Women's Day

Every year in March there is a National Celebration of Women’s Day in Uganda. The celebration of the Cathedral women was postponed a week.
The heart of this Women’s Day was the sharing of stories, proverbs, and wisdom. Their stories and insights were shared with great style, humor, and gesture. Women spontaneously came forward as they felt moved to do so. One topic summed it up, “What can we do to empower women instead of crying in the home?” They told success stories and lamented the current condition of children growing up without proper guidance. Education for girls was a big issue. With the schools now being controlled by government-placed teachers, sometimes Catholics are ridiculed as being too concerned with the spiritual; eg, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!”

Wisdom was also shared in the form of old proverbs. There was a discussion about who trains the dogs—the men usually, but while some roles may be limited, women can still think and improve things.

The atmosphere was wonderful. Women dressed very smartly and were very happy with having a chance to speak out on anything they wished. They organized a march through the grounds of Sacred Heart School to the Juba Road and on to the “For God” junction. Along the way, students, women, and others cheered. During the march they spontaneously pick branches to wave. At one point, a scene from a traditional dance took place when a man came alongside and did a mock attack—and everybody laughed and kept marching. The mock attack or challenge is also a form of greeting. One woman came up to Marion when she arrived. Marion stood up and danced a bit with her!

An older Sister arrived and used her cane in the same fashion to greet the women. All laughed.

Many uulations filled the air: affirmations, greetings, and general enthusiasm for Women’s Day. Of course, sharing food was another highlight.

An Easier Road

Feb. 2, 2009
Sister Marion wrote about the events of Peace Week, so we won’t re-visit that, but other items in our lives may be of interest to all of you, our faithful readers.

First of all, we had our second in a series of Vespers and Tea for small groups of the religious who reside in this neighborhood. This time we had the four Comboni Sisters who live and work at the Animation Center, a place for various types of group gatherings. The sisters expressed their appreciation for the experience of prayer “our way.” We felt that their desire to keep the prayer copies was a very positive sign!

Of course our BIG news is that we now have Sister Jo Ann back with us. Although we don’t really enjoy these long trips, this one was joyful! We agree that the trip seems to get shorter each trip because so much progress has been made on the road. Jo noticed right away that there weren’t so many places where the road was absolutely horrible. Maybe the road will be finished before our next trip, ...which isn’t even in the planning stages as yet.

Although we are still in the “dry season” until some time in March, God has provided us with much-needed moisture ever since Jo got back. This means that the roads aren’t so dusty; it also means that our electricity is a bit more temperamental with the thunder and lightning. Marion and Jo like to take a walk after our evening meal before it gets dark (a little after 7:00 these days), but the rain has curtailed that activity several times lately.

Sister Jo Ann is back at the clinic, trying to make order out of chaos, and seeing patients again. They are very happy to have her back to help them with their health issues. At prayer, Jo expressed that how she looks at a patient makes all the difference in how that patient gets treated.... For example, a gentleman who hasn’t had medicine for over a month, who drinks “on occasion,” and didn’t see the Doctor while Jo was gone, could have been seen as a hopeless case. But by noting that at least he came “today,” it makes a difference that at least he is trying to do something. Therefore, she wanted to help him.

Sister Marion is again processing the “Team Africa” funds for scholarships to children of some of the Catechists. She has a good system that takes a student from each area of the Archdiocese. The Catechists and Parish Priest are expected to get together to decide which of the children in that area will receive financial assistance. Previously, some areas had more than their share of scholarships, while other areas had none. Marion met with weak students and families to see how there could be improvements. She has heard stories that make her wish she could serve so many more individuals than the funds can cover.

Sister Pat M. has been attempting to process the scholarships set in motion by Sister Pat Haire after she returned to California. Pat H. had chosen ten girls from Mary Immaculate Primary School who wanted to go to Sacred Heart Secondary School, a boarding school for girls. Neither of us knew about the lengthy decision-making process for choosing which students a school will accept! Testing (called the PLE, or Primary Leaving Exam) is done across the entire country on the same dates (December 5 and 6 in 2008). The tests are sent to Kampala for grading by various teachers, so no school checks their own students. Those results are then sent back to at least two places: the school from which the students came, and the schools they chose as first and second choices to attend secondary. Now all the heads of those secondary schools gather in Kampala to decide which students they will accept, and which students they will “sell” to another school. (The various secondary schools set their own standards regarding who to accept. We still do not know exactly what “sell” means in this context, but the student can then be accepted by a different school). When the heads return to their various districts, they again meet as a group and do final determinations and post the names and “grades” of the students they have accepted.

Without knowing the process, Pat M. had set up dates for the girls to bring their completed applications to her. After sitting for two mornings, not seeing a single one of the girls, she discovered that the girls still did not have their letters of acceptance from Sacred Heart. In the end, none of the original ten girls were accepted by Sacred Heart!!! Now we wait to see where the girls will end up, before we can begin to decide who will receive the financial assistance since each school has their own fee-schedule. We will do our best to honor the needs of those ten girls.

In the meantime, the word got out that we had “scholarships,” so there have been numerous additional people seeking help! The need here is so very great. Students, who are actually “orphans” in the strict sense of the word, will usually receive no further education after 7th grade (called P7). Primary tuition is so little that more parents can afford to pay the fees, although there are still hundreds of young ones not in school. Secondary tuition is much higher, a too-big burden for most families. For those of us in the United States, used to paying a great deal for a good high-school education, the fees seem to be small, but to these people in poverty, even a small amount is impossible to come up with.

One boy is now 21 years of age, lost his parents and siblings during the war, and himself spent time in the bush with the rebels, is trying to find funds to continue his education in S3, sort of the equivalent of sophomore year in high-school. He did poorly in S2 because he was sent home so often for lack of payment. He would then work to earn money and return for the next term. Can you imagine the “holes” in his learning? Can you also imagine the courage and determination that it takes to continue on? Students like him have more resilience faith, and hope than most that you would know in our country.

Students prefer to “board” in secondary schools. Teenage girls, in particular, are often harassed when traveling to and from school which is often a great distance from their village or camp. Conditions at home are not conducive to study, since their responsibilities to care for siblings, to find firewood, to help with the cooking, etc., take them away from studies. Also, most homes do not have a lantern by which to see after dark.

Several students who were in Sister Pat’s math class last term have stopped her on the road, looking for a way to get to secondary school. It is hard to realize that these children will never realize their potential and will be relegated to menial tasks for the rest of their lives.

We encourage you to read “Child, Victim, Soldier” by ........ Dunson (...........Press) to understand the situation through which these families have suffered. I don’t believe there is a single person who has not been directly affected by the recent evils inflicting the region. We seem to be in a peaceful era at present, in spite of the fact that the peace agreement has not been signed. We pray daily for all of our people here in northern Uganda.

Pray for Peace Here This Week

What to make of the current military/political situation? A very thoughtful person shared the following about how villagers are viewing this current disruption of the peace process. He said that people who can are making two huts—one in the village where they hope to plant and, if possible, one in the camps. However, the government has been tearing down huts in the camps that are vacated in an effort to get people to go back home and to make the remaining huts a bit more spaced out. He also said that many believe the rumors—such as LRA even now are returning to the West Nile area of Uganda—but that for traumatized people, believing rumors is like seeing someone running. So you too start running and later ask, “Why? Where are we running? He said that in four or five months if the LRA have not reached Gulu, then people will believe the peace is holding and get on with their lives.

The newspapers give us strange articles—mass graves of rebels found in Congo and LRA split up into small groups running to Central African Republic with some skirmishes and loss of life. Also, details from the first days of battle such as a convoy being bombed.

Here, life appears very normal. People are traveling—two of the priests at the table just went to Moyo, near the Sudan; and the Secretariat of the Peace Week plans to go to Congo after the event.4th Provincial Prayer-Peace Week is fast approaching. On Tuesday about 1500 people from the dioceses of Nebbe and Arua [West Nile] and Lira along with assorted people from Tororo and Kampala will join several thousand here for three days of prayer and talks on the theme, “Combating Poverty and Building Peace.” Marion has the “Programme” broadstrokes because she typed it up as a member of the Central Organizing Committee. Wednesday will be “Political Activism Day;” Thursday, “Cultural Day and Extravaganza;” and Friday, “Spiritual Day.” Because of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Odama’s work with other religious leaders, this year’s event will have a multi-faith approach. Each morning, each denomination [Anglican, Muslim, and Catholic] will begin at their own prayer sites. By Friday, the prayer will be a shared prayer event.

Marion has been reading William Johnston’s “Arise My Love,” on Mysticism for a New Era. He refers to the Oct. 27, 1986, event when world religious leaders came together with JPII at Assisi to pray for peace. They prayed according to their own traditions in twelve separate places. Johnston noted that prayer “rose from the silent and spiritual core where human beings find the deepest union.” He quoted JPII as promoting this event as another way to promote peace. So, we are witnessing here a step toward peace that continues when dialogue is thwarted! No doubt more powerful than dialogue!

We invite everyone to pray in whatever way you wish, this coming Wed., Thurs, and Friday. Pray that lasting peace may come to our planet, and in a special way to long-suffering Northern Uganda and surrounding nations. Pray also that pilgrims travel here in safety and that all goes smoothly.

