A Time to Talk

I’ve been trying to make myself be present in the moments around me. I’m tired of living most of my life in past tense. And so, one of the drastic measures I am taking is to just sit in taxis, however long my journeys may be, without reaching for my phone.

I sit and let my mind wonder; appreciating the vast expanses of lush green vegetation and noticing school going children on the way. I let my mind have it’s way with the environment around me but today, something interesting happened.

I was the in the co-driver’s seat and our driver was such a conversationalist. He was extremely rich in descriptive words too. He transported me to the slopes of Mt. Elgon where the flowing waters are pure with vast banana plantations, that made him wonder how the owners are able to identify their boundaries.

He spoke of how the goats uphill rear themselves the same way natural forests grew on their own. Those goats are fatty. Those goats are healthy and they belong to no one. When the year comes to an end, they are divided among the surrounding families to enjoy during the festive season. He brought to my mind the wealth of breathtaking mountains which are scattered across Africa.

Then he took me through multiple business classes. How when one is starting a business, one shouldn’t invest every penny they have at once. The business itself will dictate what oughts to be added basing on the customers’ demands. I witnessed a man who had learned business on job remind me of market analysis.

He spoke of how it should take one time to finally quit a specific job. One should leave for many years before they actually leave. And before one leaves, one should make ready one’s fall back place. They should be sure that it can sustain them properly.

Little did he know that he was advising this lady who in January of this year, planned to leave her weekly gig which gives her a steady weekly income by the end of June (after next week) in favor of her writing projects which are still unpredictable, and a group investment which is yet to yield profits. She now has to think twice about quitting. On this our beloved continent, we are blessed to have elders who can freely share the wisdom that they have gleaned over the years without us paying for it. Generation X and millennials have converted all their expertise into paid Mastermind classes.

As that stranger poured out his mind to mine, I was set ablaze with endless possibilities. Then we jumped to our different ethnicities. I confided in him about how I admire the Westerners (the ones in Uganda) and the Bagisu from Eastern Uganda. They all have established banana plantations back home which feed their families whether they are in the village or city. Parents in villages courier sacks of banana fingers (Matooke), which feed their urban children clockwork.

He was intrigued by my observation which prompted him to ask which tribe I belong to. I replied that I am a Musoga. This sparked a different yet similar discourse of how a great number of my tribesmen have forfeited growing food crops in favor of the cash crop, sugar cane. Most of them now literally have to buy every food crop.

Africa is still endowed with plenty of land. It’s up to us to use that resource in our favor. Even when we choose to grow cash crops, let’s reserve some for food crops. Villages used to be the source of different kinds of foods and fruits.

He then spoke of how it’s time for us to migrate from cities to villages. Most of our inheritances in villages are under utilized while we gig away in the city. If you’re privileged to be in a small nation like Uganda, where our villages can be reached atmost within a day of traveling by road, you can still enjoy city life and its gigs, and at the same time have sustainable wealth generating projects in the village. We are extremely wealthy people.

Of course he gave me certain counsel which I disagreed with in my heart yet I cannot refute the fact that old age comes with wisdom. Had I been swiping away on my phone, I wouldn’t have extracted  all that wisdom from him. It was too much. I will best share everything in a Chapter 30 Podcast episode.

Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out

Proverbs 20:5 NKJV

Africa is endowed with the wealth of our elders and expressive people, diverse ethnicities and natural resources. When we don’t take time to talk, we will miss out. I had an intellectually stimulating enjoyable dialogue with an elderly stranger who sure did leave a permanent imprint on my heart in the two hours that I spent in his presence, and oh, the journey was shorter than it usually is my dearest reader.

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