MOYO (or Water): Part I

Last month on a date I cannot remember, I was in a speed boat on the way to Koome Island in Lake Nalubaale/Victoria. About 45 minutes into the journey- it capsized. There is no linguistic dramatization necessary to depict this scenario. Simply Put; Boat-Under-Lake-Passengers-adrift.

There is a fascinating contradiction about water. Water is Life. For our species, when consumed correctly, cellular rejuvenation commences- it quenches thirst- subdues hunger even. For other organisms too, water implies growth, sustenance, survival. Water is a new lease on life- renewable in perpetuity. Water as a body is life affirming. For instance, I have seen River Nile’s Karuma Falls in Northern Uganda countless times. Its majesty has never diminished. A dynamic life force, rumbling without pause, an absolute quantity.

If I call to memory the experience of being almost entirely submerged in a body of water (on that day which I still cannot be bothered to remember), I see myself as an insignificant speck on the cusp of being fatally victimized by my failure to acknowledge that although water is life, it can also mean death i.e. the tail end of the thread of life.

I survived that day and if nothing else, I at least developed a slightly keener appreciation for the spectrum of water — a formless and inconclusive aspect of the earth’s eco system.

Moyo District in the West Nile region of Northern Uganda is barricaded by the White Nile as it flows into neighbouring South Sudan. In the local language- Moyo means “water”. The name of the place where the local ferry landing site is found is called “Laropi” — which means “war/battle over water”. In essence, Water is the glorious life form for and through which death may be inevitable.