Sunday prayer and tea. Jan. 11th we had the second in what we plan to be a monthly series of inviting the small religious communities nearby to afternoon prayer and refreshments. Both have turned out great. Three Camboni Sisters from the Animation Center came. One [younger] is from Sudan and the other two are seasoned missioners from Italy. Our entree was deviled eggs and cheese/crackers. Thanks to many of you we had all sorts of special sweet goodies to share! Pat planned this one with vesper elements and sharing of the heart around an excerpt from Ed Hayes’ Gospel of Gabriel on the Baptism of Jesus. reading. The sisters had beautiful, deep sharings. We really enjoyed getting to know them more.

Pat is gathering applications for the Los Angeles Scholarships that Sr. Patricia Haire put in motion for the Immaculate Heart girls going to Sacred Heart Secondary. Marion is gathering Team Africa renewals and applications for scholarships for the children of catechists. School starts Feb. 2nd.Pat is also doing some tutoring in math and computer on a sporadic basis, depending on the availability of the persons interested. She is also attempting some research on diabetes and hypertension for Dr. Alice, but is finding difficulty in accessing the Internet. Once the schools resume in February, she will be more regularly occupied.

Christmas Visitors

Wulegi gum MABER pi mwaka manyen!

That is “We wish you many blessings in the New Year” in Acoli! Maybe we can be more faithful in updating this blog in 2009???
Here we are again… After Mass and breakfast on December 16, Marion, Pat, and Olanya George (our driver) headed down to Kampala. After doing some of our big shopping for items we can’t get in Gulu, we went to A.R.U. again for overnight accommodations. They weren’t quite ready for us, and it was about dark by the time we managed to get into our rooms. This time we were in the new building where we had self-contained rooms. Wouldn’t you know!!! The power went out shortly after that. It wasn’t so bad, though, since power had returned by the time we finished supper.

We had to rise at 5:00 am in order to get breakfast before we headed off to the airport. We were quite early in our arrival since there was very little traffic at that hour. We tried to get into the general parking lot, but they waved us away. Olanya George then stopped at the VIP lot for directions. They looked at us, and waved us into their lot!!! Was it our white faces that made us important? This was the first time we had been in the “arrival” part of the airport, so we enjoyed ourselves. Anyway, Sister Amy and Father Tom, her brother, arrived safely, and got through passport control and customs. After further shopping and eating, we all arrived back here in Gulu by 7:00 pm on December 17. It didn’t take Amy and Tom very long to collapse into bed, exhausted.

The next few days were a blur of activities and relaxation. Since both of our guests are “into” electronics and the internet, some of the time was spent up at the Catechists Training Center (CTC) where we can usually get connected. There was one day when we had to go into town to an internet café, though. We visited various places where the three of us residents have worked, and some video and oral interviews were taken… Marion was at the Office of the Pastoral Coordinator with Richard who assists the coordinator; Pat was at St. Joseph’s Primary School with Michael, the headmaster. We also visited with Dr. Alice with whom Jo Ann had been working. Some of that information will appear in one of the issues of Connections in 2009.

On Sunday, December 21, we hosted one of the local communities of Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate for Vespers and “tea.” Only two Sisters came (one was away and the other had other plans), but it was a good effort on our part, and was greatly appreciated. Marion planned the prayer to be similar to the formal vespers they are used to, but added in some sharing of the heart. We used “Holy Darkness” for a sung psalm refrain, and one of the Acoli Advent songs called “Bin Jesu, oyot,” Jesus come quickly. We hope to do more of these Vespers and tea affairs with the other communities around us. They have all been so good and welcoming to us.

Around 7:00 am the following morning Amy, Tom, Marion and Pat, Olanya George and his wife, Alice, started off to Paraa Safari Park via a town called Anaka where we were to meet up with Bishop Sabino as our park guide. Sister Jennifer, a Little Sister of Mary Immaculate (and the Bishop’s secretary) came along. Well, at Anaka we were invited to breakfast since the Bishop had just finished Mass. Picture this: fried chicken, French fries, porridge, bananas, eggs, bread, … We really didn’t need lunch after that! But when we had crossed the Nile on the ferry, and were waiting for the ferry to go to the other side, Bishop whipped out his camping cook stove and espresso pot. Jennifer cooked up some instant onion soup (over bread) and Bishop prepared his espresso! No one refused to eat soup! Most of the espresso was left behind as we hurried to catch the boat.

One of the interesting scenes on the trip was a group of elephants near the bank. One had a very young one with her and attempted to shield it from our sight. The group moved away from the river, but one of them turned around, trumpeted and “charged” at us, before backing away slowly! The entire trip was delightful. This was the first time on the Nile for Pat, Jennifer, and Alice.

While the view of the falls from the river Nile was beautiful, the next part of the trip was spectacular. Once we had disembarked from the river boat, we drove a distance to the TOP of the falls. It was too late in the day to see any rainbows, but the power and dynamic of the water was awesome!

Our evening was nearly gone by the time we arrived at our overnight accommodations… We only had time for a quick wash-up before a delicious dinner at 8:30 pm. By the time we took care of the finances there (a story in itself*), it was quite late considering we had to rise again at 5:00 am. After breakfast our real safari began under the leadership of our Bishop-guide.
Bishop Sabino knows the park inside and out because his father had worked there for many years. We were led to many areas that most people would never see, and heard stories that others would never hear. We ate lunch at the place where some of the park rangers live, very near the river in a secluded area. It was quite beautiful in spite of the presence of those dangerous tsetse flies. (None of us seems to have gotten sick from them.) On the way home we did what every Acoli person does… We stopped and visited several places to say hello!
The highlight of the day for Pat came near the end of the ride home… She is so sorry that she didn’t get a photo of it! Keeping in mind that the people of Northern Uganda celebrate Christmas by having meat (and this was the 23rd), the scene was priceless. There was a young man on a bicycle with a load of firewood strapped crosswise on the back. Sitting on top of that was a goose, tied and facing forward, turning its head left and right as if it were a sight-seer! Innocent, beware!

Christmas Eve passed in a blur… None of us can recall what happened that day, except that Marion found a fine piece of meat at the market! Christmas Day was a “lay low” day for all of us. There had been no Midnight Mass here at the Cathedral because most of the people walk great distances. Marion and Pat went to Mass at 7:30 am, where their regular church community would be. Archbishop Odama was the main celebrant, and the place was filled. With standing room only, many of the children were sitting in the sanctuary; at the end of Mass they then followed the Archbishop out in procession. They feel very close to him, and he to them! Tom was the main celebrant at the 10:00; Amy participated at that celebration.

At some point of that afternoon we all found our way to the CTC to connect to the internet. Usually, we have breakfast and lunch with the Bishops, but today we ate at home. Everyone pitched in for the main meal. Marion cooked the meat for about three hours on the “cigirit” (brazier). It was delicious and tender. The roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, cauliflower, and cold “disked” carrots were followed by a fresh fruit medley coated in vanilla yogurt! Truly a wonderful feast!

Before we had all separated (Tom was staying at the next door compound), we had two phone calls. One was Susan (in Minnesota) wishing us a happy Christmas, and the next was from Jo! We are certainly looking forward to her return! The day couldn’t have been nicer!
While the day after Christmas in the U.S. may be the day to return gifts and look for bargains, that isn’t so, here. Rather, it is the traditional day for all the sisters, brothers, and priests to gather at the major seminary for an all-day picnic. Each community is invited to bring some food. Marion fixed a large pot of spaghetti and meat sauce (fortunately, we had found the makings in Kampala). There was more food than you can imagine. It was a great way to meet more and more of the religious members who serve in this Archdiocese. Folks even came from some of the outlying regions. The music ranged from Handel’s Messiah to Country Western, with some traditional African pieces included! Most of us tried our feet at dancing!

Tired and happy, the four of us were sitting around the kitchen table around 8:00 pm, when we heard a voice outside calling “Sister.” Due to a miscommunication, we did not realize that the Archbishop and Bishop along with three of the priests were waiting for us to join them for supper – another one! We had understood that this particular dinner was to be the following Monday night! Needless to say, we weren’t very hungry, but we did our best. After dessert Amy, Marion and Pat did their best rendition of “Lo, How a Rose” for entertainment. (We had practiced it several times, but that was before eating … two dinners!) While it wasn’t the best we had ever done, they were all duly impressed. Then Marion brought out the bag of gift books she had prepared from her collection. One book had been specially selected for each of the men, with a short explanation as to why that book was chosen for them. That, too, was a big hit. They were all touched!

The full day was not quite over… As we left the dining area in the dark, Pat went first, then Marion, and then … Well, almost Amy. At that point Amy missed the drainage ditch and fell, twisting her foot in some way. We managed to get her home, elevated and iced the foot, and got her to bed. By morning she was convinced that there were no broken bones but there was pain (no swelling or bruising), but what it was, remained a mystery.

