Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Land of John


The children are always singing. They sing songs about Uganda, songs about the future, songs about welcoming visitors, and more. One day I asked an eight-year-old girl, to teach me the lyrics to one song.

She sang:

Uganda, the land of freedom,
The pearl of Africa, the land of John,
I am happy to be Ugandanese,
Uganda is my motherland.

Now, I was able look past the obvious error in the song which calls the wonderful people of Uganda, Ugandanese rather than Ugandans, but when she sang about the land of John, I just had to stop her and ask, "Wait, land of John, don't you mean the land of JOY?" Clearly, this is the proper lyric for the song, I KNOW it is the land of joy.

She stood there in all seriousness, reciting the lyrics in her head (lips moving, a pensive expression on her face).

She stops singing, and says, "No, sister, it is the land of John," and continues on to the next verse.

For me I am calledee ___,
I am happy to be Ugandanese,
Uganda is my motherland,
Uganda is our motherland,
Oh Uganda!!

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