EPISODE-22 “Sweet Knowledge”

Written by ADONG Lucy Judith

SCENE I

LOCATION: INT: CAR, BUKULU BACK ROAD-MORNING

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, NALONGO MARGO, KIZZA, KATO, MUKASA

MILDRED: (AS NARRATOR) They say culture is the fiber of a people. But what if some cultural values no longer fit within modern day challenges? Must we continue to keep parts of our culture even if it is making us suffer? Ssalongo Tadeo, a clan leader in Bukulu, came face to face with exactly that question one day when he was rushing with his wife and two sons to celebrate son Kizza’s graduation…

SFX: FADE INTO INTERIOR OF SPEEDING CAR

KATO: Dad relax, am driving as fast as I can.

S. TADEO: Then why does it feel like we are not heading anywhere, Kato?

N. MARGO: Ssalongo, don’t encourage the boy to over speed. Wama Kato, go slow. Besides the star of the party is with us in the car. Everybody has to wait for Kizza…

S. TADEO: I hate being late.

KIZZA: Can everyone calm down, am sure we’ll make it on time to my own graduation.

N. MARGO: At this speed, we might not make it at all. I for one don’t want to die before I celebrate Kizza’s degree.

KATO: Mother, you talk as though it would be okay if the rest of us died as long as you got to celebrate Kizza’s degree.

N. MARGO: That’s not true, Kato. You have your own talents, son. (JOKING) But of course, Kizza’s degree is what matters most now.

KIZZA: But mother!

N. MARGO: (EXCITED) Kizza, am so proud of you. You have shown the whole of Bukulu that this family is no joke.

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KATO: I didn’t know that it was only Kizza that has done wonders!

N. MARGO: Of course am proud of all of my sons. Kato, you and Wasswa are running the family business well…/

S. TADEO: Just like I taught them.

KATO: (AMIDST LAUGHTER) Mother, don’t expect too much from Kizza! He’s just good at reading!

KIZZA: What Kato? You don’t think I will develop Bukulu?

S. TADEO: Kato, focus less on the chitchatting and more on the driving. All this talk is slowing us down.

KATO: Relax father, am an expert driver. I can multitask.

S. TADEO: Relax, relax, everything relax.

N. MARGO: Well, I am relaxed because we now have a graduate in Community Development. All of Bukulu’s development issues will be history.

S. TADEO: Nalongo, stop distracting Kato. Every time you praise Kizza, Kato takes his eyes off the road. Let the boy drive.

N. MARGO: But Ssalongo, what do you want me to do? Just shut up like a dumb person. You want my breath to smell bad from over shutting up! Let me talk.

KATO: Dad, relax, I will do the shutting up and drive just as fast…/

SFX: HEAVY BUMP, CAR SKIDDING, SCREAMS

KATO: (BREATHING HEAVILY) Is everyone okay?

N. MARGO: (HYSTERICAL) Oh, my God! Am dead, am dead.

S. TADEO: (HOLDING HER) Nalongo, its okay, we are alive.

KIZZA: What was that?

KATO: I think we hit something.

KIZZA: Well, come on let’s check it out.

SFX: DOORS OPENING AND SHUTTING

KIZZA: Oh thank God, it’s just a goat. You hit a goat.

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KATO/MARGO: You see what you have done?

S. TADEO: Are you trying to say this is my fault, you’re the one who distracted the boy… now look.

N. MARGO: Me, I can’t believe you even have the nerve to blame me. It was you that kept on encouraging him to drive fast. As if this is an airplane.

KATO: Mother, father, let’s not start pointing fingers and first sort this out.

KIZZA: Oh my, this is not looking good. Now we have the villagers coming, and every one of them will be claiming he is the owner of this goat.

CROWD: (OFF MIC, SHOUTING) Stop them, don’t let them get away.

MUKASA: (OFF MIC, SHOUTING) They have killed my goat, don’t let them go.

KIZZA: Oh no! What are we going to do now?

