I grew up in Gulu, a city in northern Uganda. I was envious of my cousins because they lived in Amolatar town, in the lake region of central Uganda, where fishing and commercial agriculture are the major economic activities. The people in these communities lead a sustainable life because there is a constant source of income. Growing up in Amolatar was so interesting to me because the town is surrounded by Lake Kyoga.
I only got permission to go and visit my cousins during the third-term holiday, which goes from December, when the dry season begins with strong dry winds and extreme heat during the day, until early February, when studies are resumed. Every third-term holiday my parents would send me to Uncle Joe, a prominent member of the family and the eldest amongst their siblings. My father trusted Joe with me, since he was very responsible—he was a doctor—and a family man.
I always made sure to take my blankets from home whenever I went to Amolatar town. It can get cold at night there, because of all the bodies of water nearby, and the cool breeze that blows in from Lake Kyoga.
My cousins and I were all in our early adolescence and stubborn. I had a lot in common with Theo, who was in the same year of school as me. Lake Kyoga has lots of different fish, including lungfish and silver fish, but Uncle Joe didn’t allow us to go out onto the lake to do any actual fishing, or even get close to the lake. He was afraid we would drown, but Theo, Joel, and I would go to the shore and watch the water and fishermen anyway. We’d even help out with the fish preservation: we’d salt fish using table salt, smoke them over a fire, or sun-dry them after cutting them open.
We did this work to earn a little money to buy new clothes for Christmas or save up for school materials like books, pencils, geometry sets, and backpacks. On Christmas, everyone would be excited to celebrate the birth of Christ. To impress their parents, children would buy new clothes for the celebrations. Uncle Joe’s extended family would come together to unite in Christ. A lot of food was cooked, and local alcohol was brewed. The older family members would be in the mood for dancing, and they’d turn on their old radio cassette player.
Every child in Amolatar town couldn’t wait to be old enough to be allowed to fish on a boat, and not just stand on the shore with a hook and string, waiting to get lucky. That was the hardest way to fish. Sometimes you would stand there for hours without a single fish getting caught on your hook—some fish would even feed on your bait and escape—and you ended up going home with nothing.
Despite the fact that they didn’t allow us to go out onto the lake and fish, our elders taught us different fishing methods. One method was to use the mosquito nets provided by the government to help prevent malaria infections. Instead of putting these nets around their beds to prevent mosquitoes from biting them at night, the men and women in Amolatar used them to catch fish when they went out on their boats. Since the town is surrounded by water, it’s a good breeding place for mosquitoes, and the malaria risk was high. Still, the locals would rather use these nets for fishing.
When I was a bit older, the fishermen turned their boats into basic motorboats by attaching a propeller that was powered by a motorbike engine. This increased the number of fish that could be caught, since the fisherman no longer had to use a paddle. These boats were faster and easier to navigate across the lake. Eventually this created more work for the children in the community: there were lots more fish to smoke, salt and sun-dry. Which meant more money for clothes for Christmas.
Spending the Christmas holidays with my cousins was always a lot of fun. In addition to learning how to cure fish together, they taught me how to swim. It was an amazing childhood. Today Amolatar is known for commercial fishing, which has had a massive impact on the town. The industry has evolved over the years, and now most of the fish caught in Lake Kyoga is exported to countries around the world.