At breakfast on Saturday, Marion realized she had broken off part of a tooth, but she had a meeting to attend. Pat did the grocery shopping and then tried to find a pair of “walking sticks” (crutches) for Amy. It took about two hours to find a place that both had them and was open on Saturday. The physical therapy personnel even offered to come home and measure Amy here, but Pat declined. So Pat had to lie down and get measured! Then they subtracted the three inches we had determined was the necessary difference for Amy. When they brought a few example pieces out, Pat knew that they were still too tall, but without the patient they wouldn’t cut any more off. That would have taken at least another hour or two. Then came the bill…. Would you believe that for a pair of heavy, sturdy, hard-wood, hand-made crutches they charged 6,000 shillings? That amounts to about $3.84 in U.S. currency! That says a lot about the economy here! Pat had tried in vain to contact Dr. Alice that morning. She wanted to get some help in locating crutches. Well, later that afternoon, about 4:00 pm, Dr. Alice stopped by the house. She had seen the phone messages and offered to check on Amy. She stayed about a half-hour, filling us in on many aspects of Acoli history and politics. She felt that Amy would be alright within two days. She also gave Marion the name and location of a trustworthy dentist who works both here and in Kampala. How’s that for a friend!

On the 28th, we all headed to Amuru for Mass and a children’s party after Mass. We were again welcomed very warmly, with lots of “Apwoyo’s” and “Apwoyo matek!” That means they thanked us profusely for being willing to come and share with them… And that was before they knew about the party! The youth group had been prepared to organize the crowd of children. At an early count, there were nearly 500 children present under the age of eight, all standing in about nine lines, very orderly! It didn’t take long for many of the neighborhood children who were NOT at church to hear about the cookies and drinks being passed out! The numbers swelled. Marion’s friend had donated funds for this party; jump ropes and soccer balls were available (and supervised so they wouldn’t walk away!) so the children continued to have a good time for a while. We were then hosted by Father Santo for a delicious dinner at the rectory.
Monday, the 29th was the last day that Amy and Tom were with us in Gulu. After Mass, we were invited to the CTC for breakfast with Father Joseph, Ron, and Denise. Mmmmm… Pancakes, French toast, honey, butter (the real stuff), ….. But the conversation was even better. Ron and Denise have been doing research about the history and conditions of the people in this area independently of each other. Father Joseph is steeped in such history from his childhood. We all became much more aware of the complexity of the current situation involving several nations, politics and economy. What a richness we were given!

Marion talked to the dentist and made an arrangement with him for Tuesday in Kampala; Tom did some more interviews; Pat and Amy managed to get Amy’s crutches adjusted to make her travel a bit simpler. St. Joseph really provided for that! You see, St. Joseph’s Workshop was actually closed, but the worker, Michael, just happened to come in for something and took care of our project.

Lunch that day was the last meal that Amy would have over at the Archbishop’s table so we brought vanilla pudding for dessert. What a hit that was! It is one the Archbishop’s favorites, and the other members of this community also enjoy it. Just about everyone has a sweet tooth!
We again traveled to Kampala early on December 30. We had two additional travelers with us this time, so the car was really full. One of those travelers was Consolate, the lady who has been designated by the Archbishop to help us get our work permits for Uganda. So after lunch Marion, Pat and Consolate went to the immigration office, while Olanya George took Amy and Tom to see the Shrine of the Martyrs at Namugongo. We were NOT successful in getting the permits, although this was Consolate’s fifth trip to complete the process. So when the others returned for us, we just had time to get Marion to the dentist’s office where her tooth was repaired. After that we were all happy to get to A.R.U. where we would eat and stay for the night.

Very early on the last day of 2008 we headed for the Entebbe airport to wave off Amy and Tom. From there we returned to the Immigration Office where we were again given the run-a-round. However, because of the connections made through Consolate, a gentleman was identified who had all the information needed, and made a special trip to the center to give the permits to us. What a relief that was for all of us!!! After lunch at a place similar to a McDonald’s, we arrived home here in Gulu around 6:45 pm, only to be called over to the Archbishop’s for his annual New Year’s Eve party for all the priests and religious in the nearby area!

We can’t imagine that there was no revelry at midnight, but neither of us heard any of it! We were exhausted!

It is now New Year’s Day and the two of us are taking advantage of the internet connection. May each of you be greatly blessed in the year 2009. Please pray for peace for the people of this area as well as for the world.

Heaven's Answer Hidden

Let's see…. Where did we leave off on our last blog writing? Marion already mentioned the 275 Confirmations at Christ the King. But did we tell you about the Sunday afternoon we put on a "show" for Olanya George (our driver) and his family? Well, George and his wife have four children who haven't seen the things their daddy saw when he traveled with us. We especially wanted to share all the animals we had seen at Paraa Park back in June! So we set up our "sitting room" (half of a bedroom) as the theater and served orange soda (their choice) and cookies. Pat had compiled the photos taken by all five of us and had them on a thumb drive so we could show them on any computer. Marion attached the projector from her office so they would be enlarged on the wall. Pat ran the show from her computer. When pictures were showing up the second time, Pat started making "shadow animals" on the wall, and then taught the little ones to do it also. George later told us that the show was a great success!

On Saturday, November 22, Pat attended the day-long meeting held by St. Joseph's School. The previous such meeting had been in December of 2005! The school is having major problems, and the Headmaster had invited her to speak to the two Boards, parents, and officials present about her observations while she worked in the classrooms. He said people might listen differently if it came from an outsider. Well, the talk was so well-received that the Archbishop, Bishop, the media, and several others asked for a copy of her talk. A copy was also given to the Education Secretary. Apparently, no one has been doing anything for the good of the school for some time. Pat introduced a visiting priest to the Headmaster recently. He has some very practical ideas regarding steps that can be taken. It will be interesting to see if anything comes from all of this in the near future.

Did we already tell you about our haircuts? Jo has cut the hair of Marion and Pat. Pat has cut the hair of Jo and Marion. With Jo gone and Pat desperate, Marion did her maiden voyage haircut on someone other than herself… You can see how well she did in the mouse picture that follows!

Prayer is a little different without Jo in our presence, but we do still pray together. For example, on Friday evening (December 5) we vigil-ed the Feast of St. Nicholas. December 6 is special for us because it marks our arrival in Gulu six-months ago! Yes, indeed, we've been here in this house for six months now. We reflected on the many gifts God has given us and how we've used them for the poor and needy among us. After sharing our insights with each other, we closed with the song "Holy Darkness" by Dan Schutte. The refrain goes like this:

Holy darkness, blessed night,

Heaven's answer hidden from our sight.

As we await you, O God of silence,

We embrace your holy night.

Since we had thought we would have been in Amuru about three or more months ago, we felt this was very fitting and meaningful.

Speaking of Amuru…. No, we are not there as yet. No, nothing has actually begun regarding housing there. We are talking, but no specific action has taken place. In the meantime, each of us has found ways to make a difference in lives right here in Gulu.
Marion has already written about some of her activities. Right now she is "on loan" from her office to help in the Peace and Justice Office. They are planning a huge (3000 to 6000 persons) peace gathering in mid-January. She has been busy trying to help them get some things moving. The frustrations involved are great… Besides, computer parts not working all the time, and the copier being in a different building about 5 minutes away by foot, and toner cartridges disappearing into a printer in a different part of the building, the individuals who give direction are not readily available. However, at least she feels good about helping out.

Now that the schools have officially closed for the next two months (similar to our summer break), Pat has had to seek other ways of being useful. One of the sisters nearby has asked her to tutor her in math so she will be ready to enter College to continue her education. It's been so long since she studied math, she needs some help to understand it. Pat has had to take several hours to prepare… This is serious math with linear and quadratic equations and operations on matrices in the first chapter! It's been a while for her, too, for this level math. Pat is also helping the Dr. Alice with whom Jo was working. No, Pat isn't playing doctor or nurse… Dr. Alice wants her to create some flyers that will help her patients. Pat will download information from the internet and format it on the computer so that the end result will look professional. She has sought the assistance of organizations that already have brochures available, too. Someone here will translate them into Acoli, and then Pat can get them printed in both languages. Of an evening, Pat decorated her "gum boots" to be in competition with Jo's pretty ones. What do you think?
While we were in Kampala over Thanksgiving, we found the water filter we had been looking for "forever." It is now set up and functioning well. We had been purchasing bottled water since that was the only way we could guarantee safe drinking water. We had been boiling water for dishes and cleaning our vegetables, but even that was limited once we only had a single charcoal burner for cooking. So we decided the water filter will pay for itself (and be much better for the environment) in a couple of months.Earlier this week we were invited to an evening party for two of the priests. One was celebrating his feast day, and the other his anniversary of ordination. It was good to be able to celebrate with them. Pat took some pictures during the party. One of the priests was so excited to see himself on the camera… He grinned from "Easter to Christmas," as Monsignor would say. We are having a print made to give to him!

All of the puppies are gone. This compound has three guard dogs that terrified us when we first came. We had been told that the dogs are let out after supper, and we should be aware of that. Well, the two females had litters within days of each other. Thirteen puppies in all! We enjoyed watching them develop from little fur balls into active puppies. Most of them wouldn't come near us, although Pat managed to pet several of them. They were all sold, so that part of our entertainment is gone. The good part of all this is that the dogs are now more afraid of us than we are of them. When they see us coming, they go in a different direction!

Today Marion learned a great Acholi expression that captures our language struggle: Leb Acholi gidonyo ki wang ot ci gikato ki tungcel. [What enters through one window passes out windows on the other side… Or, What goes in one ear, goes out the other"] …And here's an idiom: Atye ka ryemo olwango ki leba. No, it doesn't exactly mean, "I'm chasing flies with my tongue;" rather, "I'm hungry!"

