Happy Easter from Uganda!

Neighbor's Easter Bunny Somehow Ended up in our Yard.

Happy Easter from Uganda! I hope everyone had a great day, whether you celebrate Easter or not. Today, I had a very nice time celebrating with friends of ours in the Village. Here is a brief summary of how the day has gone so far…

Having forgotten to set my alarm for a later time to wake up this morning I was up and restless at 6 a.m. I had some time to kill before our 9:30 departure for church so I hid some Easter eggs that we had decorated last night for the others to find when they woke up. Since that did not take long, I still had plenty of time with nothing to do. I remembered Kayla and the others talking about Easter baskets, so I grabbed some Tupperware, added some cut up colored paper to them, and threw a few gifts inside each. Then I cooked omelets and gravy for everyone. It was a nice way to pass the morning time and it seemed like they appreciated it, so I was happy for that.  The girls always joke around too and call me Dad because they feel I have dad like characteristics. This just fulfilled the stereotype.

So we left the house after the quick hunt for eggs (it was Doreen’s first time) and headed to the Village to meet with King James. Upon meeting him he showed us the site where they are planning to build a new church. They are making payments to the landowner, so it is being built in stages. They had just recently flattened the foundation. He was excited about a new place to worship, and he predicted we would be very surprised when we saw his current church.

After about a minute or two walk, we came upon King James’ church. I cannot express in words how beautiful I thought it was (the pics don’t do it justice either). Everything around was so green, the mountains rose into the skyline in the background, and the church itself was gorgeous in its own way. It was a small mud building with a tin roof. Inside there were chairs, plants hanging in the rafters, and small area in the front for the pastor. King James co-ran the service and did a lot of the translating from Luhkonzo to English or vice versa.  The sermon was great, but the singing, drumming, and dancing I found to be inspirational. Not to mention I am jealous about how so many kids can just jam on the local drums!

King James' Church

One thing that was amazing was the generosity and genuine care of church. They insisted that us Americans and Canadian stand to introduce ourselves. We felt very welcomed and felt so special being there. Then, at the end of the service, they again thanked us and slipped Frankie 5000 shillings to buy us all a soda to share. She accepted as not to make a seen, but we gave it back to King James outside to put towards the church. He was reluctant to accept. He told us that in their culture, even if you do not have much, visitors are highly respected. He said the 5000 shillings would not build a new church in itself, so he wanted us to take it as a cultural gift. We finally told him that their culture has already given us much, so we would rather it go to the church so we can come back to a place to visit. He accepted.

We were also warmly welcomed when we arrived at our next destination, Teacher Margaret’s church. This one was larger and made of cement. When we first walked in, there were men in the front selling chickens and other foods to the people inside. After the sales  we were again asked to introduce ourselves in the front, and were received kindly. It was also really great for me to visit this part of the village because I was able to see some of my students outside of school. One of my students, Dorris, introduced me to her grandparents and siblings. Her father also gave us a bag of potatoes for teaching in the Rwentutu community. This is another example of the cultural generosity that exists here. Rwentutu made me feel like it was our day and it was touching.

We then left and walked a short distance to Teacher Margaret’s home where we were served an excellent mean consisting of rice, matoke, chicken, beef, spinach, tapeoke, bananas, and homemade gravy. Unfortunately we left right after we ate because it started to rain. If the rain were to last, driving out of the village would be difficult. I also found out that one of my students was related to Teacher Margaret. I had no idea! So this too was nice because I was able to get a glimpse of how he lives and where he stays (and how far he must walk to school every day!).

One of my P4 Kiddos, Elton

Between Margaret’s church and the first one we visited, King James took us to show us a homemade bridge that was built about four years ago. It was inspiring to look at because of its back-story. He informed us that many women here die from pregnancy, so a while back a clinic was built not far from the village where we were. The problem was that anytime someone from this side of the village needed to go to the clinic they would have to cross the river with no bridge. As you might imagine, when the water is high it also moves very fast. Consequently, he told us that many women and lives have been lost to the river. So, the bridge was built and has eased the transport across the river, saving many lives.

Seeing things like the bridge that slightly bounced as you walked across, the homes built from mud and grass, or the many people digging in their fields throughout the day reminds me of how underdeveloped most people would say this place is. Though as a cultural outsider it is somewhat inspirational to see people living this way, I can’t help but think that the hardships that arise because of the living conditions are far more challenging than most of the challenges I have ever faced or will ever face. I am only a spectator here, and don’t get the full picture of what, for example, living in the village would be like. I never really understood the saying, “those are first world problems,” until recently. Some of the problems that stress me out back home seem just ridiculous here. The point is that it is inspirational to see how people get by here, and I wish I could just be of some service to every one of them. I struggle to even put my feelings into words at this moment. Thus I will move on and return to this topic in a later post.

Some Random Bridge Walkers

The Bridge. 

So, if you asked me how my day was I would tell you that it was filled with excitement, happiness, and love for the country I will be leaving in a few short days. It was an amazing opportunity to spend Easter Sunday in Uganda, and I feel truly privileged to have gotten to know the people I spent it with. To think that 5, 10, 15 years ago these people were getting along just like me, with no way of knowing we would one day meet and get to know each other. The fact that I have met them and have been a part of their lives for whatever reason is astonishing. It is the law of attraction. I feel I met them because they are truly good people, and I can’t imagine the others that will be brought into my life in a similar way in the future. Happy Easter all.  America, see you soon.