July 2017: Day 6 — The Walking School Bus

Today, we were provided with the opportunity to walk through the Peace Kowerma Coffee fields. Peace Kowerma (Delicious Peace) was founded by JJ Keki, a member of the Abayudaya, after he witnessed the atrocities of 9/11 while visiting New York. There are Christian, Muslim, and Jewish coffee farmers and there the interfaith collaboration in the fields has brought a greater sense of prosperity to their communities.

Walking through the coffee fields led us to a beautiful rock that forms a natural roof structure over looking a valley. JJ shared with us how that this rock acted as a synagogue for the Jewish coffee farmers when they were forced to hide their religion when Uganda was under the leadership of Idi Yamin. We sat beneath the rock while JJ recounted the story and then climbed up the rock to marvel at the beauty of the valley below.

We finished the afternoon in Mbale, the closest city to us, where we purchased much-needed supplies for the following day.
The rest of the day was spent doing research and prep work for the days to come!

Originally published at https://thewalkingschoolbus.com on July 28, 2017.