Post me not

Actually I do not know the physical address of our house.  There are no sign posts so street names are hardly used and I suspect,  not even generally known.  A few business establishments would indicate on their billboards the road and plot no. that they are on, but there is no sequence at all to the numbers.

Anyway, we would like to believe that we live in Okele Road, no number.  Depending on which side of the road I am coming from, I have 2 landmarks to our street corner - either the kalachuchi tree that is found after the corner store with a Coca-Cola signboard, or the garbage dumpsite in front of the Caltex gas station that leads into a road with small stores.   And if people ask me where I live, I say between the MTN and Orange towers (or beacons).  These are the 2 popular telecoms carriers in Gulu.  And whenever I seem to get lost, I just look for the direction where those 2 towers are.

Reminiscent of Bayani Fernando's Metro Manila landmarks

There is a post office in town, in bright pink or fuschia.


Perhaps because addresses could be confusing, post office boxes are available.   I have heard that international air mails take around a month.  But they will surely arrive.



And thanks, too,  for the post office.  Its post bus (carrying mails) is also used as a public transportation.  I have heard also that it is the most reliable bus service to take because it leaves regularly once a day to and from Kampala, in the morning, with or without passengers.

These children are our neighbors

This is the gate to the volunteers' housing facility.     

One evening, my housemate was expecting a guest who,  after several phone calls,  managed to find the vicinity.  Yet half an hour had passed since the last phone call, and no one came knocking.  Another phone call, and the guest said "I am here in front of your gate - a green gate".
My housemate had to use the light from her cellphone to locate her guest who was indeed standing in front of a gate - a red gate. 

When the street is dark,  an address based on color is highly unreliable.