Food Post #4: Dairy in East Africa

On our way to the cow pastures!

First a (hopefully) fun fact! The background of my blog is actually a cow pasture!

In a previous post I had said that my Uganda trip redefined by view of Rwanda, East Africa, wealth, aspirations, and education.  I want to elaborate more on the last two by sharing about Robert’s family.  Much of Rwandan and Ugandan culture is based on cows and that is a huge source and measure of wealth here.  

Cows are given as gifts as a promise that your families will be forever connected.  They are given between families to celebrate marriages and there is some role of the cows in weddings. Once my friend took a deep breath of the manure filled air and said she loved the smell of cows.  For stomache aches, I’ve been advised to drink a cup of milk.  During a Maranyundo meeting with parents, a father suggested a vending machine for students to access more milk. The Rwandan president’s first date with his wife was over a glass of milk.  One of the Maranyundo teachers told me he grew up in a family with ten children but said it was never a struggle because his family had enough cows. However, there are 7 girls, which is 70 cows gifted by the time they are all married, which may be a challenge.

When we were visiting the milk distributor came to purchase the product

Each cow has it's own name and will respond to it!

Anyways, Robert’s family is originally from Rwanda but left in the 1950’s due to the violence.  They still consider themselves Rwandan although they live in Uganda and have little motivation to leave.  His family has a lot of cows and there is much more land for them to graze in Uganda than in densely populated, tiny Rwanda.  As children, Robert and his brother walked about an hour to get to school, but would sometimes have to skip school to take care of the cows.  His brother would actually sneak away from school to take care of the cows even when it wasn’t necessary because he aspired to be a herdsman, a very reputable vocation here.  Robert was a bit more nerdy and eventually even got a degree to become a teacher in Rwanda.

The herdsman shelter when caring for the cows

Robert’s brother did become a herdsman as he wished and now lives with his parents, children and other extended family in their extremely rural home or stays in the above isolated structure when caring for the cattle.  This is where he wishes to be.  The family lives a simple life, but they are happy and have a definite, admirable sense of community.  They do not need big screen TV’s and 3000 square foot homes to feel satisfied.  They have each other and their cows and that is more than enough.  They are living their dream.

The family kitchen. Next to the home