The first official meeting was Wednesday. The infants (primary school children) came with their parents and presented a programs for us. Despite the rain overnight and the overcast morning, the benches were all moved outside and placed in rows. It was supposed to start at 9am but, as they said, in African time that means 10:30 or 11:00.
Once everyone was assembled, a Learning Centre committee member welcomed everyone, and I was asked to lead a prayer. Then a small group of girls stood at the front and began to sing:
Our dear visitors,
You are highly welcome
We are very glad to be with you
From the long journeys you all have come
To be with us here today.
The chorus was beautiful but it was impossible for us to stay dry eyed when one by one a girl sang a solo welcome verse to each of us by name. The girl who sang to me was named Monica. What an honour that Vennie the tutor had written a special song, and that the girls had learned it so well. Of course, because this is African culture, there was dancing to go along with it.
But the dancing didn’t stop there! A whole succession of groups of young girls and boys followed, with carefully prepared songs. Many of them had background music played on a small radio (the electricity was on today!) and some were modern, some traditional. Many of them had religious themes, including the one that remembered the moment of Pentecost and sang of people waiting again to receive the Holy Spirit.
When they were finished with their performances, one of the parents (name Leonard) gave a carefully prepared speech about the needs of the community. He spoke of the need for clean water and health care, as well as access to local public education. All of this was interpreted from Lugandan to English by Vennie.
Then I brought greetings from Trafalgar and introduced the team before Anne
told them the story of the Joy Bears. She told them about how Dave Murdoch had found these little bears and arranged for them to be donated, and how Lianna designed the special tags. She also told them about several people who have sold many bears, and about selling them at Oakville Place (she passed around pictures of Jane and Dorothy and Tyler with the bears, in front of Sears). They were clearly impressed, and clapped several times while Anne spoke.
Next, I shared with them a story: my son Tucker is in kindergarten and when their class made gingerbread men, one of them ran away! He ran to the CN tower where he met seagulls, to a lake where he met a moose, and to the arctic where he met a polar bear. But then when I arrived in Uganda, I looked in my suitcase and there he was! (Tucker’s teacher had sent him along with me, a decorated paper cut out). I took a picture of the children with the gingerbread man so I can tell Tucker’s class that he ran all the way to Uganda.
Karin Schemeit then shared the story of Andrew Donaldson’s Masooli-Kitettika song. After describing beautifully how Andrew had been friends with Joyce and inspired him with the words, “Are we there yet? Yes. And we have roads to travel”, she began to teach them how to sing it. It was hard for them to keep up—I think they felt unsure of the new tune and English-speaking teacher—but even the parents joined in. the best part was the men! Mr. Sekabembe, Cosmas, and a parent named Leonard came to the front to sing the bass part with Steve, which they did with gusto!
We wished that Andrew was there to see and hear it all. He especially would have loved the fact that after the assembly was over, we heard children still humming the tune!
When everything was concluded, we gave the tennis balls to Vennie. She asked all the youngest children to come forward and she carefully gave one to each of them. They were obviously pleased with their gifts and began to play with them right away. We invited the parents forward after that and as we thanked them for their support of their children’s education, gave each one a Trafalgar Church lapel pin. There was a spirit of celebration and many people stayed to talk and mill around long after we were finished.
Today there were many gifts given and received. We all say “webale” a lot.
Once everyone was assembled, a Learning Centre committee member welcomed everyone, and I was asked to lead a prayer. Then a small group of girls stood at the front and began to sing:
Our dear visitors,
You are highly welcome
We are very glad to be with you
From the long journeys you all have come
To be with us here today.
The chorus was beautiful but it was impossible for us to stay dry eyed when one by one a girl sang a solo welcome verse to each of us by name. The girl who sang to me was named Monica. What an honour that Vennie the tutor had written a special song, and that the girls had learned it so well. Of course, because this is African culture, there was dancing to go along with it.
But the dancing didn’t stop there! A whole succession of groups of young girls and boys followed, with carefully prepared songs. Many of them had background music played on a small radio (the electricity was on today!) and some were modern, some traditional. Many of them had religious themes, including the one that remembered the moment of Pentecost and sang of people waiting again to receive the Holy Spirit.
When they were finished with their performances, one of the parents (name Leonard) gave a carefully prepared speech about the needs of the community. He spoke of the need for clean water and health care, as well as access to local public education. All of this was interpreted from Lugandan to English by Vennie.
Then I brought greetings from Trafalgar and introduced the team before Anne
told them the story of the Joy Bears. She told them about how Dave Murdoch had found these little bears and arranged for them to be donated, and how Lianna designed the special tags. She also told them about several people who have sold many bears, and about selling them at Oakville Place (she passed around pictures of Jane and Dorothy and Tyler with the bears, in front of Sears). They were clearly impressed, and clapped several times while Anne spoke.Next, I shared with them a story: my son Tucker is in kindergarten and when their class made gingerbread men, one of them ran away! He ran to the CN tower where he met seagulls, to a lake where he met a moose, and to the arctic where he met a polar bear. But then when I arrived in Uganda, I looked in my suitcase and there he was! (Tucker’s teacher had sent him along with me, a decorated paper cut out). I took a picture of the children with the gingerbread man so I can tell Tucker’s class that he ran all the way to Uganda.
Karin Schemeit then shared the story of Andrew Donaldson’s Masooli-Kitettika song. After describing beautifully how Andrew had been friends with Joyce and inspired him with the words, “Are we there yet? Yes. And we have roads to travel”, she began to teach them how to sing it. It was hard for them to keep up—I think they felt unsure of the new tune and English-speaking teacher—but even the parents joined in. the best part was the men! Mr. Sekabembe, Cosmas, and a parent named Leonard came to the front to sing the bass part with Steve, which they did with gusto!
We wished that Andrew was there to see and hear it all. He especially would have loved the fact that after the assembly was over, we heard children still humming the tune!
When everything was concluded, we gave the tennis balls to Vennie. She asked all the youngest children to come forward and she carefully gave one to each of them. They were obviously pleased with their gifts and began to play with them right away. We invited the parents forward after that and as we thanked them for their support of their children’s education, gave each one a Trafalgar Church lapel pin. There was a spirit of celebration and many people stayed to talk and mill around long after we were finished.Today there were many gifts given and received. We all say “webale” a lot.
2 comments:
What a thrill! My eyes just keep watering up as I read about your escapades and interactions. It is so much more of everything than I imagined.
I agree with Dad - absolutely amazing! I'm so glad that you have been able to connect with our brothers and sisters in Uganda in such a relational way. Thank you again for recording these stories - I almost feel like I'm there experiencing it with you when I read them!
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