Agandi (hello everyone) There is something truly special about doing a road trip in Uganda. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, from start to finish with little chance of getting bored. Miles of papyrus beds meander into an explosion of emerald green banana plantations occasionally broken by a vibrant road-side market awash with traders and their colourful wares. Birds in every colour and size fly up above and Ankole cows, with their enormous horns do what cows do best, but its perhaps the elegant ladies which always catch my eye. The Gomesi, also known as the Busuuti, is the colourful floor length traditional dress worn by many woman in Uganda. With a square neckline and short, puffed sleeves, the dress is tied with a sash that is placed below the waist and over the hips. A "kikooy" or "kanga" is tied underneath the linen Gomesi to ensure that the fabric does not stick to the body. According to some scholars, it is believed that the first Gomesi was made for schoolgirls in Gayaza in the 1940's. It is said that Christian missionaries who ran the school hired Indian tailors to design the dress. This version of history is disputed by many, including the Buganda who say that the Gomesi existed long before the arrival of the missionaries and that the missionaries only improved the existing design and changed the name to claim the discovery! Traditional Ugandan clothing was originally made from bark-cloth whilst the Gomesi is made from either silk, cotton or linen fabric, silk being the most expensive. Today the Gomesi is worn by all tribes in Uganda, yet is was the Buganda who were the first tribe to don the traditional dress.
Wabale (goodbye) 
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* All pictures copyright Lisa Marsden |
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