Last weekend I attended a party in honour of the woman who will be the Headmistress of Timothy Girls College when it opens next year. She recently completed her Masters degree, so her friends at Kibaale Community Centre (our sister project) organized a big celebration to mark the occasion. When we drove into the compound, it looked like a wedding reception was about to take place. There were three big marquee tents, tulle arches, artificial flower bouquets, straw hats with festive ribbons atop tulle-and-ribbon-draped pillars and a head table set with bottles of soda.
This last detail is important to note. In Uganda, an event becomes an “occasion” when you are given a bottle of soda to drink. Coke, Sprite and Pepsi are readily available, as are a few local favourites that aren’t sold at home, but a bottle of any carbonated beverage is considered a real treat. So special, in fact, that crates of soda are often listed as one of the many gifts a prospective groom is expected to give to the bride’s father as a dowry. Similarly, when Paul bought a bull for the Timothy Centre workers to slaughter and roast at Christmas as a way to thank them for all their hard work, our security guards were put in charge of the soda crates at the party in order to ensure equitable distribution. (The Ugandans made that decision, not us, incidentally!)
The honour placed on bottles of Coca Cola or Pepsi may be viewed, I suppose, as an example of corporate colonialism; American soft drink companies imposing themselves on other cultures. However, no one here seems to be complaining. Perhaps the old commercial got something right...apparently, giving the world a Coke does keep it company!
The head table at the graduation celebration
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