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT

SCENE II

LOCATION: BUKULU BACK ROAD- MORNING

B/G SFX: ROWDY CROWD

CHARACTERS: MZEE KAYONDO, MUKASA, SSALONGO TADEO, NALONGO MARGO, KIZZA, KATO

CROWD: They must pay, they must pay…

M. KAYONDO: Order, order. Mr. Tadeo, I am Mzee Kayondo, clan leader of the immigrant clan and you’ve run over my clansman’s goat.

S. TADEO: It’s Ssalongo Tadeo, clan leader of the Lion clan, and I am not blind, I can perfectly see that I have run over the goat.

M. KAYONDO: A fellow leader, good. So now, before my people can let you continue to your celebrations as you say, you must first pay Mukasa here for his goat.

S. TADEO: PAY! Now look, Mzee, I will tell you what I have already told Mukasa; there is no way in hell I am going to pay for a goat that was trespassing on my land.

M. KAYONDO: This is as plain as day, you run over the goat. Surely you cannot refuse to pay!

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S. TADEO: Surely I can. You people of the immigrant clan have been encroaching on our land with your animals that make our land filthy.

SFX: MURMURS OF DISCONTENT FROM CROWD

S. TADEO: Now make way so I can go and celebrate my son’s degree.

MUKASA: Ssalongo, pay for my goat, do you think I feed on your son’s degree?

S. TADEO: Why should I care what you feed on?

MUKASA: My goats feed me and now you and your family have killed one, the fattest one of all.

N. MARGO: Stop exaggerating, young man. Everyone can see that goat is as thin as a malnourished kid.

KIZZA: Mother, it’s okay. Let me handle this. (TO MUKASA) Sir, how much would you like for your goat?

MUKASA: Only 200,000/=

KATO: Good gracious, that is bride price for a whole wife.

MUKASA: What an insult? If you Lion clan people treat your women so cheaply to an extent of marrying them off at a goat’s price, do not think the same of us.

S. TADEO: How dare you say that about our clan yet your clan along with your leader that belong to the clan of ulceration.

SFX: MORE MURMURS OF DISCONTENT

S. TADEO: It’s true; you broke off from your main group and became a huge ulceration. And now you have grown wings after we’ve embraced you and welcomed you to Bukulu!

MUKASA: You will pay for your insults.

SFX: COMMOTION, BREAKING OF GLASS

S. TADEO: Get away from my car you idiots. We will teach you a lesson.

SFX: MORE COMMOTION

KIZZA: (SHOUTING) Please stop fighting. Let’s settle this peacefully.

N. MARGO: I don’t think they are listening. (CRYING OUT) Someone with a phone please call the police.

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SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT

SCENE III

LOCATION: SSALONGO TADEO’S HOME-AFTERNOON

B/G SFX: SOFT RADIO MUSIC

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, SSENGA DORA

S. TADEO: (LAUGHS) My home is always open to visitors, Ssenga Dora.

S. DORA: (LAUGHS LIGHTLY) Anyway cutting to the chase, I just dropped by to express my concern over what happened yesterday.

S. TADEO: (DULL) Oh yes, it was very tragic.

S. DORA: Tragic is to say the least. The immigrant clan made utter fools of the Lion clan. And it’s all that Nurse Mildred’s fault, her and her family planning.

S. TADEO: But what happened was a clash of two clans and as you know, we were humiliated. How is Nurse Mildred to blame for that?

S. DORA: Ssalongo, the immigrant clan is strong. They outwitted us by not joining family planning and yesterday they showed us how numbers are very important.

S. TADEO: Am not quite sure I follow, Ssenga Dora.

S. DORA: Our men were beaten like boys by the immigrant clan because our numbers are few while theirs are large.

S. TADEO: (PAUSE) Ssenga, I hate to admit it but you might be right. Had our numbers been bigger we would have put those fools in their place.

S. DORA: Exactly my point.

S.TADEO: The nerve of those Immigrant fools. They messed up Kizza’s graduation party celebration. But I made sure they spent the night in police custody.

S. DORA: Eeeeh, poor man. My sympathies, a son graduating is not something you see every day.

S. TADEO: Most especially in Bukulu.

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S. DORA: No one and nothing should interrupt such an occasion. You see, even the rain doesn’t fall when there’re such celebrations.

