The Bududa Disaster

A poem by Ali Balunywa

Last Saturday, Maama Watoto, an organization looking out for interests of children especially in Uganda held a fundraising function to build a school for children of Bududa in Eastern Uganda, where mudslides caused havoc in March. The chairperson invited me to contribute to the occasion by writing and reciting a poem on Bududa. I quickly came up with the following:

As disasters come, this struck without warning

The date was March 01, 2010 in the morning

The place was Bududa district in Uganda

On the slopes of Elgon mountains yonder

It was a major disaster ending up as a tragedy

And the wretched of the earth looked at it as a parody

The torrential rains brought the calamity

With potential strengths destroying the fraternity

A 200-meter wide landslide caused destructions

A 3-village area dissipated into fractions

As hundreds of lives were lost

Other hundreds became ghosts

The president of the country dressed in combat

For the people of the country to know it was poignant

He carried on his shoulder a rifle

Since the situation was not trifle

He invited his army to help on cue

To aid the people to rescue

The weather made the roads impassable

Making the rescue missions almost impossible

Delivery of large mechanical equipment was not possible

Because the roads were not passable

So the digging had to be done by bare hands

Raising the number of lives lost in bands

There were no more schools for children to go to,

There were no more workplaces for adults to go to

The rivers were swollen

The houses were fallen

And the people were crestfallen

As their homes were fallen

All was destroyed

And bodies were interred

Women and children

Men and brethren

All were affected

By the land slide effect

Swollen rivers caused flooding

And pit latrines washed in marauding

And pillaging slides

Causing diseases,

Displacements

And encampments

Now it is up to you the unaffected

To assist the affected

Schools are needed

For the offspring in need

Please contribute generously

Bigheartedly, openhandedly

Munificently and charitably