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rides to get here. Of something that reminds him of home,
Sanjay brought along with him a photograph of himself with
his daughter, Danielle, taken during a fishing trip three years
ago on the River Rangit in Darjeeling.
Maureen
is a Domestic
Worker at Mwenge Tea
Estate. Her home is
approximately 224 km
from the estate, in the
Ankole
region
of
Western Uganda. Even
though
Ankole
is
relatively
close
by,
Maureen’s journey to the
estate was an arduous
one that took 10 hours in
an overnight bus, a
matatu (taxi van) and a
boda boda (motorcycle
taxi). Maureen says the
most important memento that she brought along with her,
as a reminder of home, is a top her mother bought and wore
when expecting her. Her mother gave it to her when she left
home to take up this position a year and a half ago.
Benson
is a Security Guard at Mwenge Tea Estate. He is
from Arua, a district in Northern Uganda that borders the
Congo and South Sudan. Benson’s 415 km journey to
Mwenge
from
Arua
was
a
circuitous one that
took two days, two
buses and a boda
boda.
Of
a
memento that he
carried with him to
remind him of
home, Benson said
he had brought
some artefacts, but
his wife took them
back to Arua where
she lives, and so
now he has none.
Grace,
Administrative
Clerk at Mwenge Tea
Estate, travelled 250
km by bus and boda
boda from her home in
Wakiso District, central
Uganda, to Mwenge to
take up the position a
year ago. The journey
took her six hours. As a
reminder of home,
Grace carried with her
a sisal basket that she
had made five years ago
while on vacation from secondary school. It hangs on a wall
in her home in Mwenge.
John Francis
is a Field
Headman. He comes
from Soroti, a district in
the Eastern region of
Uganda, 530 km from
Mwenge. After two
days of travel that
included two buses and
a boda boda ride, John
Francis arrived at the
estate nine months ago
to take up his position.
The
memento
he
brought
along
to
remind him of home is
a jacket that his father
gave him. He says the
jacket fills him with
pride and keeps him
warm when it gets cold.
And there are 2447 more stories at Mwenge waiting to be
told!
Photographs by Bathsheba Okwenje-Sharma