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| Meeting under the trees |
A sense of awe and wonder envelops me as I look at where I am. A group of ten of us are sitting on a Sunday morning in the shade of a passion fruit tree. I’m the only white “muzungu” in the bunch. On a table sitting in the middle of the group is steaming hot tea (with water boiled over a wood fire giving it a lovely smoked quality) and kadogo – a breakfast food made from the matooke banana but tasting a lot like potatoes – and very tasty. In a mud hut nearby Irene is busy preparing more tea and the lunch menu. She hasn’t stopped working at serving us since we arrived the day before. Scattered around the perimeter of the group are goats who are peacefully grazing while the group pores over a message from the Universal House of Justice.
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| Consultation |
Since I awoke in the morning a song has been running through my head – one that some of the young Bahá’ís in Kampala sing at Feasts. The refrain, which teases at the back of my mind even as I’m trying to concentrate on this message with the other friends goes “Bahá’u’lláh is His Name, Bahá’u’lláh is His Name, Bahá’u’lláh is His Name, Bahá’u’lláh is His Name, a new Revelation, a new Manifestation of God, a new Revelation, a new Manifestation of God…” and I suddenly realize – the ONLY reason I’m sitting in northern Uganda, in a family compound, surrounded by goats, and studying a message that Bahá’ís all over the world are studying, is because of Bahá’u’lláh – I would never have had any other reason to find my way to this relatively remote spot simply to share with people I otherwise would never have had any other occasion to meet!
Early Saturday morning, the Continental Counsellor for Uganda, Selam Ahderom, travelled from his home in Jinja to pick me and Willonah, a staff person in the treasurer’s office to go with him to Kamdini in the north of Uganda. Our mission is to meet with the members of the Regional Bahá’í Council for the North – I to represent the National Secretary’s office, Willonah to represent the National Treasurer’s office. There are three RBCs in Uganda, and we’ve met with the one for Central and then will later meet with the RBC for the East.
The road to Kamdini fortunately is the best road in the country. It actually appears to be like an actual two lane highway, nicely paved, no potholes or ruts to jar our bones. The Counsellor’s driver keeps up a pretty good speed (and I realize along the way that I’ve never seen a speed limit sign in Uganda!) slowing down only in the towns and villages where they put out huge speed bumps to keep motorists from mowing down their local citizenry and to hopefully encourage cars to stop and purchase something from local vendors. The scenery itself is not all that spectacular along the way and so the three passengers, confident in the driver’s abilities, drift off to sleep.
I have no idea that we’re going to that part of Uganda where Murchison Falls National Park is. We come in on the eastern border and since it’s an “all business” this weekend, there’s no chance of a detour into the park to look for the wild elephants that I’m so anxious to see. However I am promised that at some point I will see baboons and I wasn’t prepared for just how close we would be to them.
We come into the town of Karuma, not far from where we’ll be having our meeting and where we’ll be spending the night after Saturday’s meeting is over. I’m despairing of ever seeing the baboons when we round a curve and a whole family of baboons is sitting on the side of the road as though they’re waiting for us. In fact, it sort of reminded me of childhood trips to the Smokey Mountains when the bears would come out to the picnic areas on the side of the road to raid the trash bins. The baboons looked as though they were there waiting for a handout. Of course the car has to slow down in order to avoid hitting them as they casually cross the road. There’s the obvious male and patriarch of the troop, mothers with babies hanging off of them, and “teen” baboons. The face of a baboon has always amazed me more than any other primate – to me they’re the most human like with their heavy brow and serious gaze as though daring you to mess with them. I wasn’t planning on messing with them.
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| Rapids of the Nile River at Karuma |
Just a little further on we come to the Nile River and Karuma Falls. We can see the falls (more like cascades) off to the right, and when we come to the bridge that we must cross, the river at this point is massive rapids – something I wouldn’t dare to raft down but I’m betting people have. The bridge for some reason is tightly controlled by law enforcement and they don’t let you take pictures. So though I had my camera out I couldn’t get any photos of the baboons, but on the way home sneaked a couple of pictures of the falls and rapids.
