Sunday Morning at the Temple

As each of the nine doors of the Mother Temple of Africa opens, the friends gathered outside quietly and reverently enter inside. No need for a “call to prayer,” the opening of the doors signals that now is the time for worship. Sitting in quiet meditation, a cool breeze wafts through the temple, the singing of the birds outside in the gardens abounds. To begin, the sweet voices of the children offering their prayers bring smiles and a joyful heart to those listening. No more than four or five years of age, they sing the Unity Prayer, or the Healing Prayer, or perhaps the children’s prayer “O God, Guide Me, Protect Me, make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star. That art the Mighty and the Powerful.”  After the children finish the choir director gets the attention of his singers and softly blows the starting note. The voices rise and “Ai Katonda onkulemebere, Onkuume, Koleeza ettala y’omutima gwange” reverberates throughout the Temple. This is the same children’s prayer “O God Guide Me, Protect Me” sung in the local dialect of Lugandan.

Interspersed with the songs are readings and prayers in French, English, Arabic, and Lugandan. Prayers are sung, recited, or chanted. New songs are sung by the choir, some in English, “O my God, O my God, Unite the hearts of thy servants…” With every song the choir offers it seems as though the birds outside sing even more and louder, as though in response to this call to worship.

Meanwhile, heads are bowed in reverence – gathered in unity and in joint worship - Ugandan, Eritrean and Persian, American, Irish and British. Visitors who have been attracted to the Temple from the Kampala guide books, or as one couple told me, because it was there, may be left in wonder of this sacred spot they’ve found themselves in – not quite sure what to make of this service, but perhaps contemplating their own search for truth.

When devotions are ended some quietly rise and move outdoors to spend a few minutes time visiting with each other. For many this once a week gathering may be their only chance to visit with friends. Other friends remain quietly on the wooden benches in the Temple, in quiet contemplation and to recite their personal prayers – it’s difficult to tear yourself away from this spot. Others may wander down to the Hazira’tul Quds where a library and bookstore offer more information for inquirers or another opportunity to sit and chat.

This is our Sunday morning…it lasts no more than an hour for the actual program, and then another half hour or hour in visits with friends. Some study circles or children’s classes may go for another hour or two, then the friends make their way home, by car, on foot, or by boda, refreshed by the physical and spiritual breeze that wafted over them while in prayer and meditation, and ready to begin yet another week.

Photos - from top: 1) The approach to the House of Worship; 2) some of the friends gathered, waiting to enter for devotions; 3) The view through one of the open doors during the service; 4) more of the friends visiting after the service. Below: 1) Wes Baker and Darragh. Darragh is from Northern Ireland and had spent 6 weeks offering volunteer service at the National Centre. This was his last day before moving on to new adventures; 2) "Mr James" - one of the groundskeepers; 3) Godfrey and another young man (don't know his name) who serve as year of service volunteers.

My Work at the National Bahá’í Centre of Uganda

I haven’t talked too much yet about the work I’m actually doing here in Uganda. That’s primarily because I haven’t known what all I would be doing. But I’m beginning now to get a grasp, plus I’m learning a lot about “how things work” here in Uganda.

But first some comments and observations about the Ugandan Bahá’í Community in general. If I had not been invited to come here by the National Spiritual Assembly of Uganda to fulfill a specific task, I would feel certain that I am not needed here at all. I am learning so much more than I could possibly be teaching. The Bahá’í Faith has been in Africa in general and Uganda specifically for not quite 60 years. And yet the depth of knowledge and understanding of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh far surpasses anything I can offer. I’ve been dealing primarily with young people, many of whom are third generation Bahá’ís but many are also young people who have been brought to the Faith recently. The capacity of these young people astounds me. They are truly the future of Africa, and indeed all humanity. This week there has been about 20 college age youth from around Uganda attending the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, a new programme out of the Bahá’í World Centre. Those of you who know the Lamples – their daughter May is co-director of this Institute along with an astounding and energetic young woman name Bushra. Since we keep our windows open in the office, I can hear their conversations and their consultations when they break up into small discussion groups. It does my heart good to hear the depth of their understanding and convictions, the ideas they are developing for taking their country into the future. These are future NSA members, Counsellors, and perhaps even a House of Justice member or two.

