Folk stories

Leopards giving birth. The story goes, if it rains while the sun is shining the Local leopard is giving birth. This is a fairy tale story that we used to hear when were still young. This and other similar stories may be slowly disappearing because of lack of interest in them and the lack of story tellers. But these are indeed interesting stories! I was travelling to Arua last week, and after Karuma falls we hit a very heavy rain down pour as the sun was up there shining with its rays piercing through the rains invoking the memories of these folk stories. One of the people in the vehicle reminded us that the local leopard must be giving birth. This is a story told in many cultures in different parts of Uganda. Normally when it rains it is a dark out in the sky and the rain blocks the sun, on some very rare occasions the sun shines through as it rains. It is this mystery that led to this famous folk story about the leopard giving birth. But there’s a possibility that may be it ever happened, it is possible that somewhere people found a leopard either having or just given birth as it rained while the sun was shining.

My trip to Arua was memorable. The recent rains have turned parts of the country side lash green. What also came to my attention was that the national parks are in trouble, human beings are increasingly invading the parks and humans with their numerous abilities will easily send off the animals I hope we can save these parks.