AMAZING MALEMBO

It is Friday after noon and the sun is shining so much as if in a hurry to finish its day’s duty, it’s scotching. But this doesn’t stop children from playing in the sand near the Lake shores. Other children are also enjoying their time playing on the boats docked along the shores. And here comes a pregnant woman running with a stick in her left hand. She is carrying a baby at her back. They see her and start running in all directions as she chases after them. However, she fails to catch one as they are running faster than her and she consoles her self by shouting and yelling at them swearing to punish any child she sees again playing near the shores and in the boats.

On the other side, a man and a woman are fighting for a bottle of Tonto (local brew) while others are happy cheering them. But not all, other people are storming the bars to join their colleagues who are already busy drinking, laughing and dancing to the tunes of Madiru .Looking around, the number of children is overwhelming. Children are almost every where. In the restaurants, bars, Bibanda (local cinema halls), at the lake shores, the football pitch, playing in the sand, on the boats, in the waters, children are everywhere. Putting that aside, of the three women you see one is pregnant. Dear friend, Welcome to Malembo landing site where boozing and giving birth is a hobby.

Malembo landing site is found in Kyannamukaka, Masaka district at the shores of the vast Lake Victoria in Uganda. Two brick houses standing opposite each other at the main road from Kalisiizo welcome the site's visitors. On the far left are the two blocks of the only pit-latrines in the area. The houses that assemble the lake shores in straight lines are made of timber and iron sheets on top of it. This well explains that the inhabitants are not to stay permanently. In fact no serious development can be observed in terms of infrastructure.

According to Hajji Abbas Ssebbowa the LC1 chairman of the area, the site accommodates about seven hundred people, where many are the youths and children. Despite that fact, such a number of people are blessed with only two-pit latrines. Surprising! The only two latrines here are a donation from the district. Behind them is a thick forest of palm trees that shake peacefully when the wind blows.
Asking about the behaviors of people at Malembo, the chairman says that drug abuse among the youth has become a threat to both the addicts and those around. However, the authorities try their best to decampaign such anti-social acts where the local authorities work with the police. Drugs like Ganja, marijuana and mirrah among others are the commonly abused here. “We try our best and work hand-in-hand with the police to sensitize them about the effects of drug and subsistence abuse plus crime prevention, but many still prove to be hardcore lunatics” says Hajji Abbas Ssebbowa the LC 1 chairman.

The number of children in the area shows that family planning is not a thing to do with the people of Malembo.
“Women here give birth to as many children as possible and that is the only way of protecting their marriages.’’ says Eric, one of the operators of one of the two drug shops at Malembo.”A woman is expected to give birth to as many kids as possible. She is supposed to surrender and make sure she satisfies her husband’s sexual desire lest he marries other women.” he continues. According to Eric, it is difficult to find a man with only one wife at Malembo. “Men here are like cars, each with a spire tire." he says. Lodges can be accessed at prices ranging from Uganda shillings 1500-3000/= No wonder the first case of HIV in Uganda was reported around the areas of Masaka-Rakai districts. Eric continues to say, that STDs are among the common human health disturbances in the area. Malaria and Diahorrea being the major. One would be surprised to here that the district health sector donated mosquito nets to the people of Malembo but very few sleep under them. Why? “You see those nets we were given, contain some chemicals that will affect us in the future” says a one Jane an expectant and mother of four. This is the false assumption that many carry and continue to spread about the mosquito nets. Pointing at the two bottles of water guard covered with dust to show the long time they have spent on the shelves Eric says, “I brought water guard, but no one has ever bothered buying it.” This really explains the cause of Diahorrea, which mostly disturb the locals at Malembo landing site. “The two pit latrines you’ve seen are used by all these people, however it is not surprising to wake up in the morning and find a Kaveera well placed at the banks or even 'pupu' floating on the waters,.” Says kayongo. A resident of the area. He continues that even though the authorities emphasize the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation, some people here are still adamant. They continue contaminating the lake their major source of income.

“You have seen it, you have witnessed it your self, and these people are not easy. But due to my experience of about twenty years as LC1 chairman in this area I manage them.” Says Hajji Ssebbowa. He has just commanded a young lady to clean up the place that she has littered with sugar cane and banana peelings.
A matter concerning business Malembo is a good place, especially when one deals in selling beer. Make a bar and you will have a prosperous business enterprise. “Here people start drinking as soon as one finishes his daily work until next morning unless the bar has run short of beer” says one of the bar attendants. Like in Kampala here bars act as good rendezvous. Bars are open twenty four hours a day and they never run short of customers. Other businesses range from chapatti making to selling clothes. Of course fishing is the major economic activity. One starts fishing at the tender age of nine provided he knows how to ride a boat and cast a net and throw a hook in the waters. The nearest primary school is about 3Kms from the site where pupils walk daily to have their studies but not all others shun school for fishing in order to get money. For tourists, especially bird watchers Malembo provides one of the shortest routes to Musambwa Island, which is well known for it’s unique indispensable bird species in Africa, if not the whole world. However those hoping to go to this Island should only be males for women are not allowed there.
Ssenoga Brian Kimuli a.k.a born lucky
0782040057 or 0751040057
ssenogabrian@yahoo.com