Its getting late the sun is setting and the fears of the night start to linger in one's mind a new town, a new people what should one expect!! We are riding in a rented bus about twenty eight people soon to be holding an ICT4D meeting in Kichwamba (sad memories of the massacre hit our hearts as we remember the innocent students slain by rebelling citizens)........
Looking out through the window there is a calming green so wide and to the distance, Josephine one of the members whispers isn't it beautiful "Tea". One of the largest tea growing places in Uganda - the fear is gone and the town appears - children are waving and looking for attention, Chris gives them some as Tony tells them to go home and bathe! We have arrived!
One quickly notices the old administrative buildings, former government hotel, now renovated and new, banks etc. Quickly one understands that its one of the oldest towns in Uganda built in the same planning administrative buildings to one side and commercial Asian style buildings to the other side. In the center of town there is a statue of Sir Gerald Portal glaring at you, and you know what - he is wielding a rifle in position! A sign that you are in the heart of Fort P as many would call it. Yet another beautiful place, Fort Portal is rich for its magnificent scenery but also the rich culture portrayed in the kingdom of Tooro and the Engabu Za Tooro (http://www.engabuzatooro.or.ug) a very popular cultural group.
Tooro has one of the oldest cultures in Uganda seems to be quite receptive to many other races. When in Fort Portal, one can not help but notice many half casts, whites, blacks, Asians and Indians all living happily and sharing the beautiful view of the Mountains of the moon! This place also happens to be adjacent to the western arm of the great East African rift valley. Asking one Mutooro lady what she thought about life in a multi-ethnic environment - she said "For us in Tooro we believe in the celebration of life and we are all children of God white or black, red or colored so I like all children of God".
A very sobering statement of life indeed strong and rare in its reassuring nature, a statement from a youthful girl it felt safe in Tooro, it was home away from home. The people of Tooro are known as the Batooro. They are proud of their heritage and enjoy a rich culture of oral tradition, tribal customs and dances as well as handicrafts. This is one place in Uganda where the people feel much more Ugandan than else where. To explain this statement in my personal way - tribalism is one of the biggest killers of development in Africa (A topic for another day)! The Batooro seem to accept people from various cultures, races and ethnicities. I like these people.
In Fort Portal at the highest point is the palace of the King of Tooro, still a young king who had to take charge of the kingdom at a tender age, with his caring mother known as Queen Best Kemigisha, they together promote the values of the kingdom. Something specially interesting about this kingdom is its minimal involvement, if any, in political issues of the country! This is indeed a sign of a tribe, a people who would like to see integration of the human race while keeping their values.
Standing at the palace one gets a view of all the sites around the town, its amazing as you look directly at the town below, turn to the right and there you see the parliament of Tooro very nice ancient looking block with large green in the front. To the left are the mountains of the moon towering high above almost disappearing into the sky above. The definitions of this naming are vague however the fact that the highest points are permanently snow capped could be related, Jackie, a Mutoro too, believes that the name came from ancestral beliefs that the mountains meet the moon and sometimes the moon rests at the peaks.
These mountain ranges formed as a result of lifting of the western flank of the rift valley are now called Rwenzori Mountains. In the neighborhood of the town are large tea plantations very large that one begins to imagine the green more like a gigantic golf course, deep inside the plantations are large ancient bungalows, club houses, landing strips and supermarkets forming small towns of mixed communities from all around the world. I think tea is more available there than water........
