Ron and Sally Jo Blog

Within the last 2 weeks we have attended a number of meetings.  We first went to Hoima for a “Living with Shalom” stakeholders meeting.  We know a lot about the program but it was good to meet persons involved in the actual program.  Every January a group of 5-6 youth from each of 6 different parts of the country gather for a 3-week training in peace building, health issues, and environmental issues and help to break down stereotypes and fears that different ethnic groups have of each other.  During the meeting a formal farewell was said to our service worker who has worked with the program for the last three years and will be leaving in 2 weeks.

This past week as we travelled north we stopped at one of our Global Family schools to discuss their new three-year plan.  While there we watched some of the art students learning to stencil table cloths.  Each girl had designed her pattern, cut out the stencil, and now were painting it on to the table cloth.

Our main goal for our trip north was for Advisors’ Meetings, this time held in Gulu.  We have 7 advisors who gather twice a year to hear updates and give counsel.  The lodging and meetings were held at the University of Gulu Guest House.  Since pictures of meetings are boring, we took none!  However, we did visit The Recreation Project–“inspiring youth to overcome fear and patterns of war through active healing experiences.”  MCC had earlier given some money to help it get started.  One of our advisors tried the “spider web” where he tried to go through openings between ropes but found he needed help to do it – learning cooperation.  Two advisors tried the zip line—learning to overcome fear and build self-confidence.

One of our advisors is the dean  students at Gulu University and before we left Gulu she took us on a quick visit to the university.  Of course, I, Sally Jo, was very interested in the library.  There was the computer lab, technical services, the card catalog, and the reading room.  Unfortunately, the week before, their book stacks had collapsed and all their books were now on piles waiting for new stacks, while the broken ones were tossed outside.

After all these meetings, we thought a cup of cinnamon latte was needed!

Sipi Falls consists of a series of three waterfalls, each beautiful in its own right. During our stay we took a three-hour hike to visit all three falls. We took a guide with us, as was recommended, to ensure that we stayed on the best paths.  The paths were rather muddy and slippery in spots due to recent rains.  We had to watch out for and avoid streams of safari ants several places. (They can be vicious if they get on your legs!) But the hike was very enjoyable and gave us a good workout.

We recently spent 2 wonderful nights at a mountain lodge next to the lower section of Sipi Falls on the slopes of Mt Elgon near the Kenya border. Due to an abundance of rain the falls were especially beautiful.

The lodge provided basic, but comfortable, accommodation. There was no electricity, but there was plenty of hot water heated by wood fire for showers. In the evening kerosene lanterns were hung along the paths and in the rooms. Interestingly dinner ware was used that was “dishwasher and microwave safe,” even though such appliances would have been impossible!

We had great views of the valley below as we dined.  We also enjoyed quietly relaxing and playing games.

We recently accompanied one of our partners to a negotiation meeting between two families over a disputed piece of land.  The dispute had lasted 30-some years.  (The meeting had been scheduled by the Peace Promoters described in the previous blog entry.)  The route to the meeting was very interesting, in that it seemed that whenever there was a turn to be made, we always took the “road less traveled” until we were driving along a footpath.  We first met one of the parties to the dispute in their home and then walked through the bush to a neutral tree where the meeting was to be held.  We waited several hours until the other party appeared and the local government official arrived.  There was talk, some complaints, some tension, and finally an agreement to meet again.

This meeting was not entirely successful but we were interested in the process and in the hope for settlement in the near future.

One of our partners has used MCC money to train “Peace Promoters.”  These people were selected by their parishes as respected persons to receive the training and help resolve conflicts in the community peacefully.  They carry out peace building activities such as reconciliation, sensitization of communities and mediation. Peace is integrated with development as a means of comprehensive or holistic peace building for social change.  We visited with the group in Amuria—in the eastern part of the country.  The group includes persons in their late-twenties to those in their sixties.  We ate lunch with them and several told us their stories.

One example:  One man had been elected as a local government official.  One of his jobs was to settle disputes in his area.  The common way for an official to settle a dispute is to award the settlement to the party that gives him the most money!  So this is what he did.  He also settled disputes in his own home by beating his wife.  After he received the peace training, he learned to listen to both sides of a dispute and to ask questions—both in community disputes and in his own home.

The Peace Promoters sang some songs for us and performed one of the dramas they use in teaching communities about peaceful ways of solving disputes.  “A man and his wife are cultivating their land and gradually go farther and farther on to their neighbor’s land.  There is anger!  However, the neighbor finally contacts a Peace Promoter who comes, leads discussion, and a compromise is found.”