On the morning of December 5 we picked up some packages from the Post Office in town. Hooray! The long-awaited mouse traps were there! Well, we diligently set them and placed them around the house that evening. Around 2:40 a.m. the trap in Pat's room went off. For the next 25 minutes she heard flopping around off and on, then nothing. The flopping had sounded closer and closer to her bed, so she was hesitant to step down in the dark. However, after experimenting a bit, she managed to find the dead rat/mouse, larger than the trap, not too close to her bed. That was the only catch that night, though. We are sure there are more, judging by the amount of droppings each morning. We will keep
We are now awaiting the visit from Amy Hereford and her brother, Father Tom. We will be back in Kampala the night of December 16 to pick them up the next morning. We'll tell you all about the visit in the next blog. Have a blessed Advent!

[Ed. Note. I have experienced a great deal of difficulty getting the photos to go where I want them, and one or two inexplicably disappeared while I was putting this pot together. I am not sure what the problem is. I will continue to work on it. However, some of the photos mentioned above just couldn't seem to stay on here, in case you're looking for them!]

Thanksgiving, Times Two

November 27, 2008
On Thanksgiving morning, we went to Kampala to take Sr. Jo Ann Geary to catch a midnight plane to Brussels and then to U.S. She is going to St. Louis to have emergency oral procedures she could not get here. She is a big loss to us and to the people in the diabetes and high blood pressure clinic at Gulu Hospital, so we ask your prayers that all goes well and she’ll be able to return here in January.
So we ate our “first” Thanksgiving dinner mid afternoon at the Rwenzori Restaurant in Kampala which we like-Pork chops, tilapia, and our driver George—in pix [coming]-- had chicken wings; and….a second and Boston-style complete Thanksgiving Dinner later at the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of Africa who happened to be next door to ARU [Assoc. of Religious of Uganda] where we had arranged to stay for the evening. The Franciscan sisters had heard we were coming and wanted us as their guests which was ok with the lovely women at ARU. There were three US sisters among the group and the woman from Boston had engineered it with help from their African cook. Turkey, dressing, potatoes, stuffed pumpkin, carrots overlaid with fresh rosemary sprigs, etc. Of course, pumpkin pie for dessert. We thought we had died and gone to heaven! Marcellina Otii had sent us a clever “pieless Thanksgiving note” but not to be! The cornucopia was stunning with African vegetables and fruits!

October News

Well, it’s been too long since we last wrote for the blog. Hopefully, most of our readers have heard at least some of this from other sources. We apologize, but maintain our claim that this is the best we can do under the circumstances! Please forgive us….

Well, Barbara Moore and Toni Temporiti, CPPS, arrived in Kampala as planned and welcomed us to the overnight accommodations. (We were “bumped” from our original accommodations without our knowing it until the day before we left. We were disappointed in the fact that no air was stirring in several of the rooms since the windows opened onto an indoor area. We even had to share a room on the return trip – with no moving air again.) However, the time in between those Kampala visits were full of rest and good times, Gulu style. Attached are a few photos from those days…. A supper in our kitchen; a hot game of rummy (Contract, Liverpool, etc.), doing laundry,…. Oh… and a flat tire on our journey! Thank God for the good driver, Olanya George, who handled the car well, and was able to replace it with the spare which he has kept in good condition.

Amazingly, the electric power remained stable until their final evening here. They had to pack by flashlight and candlelight. Both Barbara and Toni were “good scouts,” without complaining. The longest we have been without power was six days. At that time we did lose some of the food in the freezer, but since then we have frozen medium size bottles filled with water, then left one in the freezer and put the other in the refrigerator portion to keep foods chilled until the power returned. Very successful!

Jo Ann has usually been working at Gulu Hospital Clinic with Dr. Alice. This has become a warm and happy relationship in which the patients are also benefiting. Dr. Alice has said that Sr. Jo Ann’s clinics are too crowded! The word got out among the people attesting to the fine care they are getting, and everyone wants to come on her days!

Jo Ann says: This has been a very different experience for me. There are no charts kept on any patient. They have these little 6x8 paper Budget Exercise Books that they carry with them to any /every medical visit – so you can imagine what some of them look like and what shade of white/yellow they are. This booklet is their chart. So you must do all your charting while you see them. There are no prescription pads – they take the book to the pharmacy and they fill what you have prescribed if they have the drug in stock. As you can imagine the list of stock drugs is very short. Often they have none in some categories. They do have a lab and can do some things with fingersticks but don’t have the reagents to do chemistries etc. They have an ancient EKG machine that doesn’t seem to work and no one seems to know how to read them. Gulu Hospital is a government hosp. that is a referral hosp. for the more complicated cases. Needless to say it’s been quite an adjustment. But I just love the patients and can’t seem to move on to where I know things are so much better. Dr. Alice is a great woman and cares so much for her people, I want to do all I can to help. Of course I still need a translator, but have a few phrases down pat. One is “Atwero konyi ningning.” How can I help you. Unfortunately then they answer very quickly and most of the time I haven’t understood nary a word. Enter the translator who I am very grateful to!

Fr. Santo has returned from abroad and will be going to Amuru this week as pastor so hopefully things can move there on our housing soon. Marion is working in the Pastoral Office with school fees for children sponsored by Team Africa in Denver. She also started teaching a class on Mondays and Tuesdays to 103 candidates at Sacred Heart Secondary School who hope to be Baptized and complete Christian Initiation before the term is up. This is short term at the request of our language teacher who was overwhelmed with all sorts of responsibilities.

Pat has been working at St. Joseph’s Primary School which is quite near the Cathedral area where we live. The headmaster turned over the two P7 classes to her on the second day. This wasn’t what she had anticipated! There are approximately 100 students in one class and 86 in the other. Students come late and leave in the middle; there is no bell to start or end; many of the students have neither exercise books (paper on which to write) nor writing tool. They are preparing for their exit exam from Primary which will take place in November. While they are supposed to understand and speak English, many of them do not…. They haven’t been in school all that much. Since she speaks and understands very little Acoli, there is much frustration on both sides of instruction. (There is no desk!) Test results should be interesting!

Speaking of the Acoli language development…. Here is a challenge for you:
Match the Acoli words with their English meanings
Ceng Sunday
Ru-piny Dawn
Cabit Day
Wor Year
Mwaka Night
Answers at the end of this post!

Or, here is another: Sort out: myero, twero, tworo, maro, mero, moro, malo, mato, mere, etc. Then there are the words that have different meanings according to whether your voice is high or low.… Our classes have not been as frequent as we had hoped, but folks say we are doing well. Is anyone interested in our dictionary? All of the words to which we have been exposed in classes are now in a spreadsheet so we can sort them by Acoli, English, part of speech, etc. We have over 830 words already!

Barogal Clinic has finally opened! The nurse who will staff the clinic on a regular basis has moved to a nearby camp with her children. The doctor will visit the clinic periodically, from what we have learned. The people in the area are quite happy to have the clinic so much closer than Gulu which is where they used to have to go. People would walk for miles/kilometers, even though they were sick, in order to wait most of the day to see a medical practitioner. Those in two camps will be close, now.

There was a huge celebration for Bishop Sabino and four of his classmates on September 13th. This was big for the whole Archdiocese! They were celebrating 25 years as priests. Actually, six of them were ordained in a single class, the largest ever for this place. One has died, and one is in Rome and didn’t come for this. The other four were fondly honored. The three of us offered to help decorate, and worked for about three hours. The lady “in charge” was new at this task, but a young man was very helpful. When he realized how much older we were, he was concerned that we were working too hard. Folks just aren’t very healthy by the time they reach our age in this culture. He was extremely grateful for our assistance!

Speaking of Bishop Sabino…. Can you imagine this happening with the Bishop in YOUR area? …. Friday evening the three of us, Marion, Jo, and Pat, were sitting at the kitchen table studying, when Pat noticed movement elsewhere. Something had scuttled from the counter behind the propane burner, down to the floor behind the propane tank. We all jumped up. (We have been trying to get rid of our mouse population since we arrived!) Marion and Pat moved the propane tank out from the wall, but as they did so, the mouse scooted under the tank. They dropped the tank and we heard “Eek! Eek!” several times. When we looked closely, we could see a furry tail sticking out. ??Furry?? Yes! Well, we couldn’t decide what to do. We prepared the trash can to capture it, but realized that none of us had the heart to kill it. We thought of getting “Bura Puss” from one of the workers, but about that time we saw car lights near the garage…. It was Bishop Sabino’s garage. Pat went out with her flashlight, braving the dogs, and enlisted Bishop’s assistance. Marion had the push broom by this time. Bishop immediately lifted the tank, releasing the mouse. We all jumped back at first, then Bishop cornered the poor creature, who had lost the fur on its tail by now, whacked it with the broom then stomped on it. Pat then used the brush part of the broom (which had separated from the handle) to throw it out the door. Did you notice that Jo wasn’t mentioned in this saga? Can you guess where she was? Yes, standing on a kitchen chair to observe! Bishop Sabino was our hero! The mouse was very small! We do hope this is the last one for the duration.

In the midst of all of this we had our second birthday celebration. Pat had a birthday on September 19th. We started with prayer, followed by supper, and then gifts.
There are two other photos this time. One is of the two resident donkeys. This photo was taken from our open door… They are almost house residents… One day they tried to follow us into the house!

