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via IFTTT The Forge – Jinja —
In what I have termed “The Forge,” Johnson and Jonah are apprentices in the Leatherworks shop here. There are eastereggs in the pic for the “home team.” I had the pleasure of interviewing these two young craftsmen this morning about their lives and work. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday by how conversant and open young Ugandans are — once you get them talking — and both Jonah and Johnson were no exception.
At first they seem rather standoffish or closed, even these two work in near silence, all concentration on their craft. So I was concerned about “gathering stories” from the locals. I, as usual, needn’t feared. Once the cameras were rolling I asked a few basic questions and the interviewees spoke easily, proudly, smilingly, lenghtfully and well. Even after shooting most if not all have been affable, ready to engage in conversation with as much focus and concentration as they do everything else.
Jonah and I had a very pleasant and learned conversation off camera about languages (he speaks 2 to 3) and Ugandan history which was only broken off by lunch. I look forward to lurking around “the forge” a little tomorrow… for the project of course.
The rest of the day was spent bouncing about the town center, wrangling footage, taking a pleasant ruck with a sandbag we brought for our host (product testing and yes I shared) out and back to an overlook of the “source of the nile,” and then a family dinner.
The sunset was so lovely, I couldn’t help asking to be let out of the gate and across the adjacent golf course (kept neat, we learned this afternoon, by goats) to snap a few pics. It is relatively quiet as the bats have taken off for the evening (pictured — yea those aren’t birds except the big one to the right which has a wingspan of over 5 feet). The cicadas, though, are serenading us through the open windows as we read and write and even do math homework on various devices through the living room.
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