One of our partners is working to bring inexpensive fuel to homes.  This is not an MCC project but we found it quite interesting.  Take cow dung, stir, let set in air-tight underground container until gas forms, pipe gas to house and send remaining ingredients to garden!  We stopped at a home that is just beginning to use this method.  The gas is beginning to form and was used to light a gas burner for cooking.  (There was a blue flame, but it is not visible in the photo due to the camera flash.)

Recently we attended an “Introduction” for one of our female office staff members.  The “Introduction” is an engagement/marriage celebration in which the groom and his family are introduced to the bride’s family. An “Introduction” was traditionally the marriage ceremony.  So according to custom they are married, but since they are Christians they will not live together until the church wedding which will be at a later date  and involves more cost.

Our invitation said the starting time was 2 pm.  However, when we arrived at 2:15  the decorations were still going up, and the groom’s family did not arrive until 3:30.  The celebration was held in the lawn of the bride’s family.  It was a large lawn and on one side was a huge white tent where the bride’s family and friends sat and on the other side of the lawn was another huge white tent where the groom’s family and friends sat.

The groom’s entourage must all arrive together.  When they did arrive, before they could enter, there was some back-and-forth between the bride’s MC and the groom’s MC.  “Why are you coming?  What do you want?  Are you friends?  You can’t come in before you are identified, etc., etc.”  There were probably about 100 in the entourage and they all were given small flowers to identify themselves.  They came in but were not allowed to sit until they were given permission.

There was more back and forth talk and then 5 elders (men) from the groom’s side and 5 from the bride’s side went into the house to negotiate the  bride price while the rest of us sat and waited.  During that time there were some jokes told and snacks and drinks handed out.  Eventually, the groom was invited in and told of the settlement—then there were cheers!  They all came out and the bride’s family presented two goats to the groom’s family to show there were no hard feelings.  And there were greetings between the closer family members.  Oh yes, there were also jokes about us as foreigners being there–the bride brought an international delegation, like observers for an election!

Now, the groom had to identify the bride!  (Of course, he knew her but this is custom.)  Several groups of young women—and older ones—came out and would dance around a bit and then all kneel in a line while the groom decided if any of these was his bride.  Three of our service workers were in one of the groups.  This went on for some time with a lot of joking and fun.  Eventually, a group of four came out covered by a sheet.  One of them was the bride—fairly easy to tell since she had on a different dress than the others!  The bride was identified correctly and there was great rejoicing!  About this time it began raining!  So we all just sat for about an hour until it let up.

Then there was an exchange of rings and cutting and feeding of the cake.  In addition the groom’s family presented lots of gifts.  Besides regular sized gifts, they had driven a pickup truck with a load of living room furniture!  We were told the activities were somewhat shortened because of the rain. When the rain let up we were served a big buffet.  By this time it was close to 10 pm. Then the dancing started.  We joined in for a short time but soon “danced” our way out the gate.

It was fascinating to us how much sitting and waiting there was, and everyone just took it in stride.  We got there soon after 2, but the “action” really didn’t get started until about 6 and then we soon were again just sitting waiting out the rain.  No problem to anyone! In fact rain in this part of the world is always considered a blessing, and comments were made that the couple should expect to have twins because of it.  We Westerners would have been much happier if the dancing could have started sooner.  That was fun!

Traditional instruments from Europe and Uganda were featured at a recent concert.  The Ugandan bow lyre (or harp), European concert harp, Dutch and Ugandan hand clapping, and a fusion of Western and Ugandan instruments were all played.

July and August found two additions to the MCC Uganda team.  Little Ethan joined our Program Manager’s family.  His three-year old brother was very excited.  We were happy to hold a baby again!

Also joining our team was a new SALTer who will be with us for one year.  One of the common orientation activities is to attend the Ndere traditional dances.  Our house helper and the mother of a Ugandan Goshen College alumna joined us at the dances.

Ron traveled recently to Kotido, in northeastern Uganda, to accompany a new MCCer to her 1-year service location.  Kotido is in the northern part of a large region bordering Kenya known as Karamoja and populated by people known as Karamajong.

While there he was privileged to attend a traditional gathering to celebrate 8 months of peace — absence of cattle raiding — among 4 related clans, the Jie, Dodoth, and Matheniko (all Karamajong from Uganda) and the Turkana from Kenya. The gathering was held under a large Ajale tree that has been used for such purposes dating back to the early 1900’s.

In addition to celebrating the current period of peace, speeches were given and songs were sung about the need for a peaceful future and commitments were made for it to continue. Many of the elders interacted with the speakers offering their observations, complaints, and suggestions.  At one point some of the elders joined the youths in their dances that include a lot of rhythmic stomping and high jumps in the air.