S. TADEO: After yesterday’s incident, I am very concerned about the future of our clan for as long as the immigrants keep encroaching on our land.

S. DORA: You have every right to be concerned.

S. TADEO: My concern is that our numbers are too small to fight the immigrant clan.

S. DORA: But why don’t you do something about it instead of just being concerned? You are a whole chief of the Lion clan. Deal with that Nurse Mildred!

S. TADEO: (UNSURE) I had never seen the danger of Nurse Mildred’s family planning from this angle. In fact, why hadn’t you ever raised this angle before?

S. DORA: But I have always told you and the whole of Bukulu that family planning is bad.

S. TADEO: I agree they are over-running us. And after yesterday, I wonder if there is a future for the Lion’s clan?

S. DORA: Ssalongo, am glad you are now seeing things my way, more objectively. I am here to help you in any way to mobilize our people to get rid of the immigrant clan, they are a mere ulceration clan. I will call our people together.

S. TADEO: Thank you so much Ssenga Dora, your eloquence will be very much needed in mobilizing our clan.

S. TADEO: No Ssalongo, you are the one who should speak to them… like a man, a true chief of the lion’s clan.

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT

SCENE IV

LOCATION: BUKULU MARKET SQUARE-AFTERNOON

B/G SFX: CROWD MURMURS

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, SSENGA DORA, KATO

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SFX: CROWD HAS GATHERED AND THEY ARE RESTLESS FOR S. TADEO TO SPEAK TO THEM

S. DORA: (WHISPERS) Let me talk to them, Ssalongo Tadeo. I know what to say. You just introduce me and I will handle this…

S. TADEO: (WHISPERS) Fine. (ALOUD) Ladies and gentlemen before I continue, Ssenga Dora has something she wants to tell you.

S. DORA: (WHISPERS) Thank you. (ALOUD, OFF MIC) My fellow clansmen, people of the Lion clan. We are under attack; the immigrant clan is a threat.

SFX: MURMURS OF DISCONTENT FROM CROWD

KATO: (WHISPERS ON MIC) Dad, I thought you had called this meeting, not Ssenga Dora.

S. TADEO: (ON MIC) You know Ssenga Dora, she wants to dominate everything. Besides she is more eloquent and we are all on the same side.

S. DORA: (OFF MIC) They are threatening to wipe us out. They have already encroached on our land, attacked our Chief Ssalongo Tadeo and his family and continue to totally disrespect us.

SFX: CROWD IS GETTING HEATED UP

S. DORA: And all this is happening because of Nurse Mildred and her family planning. Now we are too few to defend ourselves because we embraced her family planning poison. We are just sitting ducks.

KATO: But dad…/

S. TADEO: I know, Kato. She is just inciting violence but what can I do?

S. DORA: We need to get rid of her and family planning. We need to reproduce and grow in number so that we can fight these Immigrants.

SFX: CROWD GOES WILD CHANTING

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT

SCENE V

LOCATION: SSALONGO TADEO’S HOME-MORNING

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B/G SFX: MORNING BIRDS SINGING

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, KIZZA

KIZZA: (ON MIC) Ssenga Dora’s campaign will never work, father. Rather, it will destroy us all.

S. TADEO: Look, Kizza my son, I don’t like Ssenga Dora’s methods either but she has a point.

KIZZA: What point exactly, Dad?

S. TADEO: The immigrant clan has overrun us. There are more of them than us now!

KIZZA: And you think that by convincing the Lion clan to abandon family planning, that that will save us? Nurse Mildred is part of the solution, not the problem.

S. TADEO: (SHOCKED) Have you lost your mind!?

KIZZA: We need smaller families, not bigger ones. We need fewer children to feed in this community, not more.

S. TADEO: (GRAMBLING) I can’t believe it. My graduate son is supporting family planning. I had 8 children. And each of them is my pride… our wealth and power.

KIZZA: But the land that you have must now be shared by eight of us, father.

