Driving Around Mpumedde

Part of our day today was travelling with missionaries to deliver some church material and trying to find the location of a returning missionary's home. We were able to visit areas that were new to us, and perhaps the poorest area we have visited to date. There weren't any new homes in the village proper although there appear to be a few in the country surrounding the village area.

I finally understand why some Ugandans build mud homes. It's basically free material. The wooden structure comes from trees that have been stripped of branches and then it is filled in with wet mud, grass and small rocks. In the heat, the mud bakes and provides walls that keep the interior cool, which is a blessing in the heat. If the walls deteriorate, they are easily repaired. The roofs are of varying materials, but the most common seems to be galvanized sheets of metal. The homes are small and the family sleeps in the interior. Cooking is done outside, and the world is the playground. The people we meet are happy, eventhough poor.