Boma Ngombe

I don't really have a translation for this one. When we asked, they answered...'it means cows, Boma Cows'. So there you are. Anyway, it is the name of the town we spent 1/1/2012 in and it was wonderful. A once in a lifetime experience. I want to tell you all about it but first you need to know how we got there.

First of all, it was the dawn of a new year so, naturally, we were all hungover. The idea of going for a 1.5hr bus journey was not all that appealing but we managed to get to the station with minimal fuss and maximum re-hydration. We then took our seats. Emily and I picking nice clean looking young ladies to sit next to and Kieran and Claire up in the backseat. It was airy and orderly and not looking too bad at all for a $2 bus ride. We seemed to be waiting for something but we didn't really know what. Turns out there would be another 30 people joining us.

The aisle gradually disappeared as seats appeared from nowhere. And then there were 5 people sitting in spaces meant for 4. Then people standing in the stairway, kids on laps and people hanging out the door. Mid-journey I think we had collected around 45 people in a 30 seater mini-bus. I hadn't really envisioned being wedged between armpits for the start of the new year but TIA.

This photo goes absolutely no way to conveying just how hot and uncomfortable it was but to give you an idea... 

We were headed to Witness' home village, Boma Ngombe. During the week she is chef and mother of the house and each weekend she makes the journey home to her family and 5yr old son. I couldn't imagine being separated from my child like that but she swears that she loves her job and wouldn't give it up for the world. This is the beautiful Witness below. She is about 5ft nothing, about 60% booty and a 'rafiki best' (best friend) to everybody.

So when she invited us to her home to celebrate the new year and also her Father's birthday, we jumped at the chance. We were a little worried though when we landed in the middle of nowhere.

And then she got us in one of these! A rajaj. Hilarious!

But you could see how excited she was to have us there. We were in no way prepared for the overwhelming generosity and kindness of her family though.

First off we met everyone, including little Calvin, her son. Isn't he just adorable!

And then the rest of the family who managed to, despite having no kitchen or appliances, make cooking look glamorous.

The home looks like it is straight out of a movie set. Unbelievable. This shed in the one below is where they keep all the cooking things. There is another one for baby chickens and then another for mature chooks. We had a game of football with the kids in the dust while all the ladies cooked and the language barrier slowly began to melt away.

We even enjoyed some cartoons together!

Then the feast was on! They had worked so hard to prepare all this. I am sorry to say though I avoided the meat dishes. The baby chicks running around the pot with a rather dead chicken boiling away inside just put me off a little (to say the least).

We had a good ol chat with everyone before all the ladies disappeared somewhere. They were putting on their Sunday best so they could take us around and show us off to the neighbours! That pink outfit was amazing!

I don't know about you, but I'd be a bit shocked if ten of my neighbours showed up on my doorstep and brought some strangers with them. Not here though - the hosts couldn't have been happier to see us and almost wouldn't let us leave.

 

All in all, it was a huge day. I don't think I have managed to convey just how overwhelmed we were with it all. It is hard to imagine that kind of hospitality and generosity at home in Australia. And yet it is at complete odds with the atmosphere in the hospital where no one seems to have any compassion or empathy for one another. I had a think about that on the bus ride home into the sunset.... but I still haven't managed to work it out.