S. TADEO: Of course! A big family is a dynasty respected by other small families. There is strength in numbers!

KIZZA: Have you seen how the immigrant clan has large families and now they are fighting each other and encroaching on our land.

S.TADEO: Exactly! That’s why we need to have more children too so that no one encroaches on our land.

KIZZA: But do you realize what that would mean? The more our numbers grow, the more we fight each other over land, we have disputes over water… and soon people think nothing of stealing from each other just to survive.

S. TADEO: We cannot let the immigrants take over!

KIZZA: So then the immigrants have more children. The Lion clan has more children. And then everything is totally out of control. Totally!

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S. TADEO: You are just impossible, Kizza, you know that?

KIZZA: At least Nurse Mildred is trying to make things better for everyone. She isn’t fighting over land or resources.

S. TADEO: Enough with this Nurse Mildred talk. Can’t you see her family planning nonsense threatens the extinction of our people?

KIZZA: With all due respect, Dad, you have not listened to a word I’ve said.

S. TADEO: Now you are saying am deaf!

KIZZA: All am saying is, both the Lion Clan and the clan of ulceration need to see how the more our numbers increase, the more we will all suffer. The confrontation you are choosing, father, will destroy everything you hold dear.

S. TADEO: You know, I’d rather be deaf than listen to you ranting like this. I can’t believe I paid school fees all this while only for you to go and get corrupted. Please leave me alone.

KIZZA: Fine. (MOVING FROM MIC) You wanted education and a graduate for a son but you are not prepared to understand the value of my education; and if you really want to know what I have learned, it is that by having so many people or such large families we are on a heading to nothing!

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT

SCENE VI

LOCATION: SSALONGO TADEO’S HOME-AFTERNOON

B/G SFX: SOFT RADIO MUSIC

CHARACTERS: SSENGA DORA, SSALONGO TADEO

S. DORA: (EXCITED) But anyway that is all settled so let’s go, Ssalongo.

S. TADEO: Go where, Ssenga?

S. DORA: The people are waiting. I’ve been up and down the whole morning mobilizing for a rally against Nurse Mildred and her FP.

S. TADEO: (STUTTERS) Why don’t you go ahead? Am not feeling all that well.

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S. DORA: Sorry, Ssalongo. It must be malaria, I will get you some herbs. For now, just come and throw in a few words of encouragement to kick start things.

S. TADEO: It’s not just that Ssenga, I think I need a few days to rethink our move.

S. DORA: Rethink? What is there to rethink? Are you having second thoughts?

S. TADEO: Well, honestly speaking, I am.

S. DORA: Ssalongo! If it is a question of convincing the people, I am eloquent enough, don’t worry.

S. TADEO: I was talking to my son.

S. DORA: And…? Is that news?

S. TADEO: Kizza believes we should convince the people of those other clans to embrace family planning and…

S. DORA: Abomination! I can’t believe my ears.

S. TADEO: If I can talk to Mzee Kayondo and we can agree…

S. DORA: What! Do you want that clan of ulceration to laugh at you like a fool?

S. TADEO: Of course not.

S. DORA: Yet you are prepared to abandon your culture because your son, Kizza, has come back with fancy ideas?

S. TADEO: Please first hear me out Ssenga, the …/

S. DORA: Why did you drag me into this embarrassment if you knew you wouldn’t see this through?

S. TADEO: But I didn’t drag you…/

S. DORA: Now what am I supposed to tell the people? That you changed your angle?

S. TADEO: I don’t want you to speak for me at all, Ssenga Dora. I will speak for myself.

S. DORA: You know what? I have no time for men with no stand.

MILDRED: (AS NARRATOR) This was the most difficult position for Ssalongo Tadeo ever; would he listen to his son Kizza or Ssenga Dora? Both had powerful cases to make. Ssalongo Tadeo knew he had to put his people’s

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needs first. Some days later, he came face to face with Mzee Kayondo again…

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT

SCENE VII

LOCATION: MZEE KAYONDO’S COMPOUND-MORNING

B/G SFX: MORNING BIRDS SINGING

CHARACTERS: MZEE KAYONDO, SSALONGO TADEO

M. KAYONDO: I have no time for your theatrics, Ssalongo, so if you think that smile on your lips is going to woo me then you are very mistaken.