The other photo shows a building under construction. Look closely to see that the supports that look like scaffolding are simply pieces of tree trunks. It is amazing to us that the structures don’t collapse!

Answers: Ceng=Day; Ru-piny=Dawn; Cabit=Sunday; Wor=Night; Mwaka=Year

Affirming God Present

Everything in me wants to not turn my back on them, but to affirm the love of God that has sustained them and brought them and all the people of Acholiland through immense sufferings; to affirm God present in their midst and to be privileged to walk with them.
-- Marion Weinzapfel

Dear All,
Greetings from Uganda--this land of stunning sunrises and sunsets. I love walking over to the Cathedral in the morning getting the view through the large palm trees—tugu. Jo and I usually walk on a variety of little trails around here after supper and we time ourselves to be back as dusk becomes dark! We always walk with at least one flashlight and phone just in case!

On Monday morning Archbishop invited us to attend a celebration of cleansing at the Rwot Arcana or the place where the Paramount Chief and elders gather to carry on the traditions, called Kal Kwaro. Because he was also wanting to attend the priests' retreat day, he asked us to drive him. Jo and I were free to go. Pat has started teaching a morning math class at St. Joseph's school here. It was a really great experience. All of us, including the Archbishop had thought we'd be there just an hour or two. However, it turned out to be critically important for him to stay and speak. He was not on the original agenda; yet when he arrived, they asked him to say the opening prayer and put him on the long list to speak.

The event was focused on welcoming back returned LRA. 7 young men and later 1 young woman joined the group. They stepped on an egg and walked through a line formed by the elders and chiefs. The idea is that when anyone returns to a community after many years they bring things from the outside that might bring evil or harm to the people. Thus they remind themselves that any experiences of death [broken egg] they've had outside should be left outside while they are brought back to their family and clans. They step over a lira, a stick or tool that is used to open the granary which holds the food for the village; being aware that they now need to safeguard what is inside the home. There is a second part where they tell the story of what has happened outside and then, if there has been killing, the next step of sending a trusted person to go to the clan where injury was done and arrange the very involved and lengthy reconciliation service of mato oput. In the course of this event, one young man spoke for the rest. He had been taken as a very young boy and had spent 20 years in the bush. He talked in general terms about looking ahead to a new life and leaving the past behind. The real truth telling occurs first in the families or with someone very trusted, usually the mother, aunt, or uncle. It was wonderful to have the Archbishop filling in these little details.

The event began with wonderful dancing and drumming and the dancers returned several times as part of the ritual interaction, before the chief spoke, and to entertain. The dance of royalty is the bwola dance that we have seen performed each year and in other events, but I've never seen it done for the Rwot for whom it is primarily intended. There were speeches—lots by some of the NGO's like GUSCO or US Aid or local organizations like the Amnesty Commission whose charge is threefold: to forgive, to build capacity in the returnees, and to reconcile the community.

Certainly not everyone agrees with the "Forward ever; backward never" determination of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (the Archbishop and his group) and the cultural leaders (chiefs and elders.) Yet, I think Northern Uganda is probably one of the few places on the face of the earth today where the individual dignity of even the perpetrators of this misery is held in high regard while dialog as a way to end violence forever is brought to a fine art. Archbishop Odama in his remarks first commended the cultural leaders on their initiative to celebrate the ancient ceremony of cleansing and welcome. He noted that earlier there seemed to be some question of how this was viewed; but that he strongly commends it. Then he focused on the young returnees and spoke to them in this vein: " You have come in to a holy place. Your home, clan, and tribe are holy. Remember what you have destroyed outside. Come and share the same granary and eat together. No more going back to the old way. Say to your family what went on outside and express sorrow to your family for what was done out there."

Both Jo Ann and I were moved to tears when the archbishop then knelt down and apologized to these young people for not having done more to prevent what happened to them. In this culture, women and children, especially, kneel to the Archbishop all the time; so this is all the more stunning.

Then the Archbishop commented on the peace process and said he "...personally accepts to be a fool for the peace process. We will not stop. Some of us have already died in the process of searching for peace. "

The chief concluded the speeches. He told the young people, "God can make a way for you coming back to your roots." He spoke to the parents there, the leaders, and community all to accept these young people because in many ways they are being rejected.

Afterwards we all ate a very nice meal and then the Archbishop went to greet the young people, some of whom he recognized from his several trips to the bush. I followed and was happy to shake hands and several of the parents were just elated. It was a privilege.

I tried to take some pictures with my camera phone but only today realized that I never removed the little plastic cover over the lens! Sheesh! Still haven't found the battery charger for my camera that is misplaced—maybe when we move…

So having gone about 10 AM we returned home later very deeply moved by this graced day.

Wishing everyone peace and love!
Marion

Animals of Uganda

Photos by Monica Lubitz, CSJ.

Adapting

Hello, all you dear readers of the Gulu Blog! We have had access to the internet for parts of two days in a row! Thus, we have put together a new edition of our lives in Uganda.
You have already heard from Pat Haire and Monica as they returned to their U.S. homes, so this will update you from around August 4, when the other three of us came home to Gulu after saying farewell to our housemates of two months.
That first week is a sort of blur as we adapted to living as a three-some instead of a five-some. We decided who would work with Esther, our cook, each day of the week, what days each of us would prepare prayer, who would do the shopping on which dates, and which Sunday each of us would prepare the meal since Esther was given that day off. So far, this has worked out for us. We realize that adaptation is good for us, so changes can be made at any time!
By the way, the folks around here have a very difficult time understanding that we really do operate without a “superior.” “How can you decide things?” they ask. We do our best to explain what collegial living is, but then they ask about the whole community, meaning the Provinces and Congregation. This is all new to them, Sisters, priests, and laity alike!
We finished our beginner’s language book with Mr. Okee, [top photo] and started a full week of classes with Sister Grace who works at the nearby Sacred Heart Academy. The girls (all boarders) are now gone for a month of vacation and will return in mid-September. Sister Grace also has plans to be away part of the time, and we, of course, have plans to go to Kampala twice for Barbara Moore and Toni Temporiti. Sharing our lives with them for the few days they will be here will be fun. Our language lessons with Grace will continue sporadically as our times allow. She is an “adult” teacher, much different from the vocabulary foundation given to us by Mr. Okee. We are picking up phrases, and trying our mouths at sentences. The people here are delighted to hear us saying things (or trying to), and are most helpful in offering suggestions or “extensions” of what we mean to say.
We have three negatively memorable dates to report… On the morning of August 12, we looked for something in a kitchen cupboard only to discover that the termites had made it their home in a major way in the previous week. Termites build “hills” in which they live, multiply, and build onto. Well, they had used (eaten) all sorts of things that were in that cupboard, including those green Scotch-Guard type pot scrapers. Their hill was so hard it had to be removed through the use of a hammer! After spraying the entire area several times, and sweeping up wings and bodies each time, we think that is under control for the time being. We were told that this entire building has termites which are underground, and surface anyplace at any time.
The next such memorable moment came on August 17. Marion was not home at the time, as she was doing her presentation at one of the various parishes. Jo and Pat were seated on opposite sides of the kitchen table doing some studying. The sky darkened somewhat and the winds picked up. Suddenly there was a flash of lightening followed immediately by the crash of thunder. It was so close that we heard the sizzle and felt the tingle through our bodies! Later we heard that the lightening struck a transformer right across the fence from us. Of course, that was the end of the electric for several days. The internet was also disabled for several days.
As some of you are aware, there are many days/hours when we have problems with electricity and internet access. We can no longer access the internet from our house. Instead, we walk up to the Catechist’s Training Center (CTC) and use their wireless – when it is running! This has provided us with more than internet, since we have been be-friended by Fr. Joseph and his young men (sort of technicians) from various countries. Philipp left us his Acholi dictionary and some other notes when he returned home to Austria.
Our third memorable event in August was the ant invasion. Pat M had been battling ants coming through her wall for some time, but sort of controlled the problem by spraying into the holes, then covering the holes with tape. Evidence of their continued efforts (new holes) was then covered by a piece of paper so she didn’t have to be reminded of their nearness! However, on the morning of August 18, while Marion and Jo were elsewhere, Pat came home to find a few ants in the kitchen near her room. She used the fly-swatter to kill them. She turned and found one on the stove (which doesn’t work). Well, that was the beginning! With one reverberating swat to that ant, a few more came from between stove and counter; then a few more, and…. Then they swarmed from every corner of the room. Here is a photo [second photo above] of one area AFTER spraying and sweeping up hundreds of others. The ants were everywhere for days – both inside the house and around the foundation outside. We went through several cans of insect spray those next days! Again, they are sort of under control by now.
We had more “memorable” days, but for non-traumatic reasons. On August 16 there was a “work day” in Barogal where the St. Louis Province has financed the building of a much-needed health clinic. The building is nearing completion, but much clean-up was necessary to make the place presentable. Mpora, the chairman of the Board, and his wife, a new medical doctor, Dr. Beatrice, met with the people a week or so earlier to enlist their “ownership” of the new clinic. Well, the people came out in force, many of them working very hard to slash the weeds, even the terrain, and haul away the cut grasses and trash. Keep in mind that there are no mechanical tools to assist... This is all very physical labor! The grasses are cut with hand wielded slashers; the cut grasses are hauled away by picking them up, piling them in large containers which are then carried on their heads to the rubbish pile. Later, all sat around for a meal of beans, rice, cabbage, and, cassava, all cooked over separate wood fires in large “washtubs.” This is a social occasion, and the people interacted with us in joyful ways, laughing with us over our attempts to converse in Acoli! The people ARE taking ownership of the clinic area.
Jo’s first birthday (in Gulu) occurred on August 19. Shortly after Mass and breakfast, Jo and Pat went into Gulu town for a special purpose: Jo was again trying to get her driving permit. She had been studying a book with 17 pages of road signs, 20 per page. Here in Gulu we only see about 5 different signs, which are very difficult to spot. The streets do not have names on them, although the locals know what they are called. Also, keep in mind that the term “street” is used very loosely, with “erosion” taking the place of “potholes”! On this memorable day, the permit was actually handed to her. The best birthday gift then occurred! The term “permit” really means her license to drive. She didn’t have to take a test of any sort! Jo is now an official driver for the whole of Eastern Africa, not just Uganda!
Jo then practiced driving under the tutelage of Olanya George. At the end of her journey she took Pat to the Camboni Sisters house, but had to “not look.” The Sisters had agreed to bake a birthday cake for us – in a wood stove! They fixed it up with a paper “Happy Birthday” sign around it and powdered sugar (they call it icing) on top. For dinner we had Reisling wine, spaghetti and meat sauce (thanks in part to Monica and Pat H), green beans, and bread. We couldn’t make garlic toast since we had no electricity. After dinner she was given her presents of a new fabric shoulder bag stuffed with a clipboard folder and several items she had wanted… various sizes of spiral notebooks!
On August 20 we finally got into the spaces in Amuru that we are expecting to use for our living there. A young man named Samuel, age 16, and his 16-year-old helper, Steven, had the needed keys and showed us everything we wanted to see. The condition of the place leaves much to be desired, so we came home and made a list of recommendations to give to Bishop Sabino, who has inherited the responsibility of preparing the place for us. The next morning we gave the list to Bishop, knowing that he was leaving for nearly two weeks. Would you believe that he made time for us right after breakfast, and that he had a 9:00 AM appointment with the architect who would work with us! Talk about Providence! (That also gives you a sense of the great person Bishop Sabino is!) This morning we went to Amuru with the architect. We are anxious to hear more about the possibilities of our recommendations.
While we were in Amuru on the 20th, we also met and visited briefly with Sister Dorothy, with whom Jo will most likely work once we settle in up there. She immediately whisked Jo off to see a patient, a woman who was trying to deliver her baby, but the baby had died in utero, and the contractions had stopped. She needed to be taken to the hospital in Gulu, but would have to wait till the ambulance took another patient there and then returned for her. There are so many sad situations that it breaks your heart. However, Sister Dorothy seems to be quite a character, in a good sense.
We will tell about our time with Barbara Moore and Toni Temporiti in our next blog.
Apwoyo matek pi wulego! (Thank you very much for your prayers… or something like that!)

