My Life as an Intern: The Jjuukos

During my time in Masaka, Uganda, I stayed with the fabulous Jjuukos on their farm. This warm and open family wasted no time in having me feel at home with them. The family interactions were affectionate, casual, and very funny to observe. Here's a little snapshot of the family.

Mr. Jjuuko and Sophie (The Parents):

A sweet, hard-working pair. Mr. Jjuuko works on the farm and oversees some businesses in Masaka Town while Sophie works at home. Mr. Jjuuko is a delightful teddy bear who is obviously proud of his family, his farm, and his animals. He is a soft-spoken and reserved man, which made it that much more fun to watch when he got very excited over something. Sophie is a hilarious and opinionated mother who rules the home - the definite mother-hen.

Abdu Rezak (The Bookworm):
The eldest son. He's currently in med school and is super quiet and keeps to himself. He was home during mid-term break for about 1 week so I didn't really get a chance to hang out with him much. He likes reading and watching adventure movies. Most of our (limited) conversations centred around listing what movies we've watched. He seemed really nice and was the one who informed me that British Columbia was where the lumberjacks live!

A sample conversation:
Abdu Rezak: Do you watch Nicolas Cage movies?
Me: Yep. They're pretty fun.
A: Me too. Like, Face/Off, Snake Eyes, Sorceror's Apprentice, Con Air, The Rock...
Me: National Treasure 1, National Treasure 2, Ghost Rider, Gone in 60 Seconds...

Mariam (The Drill Sargeant):
                                         
The eldest daughter. She is in her first year of university, studying to become a social worker. She's a lovely, hard-working, opinionated and extremely bossy person. We got along really very well. She was living at home while attending school -- the first year she has done so since she was in boarding school during primary and secondary school. Campus was about a 15 minute walk away from home. She is not a hugger, loves TV, does not like being coddled or having her younger siblings be coddled (she has DEFINITE opinions about that!), and is quite strong-willed. Her current interest is in community development work and working with refugees. She doesn't want to get married (which led to many amusing conversations between her, myself, and her mother) as she thinks it's a prison and is very vocal about it.

Abdu Rashid (The Comedian):
                                           
The third child. He is Absolutely Hilarious. He was also soft-spoken until you got to know him. Always quick to tease and laugh, he appeared to be quite close to Mariam and they would alternate between teasing each other and driving each other crazy. He attended boarding school but the school term was done in November so I got to spend about a month with him, which was grand fun for me and we got along quite well. He thought I was a big weirdo and I informed him often that I thought the same of him. How could we NOT like each other??

Amira (The Regal):
                                           
The second daughter. She also attended boarding school for most of my time with the Jjuukos so I didn't spend as much time with her as I did with Mariam or Fazirat. She quickly struck me as a gentle, quiet, beautiful young woman with a very regal demeanor. I would often find her engaging in some useful and quiet activity and often helping her mom out. While much less out-spoken than her older sister, she could very definitely hold her own against her! Her school term let out before I left Masaka as well, so she was home for a few weeks. I know Mariam was glad for it because it meant the household work could be distributed more, particularly the cooking.

Feiruz (The Empath):
                                          
A sweet, gentle girl who seemed to be a budding philosopher who was always asking the "why" of things and wanting to know how one was feeling. I found her to be the most prone to discussing how she felt or wondering how people felt in certain situations and asking what one's reactions were when they were retelling a story. I didn't get to spend much time with her as she was also in boarding school and was only home for my last week. She proved to be an open and engaging girl whose attitude appeared to indicate absolute certainty that people would like her. And she is absolutely correct.

Fazirat (The Diva):
                                        
Oh, Fazirat (pronounced Faz-IR-ah). The quirky, energetic youngest child. She was coddled and spoiled (in the best possible way and as Mariam constantly liked to remind everyone) and she knew it! Fazirat and I would often wander the farm together and we went hunting for locusts together (see earlier entry). She preferred action movies and physical activity and would be bored if she had to read for too long or if we were doing quiet activities for too long.


I loved watching and participating in the interplay and dynamics within this family. Every single person had their own distinct personality but above all, loved to tease and laugh with each other, particularly the siblings...as siblings are wont to do. I loved every single minute of my time staying with them.