S. TADEO: Please, Mzee Kayondo, I come in peace. That is why I am carrying this olive branch here.

M. KAYONDO: I hope so because my people and me have had enough bad treatment all because we are immigrants.

S. TADEO: I am not here to stir up ill feeling.

M. KAYONDO: Tell me, how long does it take for a human being to be embraced into this community and gain respect and dignity?

S. TADEO: Actually, Mzee Kayondo, that is what am here to see you about.

M. KAYONDO: Respect for my people?

S. TADEO: In a way. You see, I have come to realize what the real problem of Bukulu is, so am here to reach out to you as a fellow clan chief for a solution.

M. KAYONDO: Hmm. I will take your word for it. (SCEPTICAL) What do you have in mind?

S. TADEO: Have you noticed how the more we grow in numbers, the more we fight over land and other resources.

M. KAYONDO: Yes… such as?

S. TADEO: The trees… they are coming down so fast. Clean water is becoming more and more scarce. Our children have to compete like never before to get an education. There is no end to the contest between my clan and yours – and

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I am sure you have seen even amongst our own clan, there are more and more arguments and disagreements.

M. KAYONDO: It’s true. What is your solution?

S. TADEO: We have to stop growing in numbers, your clan and mine.

M. KAYONDO: Oh I get it, you saw how our clan’s numbers overpowered yours and now this is your trick to bring our clan down.

S. TADEO: Not at all, Mzee Kayondo.

M. KAYONDO: So that you can wipe us out!

S. TADEO: (PERSISTING CALMLY) As clan chiefs we need to join hands to educate Bukulu about family planning, otherwise, the future of both our clans is in danger.

M. KAYONDO: May the ancestors help you. If you think you can just change our cultural tradition, then you’re very mistaken.

S. TADEO: But this has nothing …/

M. KAYONDO: Listen and listen well, Ssalongo Tadeo. I, Mzee Kayondo, will not undermine the traditions of our fathers.

S. TADEO: That is where you are mistaken Mzee, family planning will not undermine traditions but help preserve them.

M: KAYONDO: It’s clear that you have totally lost your mind. Please leave my compound and never return if you know what is good for you.

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT.

SCENE VIII

LOCATION: HEALTH CENTER-AFTERNOON

B/G SFX: DISTANT CRIES OF CHILDREN

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, NURSE MILDRED, KIZZA

MILDRED: Ssalongo, Kizza, I don’t want any trouble.

S. TADEO: We are not here for trouble, Nurse Mildred.

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KIZZA: Don’t worry, Nurse Mildred. My father wants your help.

S.TADEO: Nurse Mildred, we are here to ask you to educate the immigrant clan about family planning.

MILDRED: (SURPRISED) What?

S. TADEO: The more problems they have, the more their problems land on us.

MILDRED: Well good luck. I have tried reaching out to Mzee Kayondo but he is… let’s say he is stubborn.

S. TADEO: We know that. He does not like to be moved. But I have come to see that he is wrong. And I am a man who likes to do what is right, Nurse Mildred.

MILDRED: Yes, but I must ask, Ssalongo. What made you change your mind?

S. TADEO: Kizza here; the fresh graduate in Community Development, he opened my eyes to what Bukulu’s real problems are and challenged me to be a part of the solution, not the problem.

MILDRED: Kizza, that is so bold of you. Many Ugandan graduates could pick a leaf from you.

KIZZA: Encouraging family planning?

MILDRED: Coming back to their communities to actually apply their acquired knowledge rather than getting lost in the city.

S. TADEO: That is my son. He has proven that education is gold.

MILDRED: I can’t agree more. So this is the first step… working together. I welcome the opportunity to work with you, Ssalongo Tadeo.