Children of Gulu, Part III

Photos by Monica Lubitz, CSJ.

Children of Gulu, Part II

Photos by Monica Lubitz, CSJ.

Children of Gulu, Part I

Photos by Monica Lubitz, CSJ

Welcome Home, Pat H. and Monica

With great joy, awe and appreciation Sisters Monica Lubitz and Patricia Haire returned from Gulu safely last week to the Congregational Center in St. Louis . On Wednesday, August 6th , the Feast of the Transfiguration, they shared with us, the Congregational Leadership Team, and with a number of the Sisters serving in the St. Louis area, some of their experiences and learnings from meeting and being with the people of Gulu during the months of June and July, 2008. They shared meals daily at Archbishp Odama's table and traveled to their possible new ministry site in Amuru with (auxiliary) Bishop Sabino, who made delicious expresso and pasta for them on his portable outdoor stove!

While Pat heard the war stories of many individual primary and secondary school students and teachers, Monica cleaned, held and cared for orphan babies at nearby St. Jude's Orphanage and assisted child mothers with their babies at the health center. Members of the Congregational Team enjoyed welcoming Pat and Monica back, shared informal conversations at meals with them and treated them to "Fiddler on the Roof" performed at the Muny.

As Monica and Pat continue to share their experiences of being in Gulu, may we all continue to keep Archbishop Odama, Bishop Sabino, and all the pastoral leaders and people of Gulu and their efforts for enduring peace and resettlement in our prayers, inviting God’s great compassion and healing love to be fully present and active in all.

Thanks to all of you for helping us share this good news

-Susan, Franny, Elizabeth, Catherine and Laura

Photos: The Sisters and their driver, George, enjoyed American food at the Sheraton in Kampala before taking Monica and Pat to the airport for their trip home; and a street in Kampala. From the nearly 800 photos (!) brought home by Monica!)

Pat and Monica Head Home

Monica writes: It is 9:45am here [on Friday, August 1]. Pat M., JoAnn and Marion are at language class, leaving Pat H. and I here to pack. They will be home soon. This morning at breakfast the Archbishop and Bishop presented Pat and me with a life history of two of the Ugandan Martyrs, some of their relics in a beautiful little case, a certificate of authenticity and a beautiful rosary that has a medal in the shape of Africa on the back of the cross. It was very touching. I can't tell you how wonderful they are. We had all of them (bishops and priests ) over to our house for a spaghetti supper Wed. night. Pat H. and I made the sauce, garlic bread etc. Everyone pitched in to make it a very memorable evening.
Thank you so much for all your prayers for us. Please continue. We leave here tomorrow morning [Saturday, August 2] at 6am [which is 10pm Friday night CDT] We are going to the source of the Nile near Jinga. Then on Sunday hope to go to the equator before they drop us off at the airport [to fly to the US].

Guests at Our Table

July 20, 2008

It seems that much time has passed since our last writing, but it may only have been a short time…. We’ll let you be the judges of that!

Let’s begin with the visitors we’ve had. It seems that all the religious women in this area are interested in visiting us… with an invitation to come HERE to dinner. Sister Rose Alba was our first formal visitor. She has been so helpful to us in many ways, so we asked if she would be able to come to our cottage for dinner at 6:00 PM. Her response was so typical of her candor. “At six o’clock? By bedtime my stomach (as she rubbed her tummy area) will be so empty!” Jo Ann immediately responded: “If we wait till 8:00 (THEIR regular time), our stomachs will be…” (at which time Jo mimed acid- reflux) at bedtime.” We all had a good laugh! She arrived for 6:00 dinner the following evening and we all had a very enjoyable meal….left-overs of spaghetti and meat sauce made by Pat H and Monica. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Near the end of the meal Sister felt very hot (possibly a hot-flash) so Jo found her fan advertising the play “Menopause.” We all laughed, but then someone asked if she had herd of that word. She immediately replied “Yes,” then added that it meant “expired” or “off layers.” We tried to correct her, only to discover that she had the correct idea all along…. At menopause, the ovaries are expired, and are no longer laying eggs! Now how is that for a wonderful expression?

Another evening we were expecting Sister Mary, a sister who resides in Amuru where we are slated to go in September. We were very clear about the time…. “six of us at six PM.” Well, six o’clock came, then six fifteen, then… We decided she had forgotten. Just as we finished preparing a plate to save for her in case she showed up later, in walks Sister Mary… But she brought a companion. You should have seen us scramble to hide the prepared plate, to find another place setting and chair, and to make room at our already crowded table! You would have been proud of us!

Those who have ever visited Uganda (and maybe other parts of Africa), you will be happy to know that we purchased our first “Guest Book” to be signed by visitors. For those of you who do not know the custom…. Every place we have visited we have been invited to sign their guest book. In fact, if we visit one office and sign their book, you can be sure that we will be asked to sign again in every other office we went to! It becomes funny after a while, but is a custom. For the sake of archives, it might also be meaningful!

Lest you think we are suffering too much, you should know that Pat Haire has found a way to make wonderful fudge. Pat M has become the official spoon-licker, while Monica and Jo share the pot. We are a sight to behold…

Jo, Marion and Pat M are taking language lessons in Acholi. We have been very studious, but have had many a laugh at our attempts to pronounce a few new sounds… Our facial expressions, which are not necessary to correct pronunciation, when we are trying our hardest, often set off the giggles.

Our attempts to use the internet are still frustrating at every turn. Most of the time we cannot get on-line. When we ARE on-line, the power is likely to go off. Please understand if you have not heard from us personally. There are five of us sharing the computer (the only one that can get on-line in this house), so no one really has much of a chance to write much.

Pat H is still visiting two schools to work with some of the traumatized students. Monica spends time at St. Jude Orphanage with the youngest set of children, a couple of which were newborns, and also at the nursery area at Barogal. This latter place is near one of the camps, and holds tailoring classes for some of the young women (some child-mothers); the nursery cares for their children and other young ones in the camp. Pat M has begun teaching “business skills” to the tailoring class. Jo Ann has been working to try to get the Kairos Clinic completed on that campus so that it can be opened. This is the clinic that the St. Louis Province funded for construction a few years ago. In the meantime, Marion meets with teams of parish leaders who will be making the presentations to their parishioners and helps to structure and present material that is meant to focus on Eucharist and Family.

