The spoon that saved a village

A story of Local Response from Kitubulu community, Uganda by ?

The spoon that saved a village

Once upon a time there was a village where men, women and children lived. Each family cultivated their land and did not care about their neighbour. The village chief managed only conflicts between neighbors, between families, between men and women. Conflicts were so frequent that agricultural production declined.

A famine occurred in the village. All the villagers died beginning with the oldest ones.

One day they found themselves in heaven. A Chinese welcomed them warmly. He offered them a dish of rice prepared with love. He placed long spoons around the dish. He invited his guests to sit around the dish, each with his spoon. He was surprised to see that his guests were not eating. When everyone wanted to bring the spoon of rice to his mouth, his neighbour forbade him to touch it. They were sad in front of the rice dish, and were going to starve.

The Chinese, anxious, said to them, “You are going to die of hunger. In order to eat, I invite you to use your spoon giving to the other. They followed the advice. They became very happy and their hunger was satisfied. They learned to live together, to help each other. They realized that if they had lived with solidarity on earth, they would not have died of hunger.

The village of Uganda that I visited lived the same story. When the inhabitants worked individually, they did not find happiness. When they came together, they pooled their knowledge and skills, and they made progress.

When the villagers come together, they will be able to eat their fill.

This story would not have been told, if I had not been to meet the villager of Uganda ...