S. TADEO: I am glad. As a leader, I understand that every good thing we make in this life begins with a tiny seed….

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT

SCENE IX

LOCATION: SSALONGO TADEO’S COMPOUND-AFTERNOON

B/G SFX: CRIES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, KIZZA, MZEE KAYONDO

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SFX: CAR STARTS

KIZZA: There we go, good as new.

S. TADEO: (ABSENT MINDED) Yes.

KIZZA: The mechanics were thrifty, they even repainted the dashboard and you can’t tell the new windscreen is a replacement.

S. TADEO: (ABSENT MINDED) Am sure you can’t, Kizza.

KIZZA: Dad, are you okay?

S.TADEO: Am fine.

KIZZA: You are still bothered by Mzee Kayondo’s refusal to talk to his clan about family planning, aren’t you?

S.TADEO: (SIGHS) Yes.

KIZZA: Let me tell you a story to cheer you up. It’s about two families. One had many children while the other had fewer children.

S. TADEO: You and your stories. Okay what happened, next?

KIZZA: The one with many children had to carve up their inheritance and ended up with nothing but the one with fewer children was able to use their legacy wisely because it was more of a resource.

S. TADEO: (LAUGHS LIGHTLY) Interesting story there.

KIZZA: Yes, but the point is, quality is better than quantity. A clan that grows faster than it can attract resources has many problems….

S. TADEO: What concerns me is that their problems become our problems and instead of working with us they will overwhelm us completely…

M. KAYONDO: (APPROACHING MIC, CLEAR’S HIS VOICE) Ssalongo Tadeo, I would like to talk. If you are still interested of course…

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT

SCENE X

LOCATION: HEALTH CENTER-MORNING

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B/G SFX: DISTANT CRIES OF CHILDREN

CHARACTERS: SSALONGO TADEO, MZEE KAYONDO, NURSE MILDRED

MILDRED: (LAUGHS) I am happy to see the both of you, Mzee Kayondo… Ssalongo Tadeo..

M. KAYONDO: Nurse Mildred, if Ssalongo Tadeo here had not run over my clansman Mukasa’s goat, I probably would not have come here.

S. TADEO: A goat was sacrificed to restore peace.

M. KAYONDO: Indeed. I think it became clear to me that I must talk with Ssalongo when I thought about why our clan was forced to leave our traditional land to come to Bukulu. Not all of us could fit any more. And now, years later, we are repeating history here in Bukulu.

S. TADEO: And if we are not careful, all of us in Bukulu will suffer.

MILDRED: So… am I here to start a war between your two clans – or to make peace?

M. KAYONDO: We both want progress.

MILDRED: And how do you gentlemen imagine “progress”?

S. TADEO: We wish to slow down the speed at which we produce…so we can keep pace. But to do that, we need to educate the whole of Bukulu.

M. KAYONDO: Teach the people that if men and women reduce the number of children they have, they can enjoy better quality of life, educate and feed their children better, keep them healthy.

S. TADEO: And slow down enough so for all to stop fighting over limited resources.

MILDRED: That is wonderful. People listen to their cultural leaders.

M. KAYONDO: Nurse Mildred, they also listen to health workers. Please come and talk to my people about family planning. You can explain what I am not able to…

MILDRED: I’ll be happy to.

S. TADEO: So, Mzee Kayondo will have the benefit of your wisdom before my people and me? Yet it was my idea…

MILDRED: Ssalongo Tadeo, we have to start somewhere. Aren’t you glad that Mzee Kayondo has taken up your idea?

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S. TADEO: I was joking, Nurse Mildred. I am delighted… Mzee Kayondo and I are at last working together.

MILDRED: (AS NARRATOR) And so, strangely, I found my Family Planning clinic at the heart of a new development in Bukulu that brought together two cultural leaders. Where they had formerly been foes, rivals at best, they now worked together for the betterment of Bukulu. But it took a young man called Kizza and an unfortunate accident with a goat to bring them together. Both leaders are learning still that culture is not unchanging; that by working together they can help control the speed with which their numbers grows so they keep pace with development; and that the days of large families are a thing of the past. (SHE LAUGHS)…It’s not always easy but there are brighter days up ahead.

SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT

OUTRO….

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