I was told upon arrival that I will not be required nor encouraged to go direct teaching in the villages of Uganda. That is left to the Ugandan Bahá’ís, with good reason. The “missionary” approach is no longer needed, and we are not offering any goods or services in exchange for conversions – like early Christian missionaries have done (and probably still do); all we’re bringing to the Ugandans is the Revelation of God for this day – which is everything they need. There are three Regional Bahá’í Councils in Uganda and they have a good system in place for providing the core activities in many of the towns and villages. They send homefront pioneers to many of the villages where there are no or few Baháís, and they are quite up to the task of raising up Bahá’í communities in these areas.

Where the ex-pat Bahá’ís like Carolyn, Wes, Vi and I are most useful is in deepening the young people, or helping with core activities. In Kampala I could attend a core activity every night of the week if I wanted to. When non-Ugandan visitors come to the Temple, I sometimes interact with them. For example there were two young American women who work with NGOs here in Kampala who came to Temple service this past Sunday. I was able to chat with them and explain aspects of the Faith to them.  So in terms of teaching the Faith, that’s where I feel useful.

There are only a handful of non-Ugandans here and none of them really consider themselves pioneers any longer because they’ve lived here so long. The treasurer of the NSA is John Anglin, from Ireland, there are the Americans, myself, Vi Gilbert (who’s been here forever), Wes Baker, and Fred (I don’t know his last name), Hank, who is Norwegian, Carolyn (my hostess) who is American by birth but British by citizenship, and a few others who come and go – they stay for part of the year in Uganda and then go to their homes other parts of the year. John, Fred and Hank are married to Ugandan women. Wes, Vi, and Carolyn are the seniors in the group. I think most retirees find it much easier to live in countries like Uganda where your retirement and social security dollars go much further than they would in the U.S. or Europe.

I was invited to Uganda by the National Spiritual Assembly to serve as the Secretariat Coordinator – someone to manage the office of the Secretary, which previously was done almost entirely by the Secretary him or herself. Grace Ocen has been serving in this capacity to some degree for the past few years, but her home is actually in another town and she wanted to return there. Plus the NSA wanted to find ways to manage the personnel in the Centre, create more effective and efficient ways of operating, and in general get re-organized. I believe the NSA’s thinking is to bring someone like me in to provide these services, get some systems in place, all the while training one of the Ugandans to hold this position when everyone decides I’ve outlived my usefulness. A young woman named Brenda is my assistant and my trainee. As we start new projects or put new systems in place, I’m showing her and then she’ll be able to run the office after I leave.

My contracted tenure is for one year but everyone agreed to leave our options open. Even if I’m no longer needed in the Secretariat, it may be that there are other jobs I can do after this year is up. For example I would like to compile and write a comprehensive history of the Faith in Uganda. If you can believe it– one has never been done that I can ascertain. Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga’s daughter put together a lovely video that covers his life and the history of Uganda, but there’s nothing written. I have an obligation to work on the history of the Nashville Bahá’í community, even while I’m here, but I would like to work on that as well, perhaps a year down the road if all goes well.

It would seem that the timing of my arrival was divinely ordained (isn’t it always?) as just as I arrived the NSA Secretary, who was going to train me, had to take a sudden leave of absence for an unspecified period of time as her husband has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in advanced stages and likely has only 3 to 6 months to live. He is in Canada where he received this diagnosis and so she has gone there to be with him. So it’s been left to Grace (who is leaving today!) and John to help me get up to speed. But I think, or at least I hope, they feel comfortable and confident that I will be able to manage the office in the Secretary’s absence. Plus I think the idea again is to have a permanent coordinator who can carry on the day to day affairs of the office so the Secretary her or himself would not have to do so.

