Silly Buzungus

In Uganda, people with white skin are called “Buzungus”. And they seem to think that there are some things about us that are very silly.

For starters, while we smell like the inside of an old boot and look…well…less than snappy, they are immaculate! On Wednesday we needed to do laundry, and several women said that they would show us how. But they were unimpressed with our hand washing techniques and so gave us lessons on how to get clothes properly clean by scrubbing with our hands. Silly buzungus.

Karin helped Vennie (the tutor) mark the students’ assignments, and then everyone wanted the buzunga to do it (muzungu is just one white person; buzungu is many white people). Karen wrote smiley faces on their pages of good work, much to their delight. They laugh at all of us as we try to pronounce their words—the small children especially think we’re hilarious.

Before we left Canada, we were told by several excellent advisors that women should wear skirts in Uganda. Talking to the young women here, however, we have discovered that they think it’s funny. Since capri-style pants are in fashion in “buzungu-land” they think we should wear those, not skirts like the Ugandan women. (In fact, if Vennie (who wants to be stylish) wears capri’s, people call her a “buzungu wanna-be”!)

There is so much laughter every day. Some of it is ours. Some of it is because we are silly buzungus!