Sun rays slant across redbrick and an overgrown lawn, grass swaying lazily in the quiet breeze. Door hinges filled of rust, built up from years of neglect and grinds. The same doors creak every now and then, making them the biggest snitches in the house. The color has slowly faded from the walls over time, layers of dust dulling deep reds and whites into monochrome, grayscale.
The year was 1999 – one of the least talked about years (at least in Uganda) simply because the subsequent year came with all the millennium talk of how the world would come to an end. The hullaballoo around this conspiracy was like no other I had seen. Well, we still had the first and only female vice president in Africa, not that it mattered to me anyways. What mattered to me then, just like every other child around, was eat, play and sleep. Oh, the days of Britannia biscuits, BB soda, and the famous Cool-Cool bar which I later came to learn was actually called Ice Pop. Life was just perfect in childhood, the enthusiasm and zeal at that age was always intense. I can‟t begin to put words to the nostalgic feeling this brings.
So many games we played and some came with interesting lessons, albeit embarrassing. Other times it was just plain childhood farce. I remember one that happened on a weekend during the school term holidays. I was attending primary school in Kampala due to the insurgency up north. However, during the break, we‟d return to Gulu and thank goodness, never ran into the rebels. Well, during the final week of school, we had just learnt what plants/seeds need to grow; sunlight, water, soil. So on that beautiful Saturday, my mother (God rest her soul) had given me an orange to eat, and while I was eating it, I swallowed some seeds. I thought nothing of it and went back to playing. But then this nagging thought came to mind and just stuck, "What if the seeds grew inside my stomach?"
So I decided to test this out. I got myself 2 glasses of water and headed outside. I figured I wasn't going to eat any soil, because, I mean, that‟s just nasty, so the seeds will have to do without it. Although, I will honestly point out that I did eat soil on earlier occasions without the seeds in my stomach. At least that‟s how I discovered it was plain nasty to eat soil. No matter how much you‟d wash your mouth, the soil never left your mouth. And that was a horrible experience when you had to eat food later in the day. Anyways, so I drunk my two glasses of water and stood in the sun with my head tilted back and my mouth opened, so the sunlight could get into my stomach. After about ten minutes or so of „feeding sun‟ to my stomach, I decided to go back inside, because the sun was too hot and if the seeds decided to grow, well so be it. Later that night, I could not get myself to sleep as worry filled my mind that I might wake up an orange tree. I did not want that. I loved being a little boy. I loved eating oranges. I wouldn‟t be able to eat myself if I became an orange tree. Thankfully, mom convinced me on how impossible it was for the seeds to grow inside my stomach. This took her a good hour though, after promising to buy me cool cool bar following morning.
The one game that taught me an invaluable lesson however came during the sports day at school - the school, St. Peter‟s Nsambya. Yet again, it was a warm Saturday. The sky was however somewhat, overcast. The pupils were in high spirits and music blared from the gigantic speakers placed all-round the school pitch. Merry was made even before the competition kicked off. I am having a hard time recollecting the names of the „sports houses‟ (read teams) but I do recall my house wore the green t-shirts. We were trailing by a few points and this particular game was to determine the overall winner. Bucket-filling was the name of the game. One set of buckets was placed in a line and participants had to fill the second set of empty buckets (placed a few meters away) with the water from the first set. Each participant was given a huge sponge cut out of old and tired mattresses. The first house to fill the largest amount of water would bag five points and we were down three points to claim top spot. Enter Raymond Ariho; I do remember his name because he was my best friend, actually my first best friend. Raymond saved me from the hands of bullies on the first day I reported to the school. We were both very miniature beings but he did stand up to the two bullies who wanted to own my grab. He made an alarm attracting attention and the boys had no option but to move on to their next helpless target. I did not leave Raymond‟s side from that day on, a bond developed and we both made each other‟s life at school so fun. School trips, we moved together, meal time, we queued together. We got into a lot of trouble together and this came with lots of strokes of the cane. It also saw our class teacher separating our seats. We went on to be the top two pupils, however, in every set of exams. However, life would go on to separate us as well and I have failed to find this, my childhood bestie, to date. Wherever you are, if you see this, do get in touch.
So back to the game, “Fill the bucket”. The tension was high, fingers were crossed, and we really needed this win for our house which had not won a trophy in a while. We didn‟t care much for the trophy really. Our biggest interest was the bull that came with the trophy. And the person to do this for us was Raymond. Get Set! The participants all anxiously grabbed their sponges, ready to dip, collect and run to wring the water out in to the next bucket. All participants, but Raymond; he stood still coyly smiling and I didn‟t know what he was thinking but I knew he wasn‟t going to let us down. I don‟t know how, but he was my best friend and he‟d never let me down anyways. On the word, GO! Raymond lifted his bucket of water and run straight to the next empty one and poured his water in. Game Over! We were all stunned, and the referee was equally puzzled. As the other participants continued pacing with their sponges, Raymond sat at the finish line calmly. When they were done, the judges deliberated. Did Raymond play fair? Was it against the set rules of the game? Should he be disqualified?
After a never-ending fifteen minutes, my dear green house was declared champions. And my dear best friend got us there. Technically! Raymond understood the rule of the game was to transfer water to the empty bucket. There was no defined way of doing it except for the sponges that were placed on the sides. From then on, I learned to work smart. The world needs you to work smart. However you choose to use this information is up to you.
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