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| Karuma Falls - a little far away |
We actually didn’t go all the way into the town of Kamdini, our meeting was being held in the compound of Tom Ogwal, a member of the NSA. His property is before Kamdini in a little place called Nora. I was taken aback because we stopped at what appeared to be a storefront. Just like advertising in the U.S., a lot of companies will paint their logos on what I always assumed were commercial businesses. So this building is painted the bright yellow of the MTN telecommunication company logo so logically I thought we were meeting in a more formal building. We were lovingly greeted by some of the friends who were already there and led into the building, the front room was an obvious living room or lounge of sorts, with furniture, and then we went out the back door and there was an amazing assortment of buildings, women of various ages, children of various ages, ducks (with ducklings), goats, etc. Our escort, Geoffrey, said, “Oh we decided to meet further down where it will be further from the road and quieter,” and off we struck, going down a dirt path past more buildings, clumps of buildings with the traditional mud and thatched roof hut, until we finally came to another compound consisting of two huts – one for the family’s residence and the other that serves as the kitchen. This part of the property was the compound of one of Tom’s sons – he has many. This particular son, named Musa Banani, is currently working and living in another town called Lira, but like so many of the Ugandans, while he works in Lira his wife maintains their home.
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| The kitchen where our food was prepared |
All of these people, houses, huts, etc. are part of Tom Ogwal’s property and large extended family. Tom has been a Bahá’í for many, many years, and a longtime member of the NSA, however before becoming a Bahá’í he already had multiple wives as is the custom in rural Uganda. The Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in his wisdom, determined when pioneers first started encountering cultures where polygamy is common, that a person with multiple wives is welcome to become a Bahá’í and he doesn’t have to make the impossible decision or choice of divorcing any of the wives. But once embracing the Faith, he can no longer take on any more wives. Apparently it’s not uncommon for a man in Uganda with multiple wives, to marry another wife when one of the earlier wives dies. So Tom Ogwal had his wives, and many children, and once becoming a Bahá’í he abided by this directive.
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| Members of the RBC with Counsellor Selam and others |
The members of the RBC are a young group and “untested” to some degree, but loving, sweet and earnest. Of the three RBCs, this north one has the least experience and so it was important to the Counsellor and the NSA that we offer all the loving support and accompaniment we could as they made their plans for spreading the Bahá’í Teachings in their particular area.
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| Irene - our hardworking cook |
Throughout the day as we studied the messages and consulted on their plans, there was constant activity around us – the lovely young woman – wife of another one of Tom’s sons – spent all of her time preparing morning and afternoon tea, lunch and dinner and breakfast on Sunday morning. There was a couple of young kids who traveled back and forth down the path from the main compound by bicycle to bring her water, wood, whatever supplies she needed. Being that this is a more traditional Ugandan family, I was surprised to find that when they served a delicious and hot lunch of rice, beans and beef bits, that there were no utensils! I had my first experience eating with my hands foods that in the states we would think impossible to eat without utensils. The closest thing I had to an eating tool was a roasted bit of cassava. Mushing hot rice and beans in one’s hand to eat isn’t easy – but I managed – and enjoyed every bite!
We travelers left the friends in the evening to come back to Karuma Falls where we found a modest, but very clean and comfortable guest house to spend the night. Then it was back to the Ogwal compound on Sunday morning for a final session with the friends before we got back on the road to head south to Kampala.
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| The meeting was also attended by a beautiful black cat and.... |
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| ...several goats! |
As we gathered again that brisk Sunday morning (there was actually a cool breeze blowing which was very refreshing), Counsellor Selam asked if we could have a song as part of our morning devotions. Joseph, the secretary of the RBC, thought about it, and I sat there waiting for him and the other “north” friends to start singing a prayer in Alur – which is their local dialect – or at least to invite everyone to sing the Unity Prayer together. Instead little Joseph invited everyone to stand up and then to my complete surprise we started singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It!” Just a precious way to end a lovely weekend with very sweet people.
Warning: If you are at all squeamish about medical issues, you may not want to read further as there are photos of my mangled left foot!
My Left Foot
Alas “my left foot” is not getting mentioned because it affords me an ability to draw or paint like Christy Brown in the movie that launched Daniel Day-Lewis’ career! Rather it’s caused me no end of pain and tribulation and fear and anxiety as I try to patiently wait for it to heal from this fall I took a little over a week ago. What I thought would be a minor abrasion has become a swollen septic foot and a second round of antibiotics and an attempt to keep off my feet and the foot elevated as much as possible lest I wind up in the hospital for treatment (the option offered to me by a doctor whose opinion I respect). Fortunately today (Thursday, January 26, 2012) was a public holiday so I didn’t have to go to the office. Hope, the girl who cleans my house and does my laundry has been here so I haven’t had to do much but sit propped up in my bed and let her wait on me. So it will get better – I keep telling myself. For my friends and family who expressed concern and offered prayers – I’m posting a couple of pictures so you can see what I’m talking about and that I’m not just a whining sissy! It’s not pretty – so don’t look if you are the least bit squeamish!
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| Now you understand the concern! |
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| And this is when it looks better! Imagine when it was swollen twice its size. |
