Dunda Village

We turned off the main road and onto a narrow gravel one that followed along the side of the river. When we were about a half kilometer from the village, we got out and walked the rest of the way so we could see more. In the first picture you can see ahead on the road with some fields below.

Many of these boulders were strewn when the flood came. There is a narrow stone walking bridge we passed so they can easily get to the fields on the other side.

The former primary school was ruined in the flood. There is now a fairly large flat area there where cars can park.

We climbed up a footpath to the area where our school had assisted in building a new primary school. It had a large paved flat area where chairs were set up so we could meet. At first there were a group of men and a few college students (on the left).

As we began visiting, more and more people came and the circle kept expanding. I don't know what percentage of the village population was there, but there were quite a lot. The man in the blue shirt sitting at the back is the headman; he was the one who interacted the most, encouraging the younger ones to answer questions and talk about their lives.

Sanjaya, in red, sat on the right side with the three African girls. The others of our party were near me, so not in the pictures. Over the past three years, the people, especially the women, have gotten to know Woodstock people and are quite used to interacting. Sanjaya was an excellent interpreter.

One conversation turned toward marriage customs. There was quite a bit of back and forth. Both groups said that cows were important at marriage time, but only the African girls ate them! After some persuasion, this village girl put on a large nose ring that a married woman brought from her home to demonstrate an important part of their wedding regalia. This girl is in college and recently became engaged. She was shy at first, but then seemed to enjoy being in the limelight for a bit. (You can see the headman better in this shot.)

The African girls demonstrated a dance they all knew. 

Dunda Village, Part Two, coming up!