Life in Kafunjo: Fun Facts about uganda

1) If you yawn, people will think you are hungry (as opposed to tired). If you yawn repeatedly, people will think you are very hungry.

2) While Americans usually prolong their “goodbyes” after talking with a friend or family member, Ugandans say elaborate greetings but fairly abrupt goodbyes. It is considered rude to jump right into the purpose of a conversation without a greeting, such as “Good morning.”, in addition to asking about the well being of one’s spouse and/or children or other similar things that show you care.

3) While driving around in remote areas, you will often hear excited children yelling, “Ay! It’s a muzungu!”. Historically, muzungu means “white person”. However, any non-Ugandan may be called this. While, at first, some may feel offended by this, it is often meant affectionately.

4) There is a lot of hand holding and touching of the shoulders and/or arms between friends. It’s not uncommon to see two men holding hands while walking together. All of this is merely a sign of friendship.

5) If you say “I love you” to a friend in Uganda, they may simply reply with “great” or “thank you” as saying “I love you” is not common in their culture. We have a funny story to share regarding this. While visiting Kafunjo, we lightheartedly teased Bruno for his “great” and “thank you” responses to our “I love you”s - which led to the conversation outlined below:

“What do you say when Irene tells you she loves you?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Do you ever tell her that you love her?”

“No.”

“What? Bruno, you tell us all the time that you love us. You don’t say this to your wife?”

“She knows I love her.”

“You should tell her, she will love it! Wives love to hear their husbands say this.”

“No, she wouldn’t like it. It is not common here.”

Well, fast forward to the next day, Bruno eagerly dragged us by the hand to Irene where he boldly said “Irene, I love you!”, to which she responded with a scowl and told him to stop “misbehaving”. Bruno laughed as he was so excited to prove us wrong in this.

(When we asked Irene why she doesn't like her own husband to tell her he loves her, she explained that it’s uncommon for men in Uganda to say this sincerely and it is often used as manipulation.)

6) Because Kafunjo’s school is registered under the Ministry of Education, the government sends nurses to the Project periodically to treat the children with deworming medications.

7) During mealtime within a family, it is cultural for husbands to sit alone at a table, wives will sit alone on a blanket on the floor, and the children will sit on a separate blanket on the floor and are expected to be very quiet. Bruno says he rejects this custom because he considers everyone as equals.

8) Elderly people are highly esteemed and respected.

9) Girls and women will often bow to greet you or if you give them something. This is a sign of respect.

10) There is something called “African Time” that Ugandans laugh about when informing you of it. Ugandan culture is extremely relaxed. When a time has been agreed upon to meet somewhere, your Ugandan friends will feel completely comfortable arriving an hour after the previously mentioned time. In fact, many just plan on meeting an hour late as it is completely acceptable. So, if plans are made for 8, you’ll be better off to just show up at 9. Our team’s first experience with “African Time” was the very first morning after our arrival. Bruno had told us to wake up early because breakfast would be ready at 7am. The next morning, all four of us were up and promptly ready at 7am only to find zero signs of breakfast or Bruno anywhere. It wasn’t til an hour later that Bruno made his emergence from his room and the hotel had breakfast ready. There were a lot of laughs during breakfast because of this.