Probably my biggest concern about serving here in the position I’m in is that I’m not Ugandan - I’m white American, and I’m going to be implementing some systems that the staff may not appreciate or enjoy. However, it is at the wish of the NSA that I’m doing so, yet I worry that there’ll be this sense from the Ugandan staff that the white American is coming in to tell them what to do. I’m going to consult with the acting secretary/treasurer John Anglin about my concerns. Since he is also white European, he may be able to offer some counsel on that. For example, the NSA wants some accountability for the comings and goings of the staff. Right now there are several different agencies that are housed in the Centre, and they are used to acting somewhat independently, but as John pointed out, they all ultimately are responsible to the NSA. So I’m to institute a form of signing in and out in which everyone will be accountable for their arrival and departure, being on time, letting someone know when they’re going to be out, etc. That’s pretty common for us in the U.S. and for most big businesses. But the staff here haven’t been used to doing this and there may be some resistance. This will be announced to them at a staff meeting, which is another new phenomenon which they aren’t used to. These are simple things really, and just an attempt to make the Center a more professional place. Wish me luck!

On the one hand I’m tempted to say that it’s just a typical office environment on a typical business day, and to a great extent that is true. However, when on any given day we have to crank up the gas generator to keep the computers and lights going, when we have such a limited operational budget that we can only buy supplies as we absolutely need them, and several offices have to share certain office equipment and even supplies, and when you find the occasional lizard crawling across your office wall, it’s not really all that typical! But it’s definitely interesting!

Photo notes: the first photo is of some of the ISGP youth attending an institute here. The second photo is my office. Following are photos of some of the staff in the Centre:

 

No Electricity and Too Many Mosquitos!

I itch all over! My arms are literally covered in mosquito, and possibly spider, bites. I'm not suffering any ill effects other than the misery of constant itching, but the $40 worth of Avon's Skin So Soft Bug Repellant is not doing its job! My room for right now is not rigged with mosquito netting even though that's what most Ugandans use, or they "takes their chances" with malaria.

Malaria is apparently a big problem here for the unprotected. Just prior to my arrival, my hostess Carolyn Wade spent 3 weeks in bed with it. And many native Ugandans get sick routinely from malaria, because they're not taking (and probably can't afford) any type of anti-malarial medication. Fortunately for me I have a year's worth of anti-malarial medication that I must take daily. Once it runs out, if I haven't returned to the states yet, I will be a prime candidate for malaria. Once you get it, treatment requires a daily injection of some kind of medication to knock it out of your system.

So that's one challenge I face here. The other is the issue of electricity, or rather the lack thereof. Since I've been here, there has never been a full day with electricity. It might be available during the day, but go off in the evening, or off during the day and turned back on in the evening. Or it can be sporadic, going off and on throughout the day, which does wonders for the computer equipment in the office. Tonight (Friday evening) is the first time in 36 hours we've had electricity. And who knows whether it'll last through the weekend.

I haven't talked specifically to anyone about the problems with stable electrical power, but I get the feeling that it's not always an issue of just generalized power failures, although that has to be part of it. Apparently this is also a big political issue. I haven't been here long enough to understand all the politics in Uganda, nor do I really want to know or understand. But my friends were laughing the other day because apparently the government has not been paying its own utility bills and to make a point the power company shut off the electricity during a legislative session. Whether the perceived randomness of the power outages is political or simply a case of just not enough electricity being generated for everyone, it's darned annoying! But like my brother Michael said on Facebook - that's why they call it pioneering!

Photo Frustration

I've posted a few initial photos at the tail end of the blog. However, being a little slow I'm just now realizing that I can indeed insert photos within the text of the post - which is what I wanted to do anyway! So scroll all the way down to the end of the blog to see some photos, and on my next post I'll know what I'm doing! To prove it, here's a photo that shows a local street side fruit market.

This isn't Tennessee!

So I have survived my first week in Kampala. But I must say, "survive" is not a term I should use. I have been treated so well since arriving that I haven't had time to be homesick! I've already fallen in love with the people, the weather, the general surroundings. I feel like I've landed in paradise.

All of the fears and anxieties I or any of you back home may have had about this experience have gone completely out the window! There is nothing to be afraid of here. The Ugandan people are sweet, kind, and polite; the children are taught to be respectful of their elders, and walking down the street or shopping in a market here is no more dangerous than any other place - even the United States. In fact, in some ways I feel safer here than I did in the U.S.

