The first weekend I was here Niki, Karin and myself hopped on the back of three boda boda's and headed to a nearby school. At the school was a yearly primary school song and dance competition.
"Boda" or "boda boda" is the Acholi word for motorcycle or motorcycle taxi. Aside from walking, it is our most common mode of transportation here in Gulu. There is no seat back on these motorbikes, nor do we wear helmets (even though the driver does when the police are near). In North America we often hold on to the person in front of us; here, that is inappropriate. My initial fear was of falling backwards, but after a few rides I realized that the drivers are fairly reliable. To go to town from our place on a boda boda it costs 1,000 Ugandan Shillings, which is equivalent to about 50 cents US.
The primary school song and dance competition was a great cultural introduction for me. We saw both a classical choir performance and then a traditional song and dance performance. For the first part, the district choirs came and sang the same song about East Africa. According to Karin it was the most organized activity she had seen in Gulu so far. The spectators, not including ourselves, were very well dressed including some of the young children who wore full suits. The primary school performers were of many different ages. Niki figured that many of the students were unable to attend school during the war and are now trying to catch up.
The traditional dance followed a pattern but told different stories. The dance always began with a problem. The problem usually had to do with drinking or stealing and a broken relationship. Through a process the conflict was solved and at the end of the dance the music became very lively and then there would be ululation to show that everyone was happy again. The songs were sung in Acholi and we had to ask afterwards what happened.
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