The Learning Centre committee hosted a dinner for us the night before we left. We offered our sekoko (turkey) which Anne, despite her reservations about eating a pet, had named “Paul”. They also brought a chicken, and both met their end behind the centre where they had built a fire pit. Instead of cooking over the usual charcoal stoves, they used wood, presumably to give the food a nicer flavour. It burned all day as they cooked almost a dozen different dishes.
The buffet was ready and the guests had assembled by around 8pm. We ate at the tables and chairs usually used for studying, although we had put out two small tablecloths, and Anne and Karin picked some flowers for a vase out of the bottom of a water bottle. It looked quite festive. All the members of the committee were there, including William who had not been able to be at most of the meetings due to work commitments, and Sam who had come from Jinja for the occasion. The staff were there, as was Joyce’s sister Catherine.
After supper the committee all stood in a line and Mrs. Milli Sesenge (chairperson) made a beautiful speech. “I know that all things have a beginning and an end”, she said, “but I refuse to say goodbye.” They gave each of us a parting gift of woven mats, beginning with Tanya. Despite her not being on this trip, she was talked about often and I was regularly asked to thank her when I got home. We were so glad that they honoured her work that way.
By the end, we were a little misty eyed. I said a (very) few words of thanks, noting that my only regret was that Joyce was not there with us. And then we sang the Masooli-Kitettika song. It was the nicest sounding rendition yet. The best part was the men singing, “Are we there yet?” and the women answering, “Yes, and we have roads to travel”. It was a beautiful echo of the conversation that began the song, when Andrew asked the question and Joyce responded.
It was a wonderful ending to our trip. There were many hugs and smiles. Everyone wants to know when we’ll be back again.
“Love one another”, Jesus said at his last supper. And at this one, we did.
The buffet was ready and the guests had assembled by around 8pm. We ate at the tables and chairs usually used for studying, although we had put out two small tablecloths, and Anne and Karin picked some flowers for a vase out of the bottom of a water bottle. It looked quite festive. All the members of the committee were there, including William who had not been able to be at most of the meetings due to work commitments, and Sam who had come from Jinja for the occasion. The staff were there, as was Joyce’s sister Catherine.
After supper the committee all stood in a line and Mrs. Milli Sesenge (chairperson) made a beautiful speech. “I know that all things have a beginning and an end”, she said, “but I refuse to say goodbye.” They gave each of us a parting gift of woven mats, beginning with Tanya. Despite her not being on this trip, she was talked about often and I was regularly asked to thank her when I got home. We were so glad that they honoured her work that way.
By the end, we were a little misty eyed. I said a (very) few words of thanks, noting that my only regret was that Joyce was not there with us. And then we sang the Masooli-Kitettika song. It was the nicest sounding rendition yet. The best part was the men singing, “Are we there yet?” and the women answering, “Yes, and we have roads to travel”. It was a beautiful echo of the conversation that began the song, when Andrew asked the question and Joyce responded.
It was a wonderful ending to our trip. There were many hugs and smiles. Everyone wants to know when we’ll be back again.
“Love one another”, Jesus said at his last supper. And at this one, we did.
1 comment:
Thanks for visiting my pple. This is such an amazing story.
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