Cows

Cattle are pretty important in Karamoja. You see little boys, often under the age of ten and wearing nothing but a ragged shirt sort of slung around their shoulders, out watching over little herds of the rather small Karamojong cows. These cattle are a major part of the culture, but not as food - they're the main currency there, what people measure wealth by. They're just stocked up unless drought gets so bad that a man will sell a cow rather than let his family starve. Sometimes bulls are also eaten for feasts or sacrificed for rain...animal sacrifices, like killing a chicken to try to get rid of sickness, is still practiced by some (or maybe many) of the Karamojong. And a chicken's not so cheap in Karamoja, either.

If a man wants a wife...or wants to keep her, rather, since marriages don't really get celebrated till after a kid comes along...he has to pay her father. Since young men don't usually have cattle, they have to go steal some from a neighboring tribe, i.e. "The Enemy," such as the Pekot. These raids often end in death - one of the young men's life, or someone in the village they're raiding. It's a pretty vicious cycle, because of course the Pekot do the same thing.

The culture is begining to shift a little, though. Here's an excerpt from a recent e-mail from Martha.

"I have a prayer request from here, too: Petro has two daughters who are in the process of being married to fellows who work for us. He is putting a lot of pressure on these men to bring him cows, which really tempts them to raid, lie, cheat, etc. Please pray for Petro that his heart will be turned to the Lord & that he & his family will come to church or any of the Bible studies that are going on. Petro's wife is not so determined to get cows & is more interested in peace.

"One of these daughters (whose younger child is named Martha after me but I don't actually remember why) is remarrying because her husband died raiding cattle just last year. The man she's marrying now is our vet & was telling me just the other day how the boys of Nakaale are giving up raiding because there is work for them now, with the mission. But he's under a lot of pressure to come up with 20 cows, which would be at least 2 or 3 years of his salary. Let's pray that Petro is not sending any more young men to their death for cows.

"We really hope these contracts Bob is getting, to repair windmills & dig boreholes (wells), will make for even more work for the young men here, so more of them can turn from raiding to honest work, improve their lives, & have the chance to hear God's Word in the process!"