But to back up a bit - I'm going to insert here some notes I made on landing in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. We had a bit of a delay for that plane and so I had some time to do a little writing -and remarkably was awake enough to do it and be relatively coherent. These paragraphs give my very first impressions on arrival, and then I'll take up the narrative again:

July 19, 2011 - It’s 8:45 a.m. Ethiopian time and I’m sitting in the waiting area for my flight to Entebbe (Kampala!) I’m in Africa! However, to look out the window right now, given Americans expectations of what Africa is like – they would be shocked. When we landed it was raining and probably about 60 degrees! Looking out the window all I can see are the runways, so I don’t feel like I can claim that I was even in Ethiopia. It looks like any other airport in the U.S. on a rainy day!

I’m exhausted. It’s around midnight-1 a.m. Nashville time and I’ve been flying since 6 a.m. Monday. And needless to say I didn’t get much sleep the night before. Between being last minute (and only with Kathy’s help) with finishing packing and with the general anxiety of it all, it was well after 1 a.m. before I fell asleep, and then slept fitfully until the alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. The last evening in Nashville, Kathy, Sue, Dan, Alessandra and Laura gathered at Sue’s to say prayers and sing songs in order to calm me down And it worked. The love and friendship I felt with these dear souls who went out of their way to come see me one more time just because I asked really meant a lot to me. And between Laura and Dan’s beautiful voices – the evening was definitely touching, bittersweet, but so meaningful.

The journey overall was pretty uneventful. The two short legs from Nashville to Cincinnati and then Cincinnati to Washington DC were on tiny cramped planes, but gratefully the flights were only about an hour. In DC I was shocked at the number of people – mostly Americans – who were flying to Africa. I gleaned that Ethiopian Airlines apparently is a major carrier to Africa and Addis Ababa is a hub. Just in hearing people talk and seeing young people with special t-shirts, most of our flight was going to places like Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other points. There were a lot of young people in groups and it appeared that these were either school or church groups coming to do some kind of short term service project. Then there were the “MKs” – the missionary kids who after spending the school year in the U.S. were coming home for summer vacation. There were other families that seemed to be missionaries, as well as a number of businessmen. But there were plenty of “just tourists.” I was surprised at the number of women my age and older who were traveling on their own or with another woman, apparently just on vacation.  

7:30 p.m.  - Holy Cow I’m tired but Holy Cow I’ve landed in paradise! The flight from Addis Ababa to Kampala was delayed an hour but we finally arrived and after running the gauntlet of customs and retrieving luggage I was able to meet Carolyn Wade, my hostess for the next couple of months. Boy is she a Godsend! She’s been here almost four years, has made her home here and so bought a beautiful roomy house where she lives with four other people, plus the occasional long term guests like me. I’ll likely be staying here until September or October at which time I’ll move into my own little bungalow on the National Bahá’í Center property – mere steps from the House of Worship and the offices where I’ll be working!

As tired as I was when Carolyn picked me up, I was also so excited that she drove me around a bit and took me to the House of Worship right away. What an amazing place! I know it’ll be so amazing working there and being in that environment all the time. I’ve met a few of the other Bahá’ís already and they’ve already recruited me to the Temple choir! When I’m rested and have my bearings, I’ll definitely look at doing that. I was able to say my first prayer in the House of Worship and again I stood in awe that I’m actually where I am. It still feels like a dream.

So those were my very first impressions. My first week was so full and I've been overwhelmed with sights, sounds, meeting new people, getting a phone, getting the internet set up, getting a bank account set up, etc. that it's gone by like a flash. While everyone thought I would have a few days to rest and recover from the trip before starting to work, circumstances were such that by Thursday I was in the office of the National Baha'i Centre after having just arrived on Tuesday! I've literally been dropped in the deep end of the pool, and while challenged a bit with it all, I think I'll make do just fine.

I'm going to post some pictures here for those friends who aren't on Facebook and can't see what I posted there. My plan for future posts is to spend the first part of the post talking about Ugandan life in general and sharing those experiences, and then of more particular interest to the Baha'i friends (although of course anyone can read it!) I'll have a section that is specific to Baha'i community life, work at the National Center, etc.

