Hiking to Watoto’s Suubi children’s home

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WHAT’S UP!

Admittedly, I did not know much about the real Watoto Church. I knew at one time it was the hip church to go for many young people, and that they had all these huge tent churches around town.

And I remember once asking Pr Garry Skinner during an interview why they chose one of the few cinemas in Kampala to turn into a church; I do not remember his answer, but before last weekend, if you asked me what I knew about Watoto, I would have told you it was those guys who turned a cinema into a church (I was biased, of course; I had my first cinema experience at the then Norman Cinema).

Last Saturday, the Mountain Slayers Uganda (MSU) had a hike from Watoto’s Bbira Children’s Home in Wakiso district to the Suubi Village in Mpigi district. Organised by a longtime Watoto member who happens to also be a member of the MSU, Esther Agwang, it promised an 18km hike through lush fields, the Lubigi swamp, and then ending with a steep climb up Nakirebe hill to Suubi Village. It sounded like fun, so I signed on.

Coincidentally, Bbira is also where our burial grounds are, so, that intrigued me: but it turned out the children’s village is on the other side of the hill. After a breakfast partly of katogo and boiled eggs (I have failed to understand Ugandans’ love for katogo or boiled eggs), a blessing and a gospel serenade by Watoto youth (is that a repetition?), we set off.

After winding through the villages of Bbira, where we saw some impressive homes high on the hills, we turned onto the Mityana Highway. By the way, what is the story behind the villages of Busega, Bulaga, Buloba and Bulenga? There is a story there, I am sure, but nobody seemed to know why they are named like that.

After 5km, we branched off into the Lubigi swamp. Now, the hike info pack had us going through a swamp, and what came into my mind was a bog, and maybe tramping through water and all kinds of swampy stuff. Other hikers had the same thought, so we wore our hardiest hiking boots, only to find clouds of dust kicked up by vehicles dodging the Kyengera traffic. Dust in a swamp? Only in Uganda.

Another 5km and we reached Masaka Road, and that is when we realised our choice of footwear was off by miles. While hiking boots are great for off trail and mountains, they are a poor choice for tarmac and stony paths, and that is what the Masaka Road was. Walking on the road meant a constant duel with bodabodas and speeding trailers, so we had to walk off the road, where all the stones left by the road makers were.

By the time we got to the turn off to Suubi Village (just after Maya and before Katende), about another 7km later, our feet were on fire. But we did not have any change of shoes, so we had to endure. But it turned out some first time hikers did have change of shoes, and soon slippers and crocs were adorning tired feet. That was a first, hiking in slippers and crocs? One learns something new every day.

A few ‘officials’ from the Suubi Village met and escorted us up the hill, and one repeatedly informed us how they use the hill to train for marathons. It turned out not to be much of a hill, though, as hills go. And the first-timers, some of who did not want to talk to anybody after that Masaka highway stretch, made it to the top, slippers, crocs and all.

The chief slayers might have been too enthusiastic in planning for all kinds of tours of the establishment, as folks who have been hiking 18km through dust and the hot sun could be forgiven for not paying too much attention. But it is an impressive complex, and we toured the Hope Vocational and Technical Institute. These folks make everything, from very tasty fruit juice to exotic coffee to all the furniture we sat on. And all the students are orphans, either left abandoned on the streets, or transferred from orphanages.

Some of the stories were heart wrenching, but it was good to learn that some of the graduates of the institute are now managing major Kampala restaurants and hotels. I should mention that throughout the hike, we were followed by a camera crew that captured all the moments. That very professional crew were all once abandoned children.

Watoto Suubi Village is not an orphanage per say, but a real home for children. They stay in homes headed by a mother, and this is where we went for our lunch, in groups of four. My group went to House 146, headed by Nalongo. It was a real sumptuous meal, during which one of the children, who wanted to join the media industry, pestered me with questions about the industry.

Unfortunately, we were running late, and the planned one-hour concert could not take place, although they gave us a few songs, and more testimonies from the children. One of the singers, a strapping 20-something, told us how he was abandoned in a rubbish dump, and has no idea who his biological parents are.

We left just as the sun was starting to make its descent, leaving those awesome views unseen. But it was a sombre group of hikers that said goodbye, and with commitments to support the children. And, Pastor Skinner, I take back that question about cinemas and churches. In fact, you should take all the cinemas in town, Ugandans would rather watch movies on laptops, anyway. Philistines.