Category: Punishment Island
Our Stories:
-
Lake Bunyonyi’s Island of Death
Smack in the middle of Lake Bunyonyi floats a scruffy little island with a few dead trees and a whole lot of baggage. You wouldn’t give it a second look, unless locals tell you that the forlorn patch of land is called Akampene, or Punishment Island … Back in the day, if a girl was…
-
The Lake Bunyonyi Poem
TRAVELLERAfter a night in ruins at a late disco –its relentless thump and monstrous decibelpitched on nearly till dawn outside my window – I am come to Lake Bunyonyi, and all is well. After a month of hurtling round Uganda –my days stretched out in an endless pell-mellof bus and over-filled taxi in road-delirium –I am…
-
Last Survivor of Lake Bunyonyi’s Punishment Island
The ancient people of the Gorillas Highlands region came up with several horrible ways to discourage girls from getting pregnant prematurely. On Uganda’s Lake Bunyonyi, this role was played by Akampene or Punishment Island. Maudah Kyitaragabiirwe, 86, is the last person saved from this tiny island. What was the purpose of Punishment Island? If you were a girl…
-
BBC about Bunyonyi: Successes, Failure & Dilemma
The BBC World Service broadcast two catchy Lake Bunyonyi stories this month. The first one was about canoeing to school, the second one about Punishment Island. As the Gorilla Highlands team played a supporting role, let us assess what we have achieved… The journalist, Patience Atuhaire, initially just wanted to talk about the “school bus” dugouts.…
-
Punishing Work on Punishment Island Documentary
There is a story that every Gorilla Highlands lover of culture and history is eagerly awaiting: the Punishment Island documentary. An Italian documentary film maker Laura Cini (pictured smiling in the centre of the photo above) has been working on it since 2011. It will tell the sad tale of Lake Bunyonyi’s Akampene Island where…
Wish to move on to another category?