Acres of green

Working in and living off Kampala exposes one to such strenuous environmental pressures. The jams, the noise, the fumes, the steam and the speed of life are simply exhausting.

Once a while, sneaking out to other parts of the Country a far off Kampala is good; thanks to the village and home town I come from.

As part of work, moving up country almost becomes inevitable; more so journeying to Arua, my traditional, original home town.

The town is gradually growing with lots of buildings coming up in various outskirts. Talking to different people, you can feel and see the optimism the people have as they look forward to the grand idea of the eco-city. Some business fellows and ordinary people alike all in anticipation are seemingly saving their monies to acquire a portion of this ingeniously magnificent city.

Driving through the town itself, you cannot fail to capture the old infrastructure littering the new or at least renovated structures. People mingling in the heat and dust as they ride or walk down and up the streets making money or ends meet.

Busy, would be close to an understatement. Yet quite truthfully, busy, one can get in such settings even several hundreds of kilometres away from the capital city. Most often one misses out on the simple things and even the need to truly enjoy life.

Tacked off the edge of the main town is Arua Hill atop of which is a hotel that overlooks the site of the soon to be eco-city situated at Borifa. Together with a friend, I took a deliberate stand to find a place and sit to rest, take pleasure in a soda and praise God for the good things he creates for us to enjoy as I gazed at the green forest.

Off a desistance of about 2-3 kilometres, you see a patch of clear land toward the edge with no trees but containers, a portion the district leaders were once attempting to reclaim from an alleged land grabber. Further still, you capture the roof of Emmanuel Cathedral.

Towards the south east side, you gaze into some houses at the edge of the green. To the south, you see structures being built and green roofs appearing on long stretched structures which occurred to me is the site of the new Muni University.

The further you gaze, the green fades into blue and deeper blue turns misty and then horizon sky blue. All the while thoughts of beauty, grandeur, and hopeful imagination filled my mind of the eco-city soon to sit in the acres of green.

After nearly two hours of sitting on this hill, refreshment, renewal, restoration and tranquillity are but few of the feelings evoked from within. It’s always beautiful to pull off the busy spaces of life just to unwind and enjoy life quiescent. You sure do need to!