A week from today the five of us will be in Kampala for our “final fling” with Pat H and Monica before we take them to the airport in the evening. It doesn’t seem possible that two months will have passed by then! These two Sisters will be greatly missed both in our local community and in the places they have been serving.

We continue to encourage your prayer and concern for us and the people we serve. What these people have suffered is unimaginable. Yet, their faith is a constant inspiration to us. Till next time….

Jo Ann, Pat H, Monica, Pat M, and Marion

Visit to Amuru

Francine spoke with the Sisters in Gulu by phone this morning, and here's the news:Bishop Sabino accompanied the sisters to Amuru yesterday, and he brought a picnic lunch and prepared coffee for all of them. Sr. Jennifer of Mary Immaculate Community went with them. They were met by people of the parish, members of the Parish Council and school children who performed a few dances for them. They toured the rectory in Amuru, and explored some ministry possibilities. One of their findings in Amuru was the closing of one elementary school that had been set up for children living in a part of the Displaced People Camp. The families had returned to their villages, to their land. This is a good sign that peace is becoming a reality in the Gulu district. The other reality of Amuru is the lack of electric power. The institutions rely on generators or solar power.
Marion, Pat and JoAnn have begun studying the Acholi language. The comedy of the study is the teacher's missing front teeth, so they cannot get the correct pronunciation. They have opportunities to try the language with the people in Gulu, but it is a challenge to speak the little they know with the people of Amuru where the dominant language is Acholi. The sisters have a great sense of humor. They laugh over their attempt to speak it.
Photo: A haircut in the kitchen.

Tater Tots in Gulu

Monica called Sunday morning. Everyone is doing fine, and Marion is much improved after a course of antibiotics. The group does their own cooking on Sunday evenings, and Monica was about to make tater tot hotdish, a Minnesota staple, for supper:

TATER TOT HOTDISH
1/2 bag tater tots
1 lb. hamburger
2 cans cream of celery soup
2 TBSP minced onions
pinch of salt
Brown hamburger in pan with minced onions. Drain the fat. Mix hamburger, cream of celery soup, and salt in a casserole dish. Cover mixture with tater tots. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Monica was going to attempt to make this on the stovetop, rather than in the oven. The sisters eat breakfast and lunch at the Archbishop's residence, and have a woman who cooks for them most evenings.
Monica and Pat H. will be leaving Gulu in early August, and expect to be back in St. Louis on about the 5th.

Photos of Uganda I

photos by Susan Hames, CSJ

...and a tiny bit of news from Monica, who called on July 17:
Marion is returning to health, thankfully, and everyone else is doing fine.

Catching Up II

June 24, the feast of St. John the Baptist, is also the feast day of our Archbishop. It is a custom here to celebrate feast days rather than birthdays. Doesn’t that sound familiar to those of us brought up in the traditional days of Postulate and Novitiate? We brought wine and cake to supper that night. The other community of religious women were also there and brought gifts. We all enjoyed ourselves… especially the Archbishop!
It is now July 7, and we are still experiencing difficulty with getting ourselves set up with an internet connection. Right now, we can’t even use the borrowed computer for the internet… Yesterday morning we woke up to find a blinking red light on the phone indicating that it was “in use.” Believe it or not, this lack of internet access seems to be our greatest source of frustration. It has been very time-consuming for all of us. We are so spoiled with fast connectivity at home in the U.S.A.! Sharing a computer that takes nearly five minutes to boot up, and then have no guarantee that we can actually connect to the internet, has caused endless frustration. We have tried to write out our messages on our other computers, then use a flash drive to change to the computer that might get us on the internet, but we need to remove the internet connection to have a place to insert the flash drive! Ahhhh! Life is difficult!
We are learning some new words and phrases in Acholi. We are pleased with ourselves and seem to be a never-ending source of entertainment to some of the Acholi people listening. Most are very understanding and offer some assistance with pronunciation. This morning Marion, Jo Ann, and Pat M began formal lessons to help us communicate with the people among whom we minister. Monica has been making herself useful at St. Jude’s Orphanage; Pat Haire does some counseling at Mary Immaculate School in P7. Marion is getting involved with the Parish Office in Father Santo’s absence, while Jo Ann and Pat Murphy are still contemplating their options. Jo is working towards setting up the clinic at Barogal. Pat Murphy is working up a curriculum to teach some basic business math to the child-mothers (and others) in the tailoring class in the same place.
We’ve all had our tongues hanging out for chocolate, so Pat H indulged us with another of her talents. She made fudge (without a recipe) the evening of July 5; it was so good that we devoured all of it prior to our going to bed! The next morning we were invited to supper at the convent of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate up the road from us. Pat made another batch of fudge so we could bring them a gift. They provided us with a wonderful meal of local foods, along with a juice beverage composed of mango, banana, pineapple, and passion fruit. Then they discovered the new plate of fudge and the wine we brought. We ended our time together with dance, drink, and fudge. It was a big hit!
Rain had been scarce during the month of June, except for the two heavy storms we had early in our stay here. But rain has been more “normal” for this area in the past few days… Roads were full of puddles when we returned from our early July trip to Kampala. It has rained two more days since then. So far, none of us has suffered greatly from the rains, but now we are more alert to mosquitoes! Hopefully, our mosquito nets will protect us enough that none of us will get sick.

Life at the Orphanage

Sister Monica writes:
Life at the orphanage is tough. One thing that's hard to see is that one of the "Mommies" goes around and wipes about ten noses with the same piece of toliet paper. And they have no toys. I bought one ball that was large enough not to go into the waste trough. They loved it. The next time I went out there I brought four more.
They call me "Baba" which means daddy. I asked one of the Mommies why and she said they call all "Zulu's" that because the white ladies almost always wear pants. I said, but I have a skirt on. She said well they just see the white face and arms. Oh well, that is fine.
Anyway they all flocked around me and were real excited about the balls. At first they were not real excited about sharing but I sat them in a semicircle and actually got them to roll it back and forth.
Sister JoAnn went to a clinic yesterday, and a lots of the patients had and were being tested for AIDS and Typhoid.
About snail mail we do have a mail box but no key yet. Strange, but that is how things can be here. I will send the number later or someone will.

Catching Up

Baya writes: Up to this point, almost all the blog posts here have been culled from emails sent from the sisters in Gulu to the CLT. This morning, I was quite happy to see an email directly from Pat Murphy in my mailbox, with several photos and three pieces written for posting on the blog. Here are the first two, which cover the time period from arrival in Uganda through June 12, their first days. Some of these stories have already made an appearance here, but these two missives fill in a few more details. The third piece Pat sent will be posted later this week.

June 8, 2008

Sunday, June 4, 2008, was such an absolutely beautiful yet simple ceremony of blessing. We were all deeply touched at every turn, with the faces, the music, and the blessings given by nearly everyone present.
The actual physical journey of Team Gulu began on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. The send-off from Carondelet was fabulous, and made us fully aware of the love going to Gulu with us. The
singing of “Sancte Joseph” was especially moving. A special thank you to each of those who
put their work aside to come outside to hug us and wave us off!
Once at the airport, we also had an entourage with us who showed much loving concern for our
well-being. They remained within view, waving, until we were through security and were ready
to move. It was a very long two days that followed!
Our first night (Thursday) in Uganda was spent in Kisubi, at a guest house called Ulrika,
each room with its own cold shower and bed. The following morning we headed for Gulu, via
some shopping in the city of Kampala. Now THERE is a city of traffic! Between Kisubi and
Gulu, most roads consist of two unmarked lanes. The road is used by pedestrians, bicyclists,
and “Boda-Boda” (motorcycle) drivers, all of whose lives are endangered by automobiles which
pass at reckless speeds, zig-zagging across all lanes to avoid huge potholes which could
break an axle. ...To say nothing of the effect on lumbar regions! WE try not to look at what
is directly ahead, lest we distract the driver with our “back-seat” exclamations of fear.…
The photo above is of one of the baboons we saw along the roadside.
We arrived at our “cottage” in Gulu a little after 6:00 PM on Friday, June 6, Gulu time. We
are able to laugh at ourselves and each other, which helps us stay grounded. Each of us has
pitched in to help set up our household, lost at least one item, and had good laughs as we
attempted to say one thing, but words reported something entirely different. We feel that we
are all doing very well during these first few days.
The people have been so very welcoming. Many seemed especially happy to see Sister Marion
Weinzapfel, who is warmly remembered. So far, we have been eating at the Bishop’s house,
although he has not been here in town as yet. Three priests are generally present at our
meals, and we are getting a very interesting education about the politics and religions of
the area during our meal conversations.
In the two days we’ve been here we’ve had both heavy rain and hot sun. We aren’t sure what
the temperature is, but most of us have pulled up the wool blankets on our beds at least one
of the two nights we’ve been here. However, at this moment it is very hot in the sun, but OK
in the house. The food is plentiful, and the fresh-off-the-tree/plant fruit is ever so
scrumptious! Tangerine, pineapple, mango, two kinds of bananas…. And papaya is coming!
We held our first “house meeting” today, and had our first formal prayer session before
dinner. Tomorrow, Monday, we hope to make huge progress by meeting our cook and an on-site coordinator for this compound, who will assist us with solving any problems we may encounter
on the premises.
Watch for more news to come from Team Gulu! Peace to each of you!
Reporter: Pat Murphy

