". What this might mean for life and the universe, intrigues and perplexes me; but, I'm sure it will make for some interesting discussion in times to come.
Lutale's sister's death....for what? Is Gorsham right? So that we might learn something? To heed the warnings about taking bodas? I'm lucky I survived an accident with a scarred up knee and a healthy bit of fear. This fear fed by the hour and a half of horror stories rattled off to me by my friends in the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) transport office about motorcycle accidents, animals chasing motorcycles through the parks and their riders up trees, people assaulting or killing riders to steal their bikes, and so on. All this to lead me to my second bit of news.....
I'm buying a car.
Today's the day, I'm handing over 8.5 million Ugandan shillings to some guy with a green log book and some transfer papers for a small 2-door (they call it 1-door here, 1 on each side) 1998 Toyota Rav-4. My first car.
I'm still in a state of semi-disbelief. I never thought I'd be the kind to buy a car. What I really wanted was a motorcycle. Open road, two wheels, wind in my hair, not to mention it's way cheaper as a means of transport and fuel would cost less. Or maybe I should say, what I really want is to never have to buy a vehicle and to just have awesome public transport everywhere I go. But in a world all-too-influenced by automobile manufacturers, all these events in my life, the accident, the UWA stories, Lutale's sister's death....I feel like the universe has something else in mind for me. So soon, I will be the awkward owner of a small 4x4 that with a couple new tires and a complete servicing, I will take out to the parks in a heartbeat. I'm itching to be back out in the field. That, and I'm becoming slightly concerned that I don't have enough time!
Time, that funny people-made abstraction. It's not just that I'm nearly 1/3 of the way through my Fulbright, but it's also that I'm ever so vividly aware that life is a fragile thing. Every day, species extinct, gone forever. Every day, individuals pass on to some other form of existence. Every day, must be lived.
"For only this actual moment is life."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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