So I'll stop here, but hope to post more regularly since I'm "connected" now.

What I Know Now About Uganda Before Going There and Facing Reality!

The first two things people have asked me about when hearing that I'm going to Uganda, is 1) Why? and 2) What's it like there? The "Why" question affords me the opportunity to share with people the purpose of pioneering and the desire to be of service to the Baha'i Faith. However, I'm always tempted to say "Because it's there," because that's as good a reason as any. As far as the second question, I've been attempting to educate myself about what I might be facing or experiencing when I get there. I've watched the few movies and documentaries that I could find that are set in Uganda; I've looked at websites - both Ugandan websites and the U.S. State Department website, and I've been in correspondence with people already living there who are giving me great advice on what to expect.

And one of the first things people have said to me is "You're going to Africa in July?" and they always say it with some incredulity. I have been scoffed at when I have said that I'm going to a temperate climate, and that Uganda, because it sits at a higher elevation than some of the other African countries, does not get as hot as people think Africa is. For example, here in Nashville today at 11:30 it's about 85 degrees, and promises to be in the mid 90s by later this afternoon. And that's in June! I've just looked up the weather in Kampala Uganda for today, and it's a nice 75 degrees! So who's going to be hotter this summer - me or everyone here in Nashville? But, I know it will be warm there and homes and offices are generally not air conditioned.

Kampala is surrounded by a ring of mountains and is called the "Pearl of Africa" because of it's lush, green beauty. There are two rainy seasons, one will be starting in August after I've been there a few weeks. The mean temperature year round (it sits on the Equator) is a high of 85 at the hottest and the lowest is 50 degrees. Time wise Uganda is 8 hours ahead of Nashville during DST. But they don't observe Daylight Savings Time (they're on the Equator for heaven sakes - they don't need DST!) and so during the winter it's only 7 hours ahead.

The country is bordered by Kenya to the East, the Sudan to the North, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) to the West, and Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to the South. Lake Victoria borders on Uganda, with the White Nile River springing from there.

Most people associate Uganda with its terrible meglomanical dictator Idi Amin who wreaked such havoc on the country in the 70s. However, the country now is a republic, with democratically held elections. Things are relatively stable although there have been recent protests over the high cost of food and fuel. But no attempts to overthrow the government.

I have been told by those living there that there is virtually no internal postal service and people communicate primarily through cell phone and Internet. Internet is apparently relatively easy to acquire, however, electricity isn't always reliable. So I guess the key will be to keep the laptop charged so that when there is no electricity I can still function! Trying to ship things into and out of the country are problematic. Fed EX and DHL are there but very expensive. You can ship stuff to the U.S. but it will take 3-6 months. So don't be expecting any gifts from Uganda from me! And while friends may be tempted to send care packages - don't bother!

I've had my yellow fever, tetanus, diptheria and Heptatis shots. I'll soon be taking an oral Typhoid vaccine. And I'll have a year's worth of malaria medication with me when I go. I've been given all the tips and advice on how to avoid getting sick. For example, did you know that if you take two pepto-bismol tablets after you've eaten food that you are sure how clean it is, that the pepto-bismol will kill any live bacterias while they are still in the stomach. So that's the best policy for surviving there, have Pepto-Bismol with you at all times!

The most important thing for me though, is meeting the people - both those I will be working with and those I may encounter along the way. I've been told by those who live there that the Ugandans are a open, friendly people. And I've been told by those who have visited there before, especially the Baha'is, that Uganda is their favorite African country and they always go on and on about how wonderful the Baha'i community is there. I will be working at the Baha'i properties just outside of Kampala, and will be near the Baha'i House of Worship. So I trust that I will be in good hands at all times.

I want my friends to be happy for me and supportive of this major life decision. I know that there will be challenges while in Uganda, and it certainly won't be like living in Tennessee. But I'm a flexible and adaptable person and I'm not concerned. I know I will be safe and protected and that my life there will be exciting and unpredictable.

However, the next blog post will be after I get there and reality is staring me in the face! Then I'll start sharing with you what it's really like living in Uganda!