Recollections: Crossing the River Oler by Dr. Dorothy Ochola

September 11th, 2008

I recall vividly crossing the river Oler, many years ago to visit my Aunt Helen who lived on the other side of the river. She still lives there to this day and is over 90 years old. Whenever it rained though, it was hard to cross the river as it swelled and flooded the area cutting off Mulanda from Lwala village.

I was always sad during such times, as I so loved to visit my aunt Helen. She adored children and was so full of stories most of which were very funny. In the evenings, we would all crowd around her fire place and she would tell folklores and roast corn in the open fire. My favorite story was about the hare that was notorious for outsmarting the other animals and getting his own way. One story goes that the hare (called “oculu” in the local language) and the frog were once invited to a feast by a close friend of theirs. When the meal was served, the hare noted that all his favorite dishes were there and smelt very delicious. He decided that he must have it all for himself! So he hatched a plan. As the frog reached out to start eating, he stopped him and said “it is impolite and unhygienic to eat without washing our hands. Let us go and wash our hands in the river.” So they went off to the river which was nearby (we always imagined it was the river Oler!) and washed their hands. On the way back oculu hopped back on two legs while the frog hopped back on both four. Back at the table- the frog reached out for the food again, and the hare goes – “No, No, No my friend, your hands are still dirty, you have just hopped back on all four legs – you must go back to the river and wash again.” So poor frog hopped back to the river while hare started gobbling down the food. By the time the frog hopped back again (on all four legs of course) the hare had eaten up most of the food. The frog realized that his friend had tricked him and a fight broke out. During the fight, the hare tripped on a stone, and fell hard on the ground on his belly. Most of the food that he had eaten was forced out during the fall. The moral of the story? Greed and selfishness’ does not pay!

But Aunt Helen’s stories were not all funny with a moral behind them- sometimes she recalled what had happened to her friends or neighbors or neighbor’s children whenever they tried to cross the river when it was flooded and she narrated her stories in sad tone. She told us of her neighbors’ child who developed diarrhea and fever during the night and needed urgent treatment, including fluid replacement which could only be got from the health center on the other side of the river. The parents of the child tried to brave the river but it was difficult to cross over without a boat or any other means to support them. The child died before they could get the other side. Another woman in the village lost her life in a similar way, she had difficulties with child birth and had to get to the health center but it was not possible – she died during child birth and so did the baby. Such stories, made us scared to cross the river when it was flooded and we avoided any visits during the rainy season. Later on a small bridge was constructed over the river and this made life a lot easer for most of the villagers. With time however, this small bridge was washed away by the rains and the flooding.

Many villagers, including my aunt Helen are so excited to learn that there are generous friends who are supporting the re- building of the river across the river Oler. This will improve many lives as most villagers trade across the river; many children go to school across the river and many relatives live on the other side of the river. One of my Aunts wishes in her old age is to walk across the new bridge once it is re-built.