Monday through Wednesday (06/09-06/12)
Well, you may have noticed that we did not get on-line on Monday as hoped. Rather, Father
Santo sent his computer with phone connection over to us, along with his secretary (Richard)
to set it up. By our standards, the computer has an extremely slow processor, little memory,
and a dial-up connection. With five of us trying to retrieve mail and send a few messages,
none of us accomplished much that evening. The following morning, we accidentally erased
Father’s login name, and we spent a few hours attempting to get around the issue to no
avail. We got back on-line Wednesday morning with the aid of Richard, and spent most of the
day with the computer on-line. However, we hesitated to attempt to set up the blog because
of the time it would take to upload the photos.
We actually did other things during those days… Some workers have been sent to us to help
correct some problem areas, so we took turns staying around the house to welcome and direct
them. We met a very efficient Doreen Grace, coordinator of workers on the compound; Eunice
and Esther, who did our laundry by hand over at the priest’s area (also ironed); Esther will
be also be our cook, beginning in a couple of weeks. Some carpenters came and put up poles
on our beds so we could put up our mosquito nets, and a plumber, Jacob, worked for
three-quarters of a day trying to make our toilet flush without using a pan to fill the tank
or bowl. Jacob was quite thrilled that we wanted to know his name, and then we thanked him
using his name. He finally smiled!
On Tuesday four of us paid a visit to Sister Helen at Mary Immaculate Primary School. Very
impressive! Some classes are as large as 115 in a single room with a single teacher. A class
of 145 was divided into two groups. Primary consists of our grades 1 through 7, mostly
boarders, but many of the children are much older than our U.S. norm, since many are
returning from captivity without any formal schooling. There are many very sad stories we
have heard. We visited the infirmary where we saw two bunk beds, but nine sick children,
mostly from malaria. In one dormitory we saw triple-decker beds, not all of which had
mattresses – family couldn’t provide one! Unreal for us.
While four of us were visiting the school, Marion and Father Santo went to Kampala to settle
the paperwork on the car and purchase a refrigerator and other supplies for us. Well, the
first evening there the car was broken into while they were at dinner. Much time was spent
with the police since much was stolen! Police aren’t anxious to help speed things up unless
you “grease their palm.” At least neither of them was harmed.
When we were reminded of the meetings going on in Albany, we thought about the time frame
for the Gulu dream. We entertained a “pregnant moment” when Marion said she presented her
dream to the CLG last September, and here we are, nine months later, sitting in our Gulu
cottage!
The Archbishop has returned from the “bush” where he had tried to make the signing of the
peace treaty a reality. He is a brave and humble man with a great sense of humor. Very
human! He invited us to participate in a special liturgy tomorrow, celebrating the postponed
feast of the Sacred Heart.

Shrine of the Martyrs

Took Santo to the Airport,did shopping, returning things etc, but the high light was visiting the Shrine of the Martyrs. Benedict, he was quick to tell us proudly just like the pope) gave us a tour. The shrine is beautiful - the young men (really boys/ some aged 14and 15) who willingly gave their lives for their faith - are really an inspiration. They were tortured severly and then burned as slowly as possible. It makes one shiver. These young boys were all working for the king. When it came time to pledge allegiance and take an oath to the king they would not - thus they were sentenced to death - after many opportunities to change their mind. None waver. We were told that this same king later became a christian. There is always hope! We received two wardrobes from the workshop which have been very helpful in terms of not so much living out of suitcases for everything. Just makes life a little easier. Yes everyday we realize in some way that we are accustomed to so very much. However I think I can speak for all of us when I say we really are adjusting quite well. Will talk with you in a couple of days!! Hope this attachment goes through. God speed and thank you and all the sisters for their continued support and prayers - we surely feel them. Love JoAnn G.

Safari and More

Greetings, All, Thanks you again for the messages!
On Thursday and Friday have had a delightful trip to Kalabega or Murchison Falls National Park. We enjoyed seeing many antelopes and a number of giraffe as we drove into the park to Paraa Safari Lodge. At one point along the road our convoy of three vechicles halted and the first car began to back up. We had just spotted an elephant and were manuevering to get pictures and realized that the elephant was heading for us! We were in his path as he was crossing a portion of the road. We had experienced drivers, Fr. Santo and Fr. Lawrence with a group from the US as well as our own driver, so thank goodness they knew to back up and keep quiet. The elephant went his way! Dinner at the Lodge was very special--Nile Perch!
The next morning we went out on Safari and our guide was very knowledgabe. We saw many cape buffalo, many more giraffes, warthogs, many, many antelope and some interesting birds. During the afternoon we took a boat of the Nile--of happy memory when Marcellina treated our first 2004 Team Africa group to this experience and again, it was spectacular. Actually before we boarded the boat we saw a group of elephants, a large male and two medium ones as well as three little ones all crossing the road we had just driven by and people did not back up and stood there watching them as they were headed in the opposite direction down by the river. Beautiful! Herds and herds of elephants came to the river and hippos were there by the hundreds. We learned that the edges of the River Nile are shallow and the hippos with their short horns and eyes showing were actually standing up! At several points they were crossing a wetland in between the shallow and the main part of the river and would end up sort of belly flopping off into the deeper water! Also, a hippo was grazing ont the front lawn of the lodge as we drove down to the boatride! We have great pictures of all of this. Hope to send some of those when we get more efficient internet service. Our tech, Philipp, is off on vacation until this week.
We saw crocodiles under trees just before reaching the Falls which are so beautiful. The squeezing of the expansive Nile into this small area results in vast power as it drops down. The waters churn so much that you have to stop at a certain point. It was truly the most relaxing thing we've done.
Yesterday I went to town to catch Atim Otii and the Girls Basketball Camp. It was great. She and her group were in full swing with the two groups really enjoying their workout. Half of the group had had previous learning and they were going to work with them again in the afternoon. Atim had great rapport with the girls and all was going beautifully. They will be here this week. Also met Doreen and Angela and Emmanuel on the way into town. Several of the sisters were doing the shopping with the help of Esther our cook, and Alonga George our driver, to set up our kitchen for our supper. We are now having supper at our cottage.
While waiting, I had a very interesting conversation with two security men Atim had hired. They were young guys working now for the Gulu police dept. One had been a UPDF soldier and then run away. He worked first in Kampala and now for Gulu. He also works at the Sudanese embassy here. He said their main problem in town is theft but nothing like Kampala! I asked him if there were police in Amuru and he said yes; that the area is secure. Actually, he said things are pretty good right now all through the north except for the Karamong, cattlle-rustlers who readily kill in the Northeast. They are trying to do something about them. He's a member at Holy Rosary and just a delightful young man. His companion was younger and shyer.
We are meeting at Christ the King Demonstration School tomorrow to talk with a man who teaches there and might become our language tutor. Sr. Rosalba whom some of you know is now headmistress of the Demonstration School for the Teacher Training College.
Mass this morning was beautiful as always. Had a chance last Tues. to interview the retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum was is an old buddy of the Archbishop and was talking about the justice system here. He began by telling me the old old story of two brothers that caused the people to reflect and begin to change their ways. I have it written and am not sure yet what to do with it. I've also got another story of two brothers that Archbishop Odama told that shows restorative justice--full circle from the old violent story. The Anglican Bishop also spelled out the whole system of Mato Oput, the Forgiveness and Restoration of the community. I've heard and read snatches but it was rich to get it from this man who has been in the bush with our Archbishop and the Acholi Religious Leaders meeting the LRA and trying all these years to firm up the peace process.
On Tues. we will take Fr. Santo to Kampala for his plane to GB on Wed. We will stop at the US Embassy to register and visit Namugongo, the shrine of the Martyrs and who knows what else. Hoping to get back to Plumpy'nut for a demonstration and back to Barogal by the end of the week. Our psychologist is doing some work at the nearby school. Others making contact here and there.
This afternoon I go with Fr. Santo to meet with the church leaders at Holy Rosary to form our team presentation for the Sundays in July and August in all of Gulu vicariate. So--worked on my presentation yesterday and together we will tweak our presentations today. Enough!
Love you all, think of you--eg the Cure d'Ars community especially at Sunday Mass, and family, sisters, friends. Love, Marion

Safari

Dear Sisters,
We had a marvelous time at Murchison Falls! We were to leave here Thursday morning around 9:30, but didn't actually move until 11:00. Our "Olanyo George" is a very responsible driver and is also a car mechanic, so we know we are in good hands. My own camera didn't have a memory card in it (which I hadn't realized) so my photos were limited, but the others have some fabulous shots which we hope to be able to share some day. Even before we arrived at the lodge we saw a huge variety of animals.
Our accommodations were very nice. We were welcomed with a small glass of juice and a warm wet towel. Shortly after we arrived, there was a group of baboons who climbed to the second story balcony of one of the rooms and stole their food. One of the young people traveling with us got photos of them in action! There was also a hippo that made itself at home on our front lawn....
The safari trip began around 7:20 AM Friday morning... Our guide was Henry, who has been a guide for two years in this park, but three years in another park. He spoke good English so we could ask lots of questions and understand his replies. There was an exciting moment when he noticed that the animals were not acting in a normal fashion. Once he pointed this out, we also became aware. The animals were all standing very still facing in one direction. He had George drive off-road, and then stood on the door-jam with binoculars to scan the horizon. We thought we might be going to see a lion! But, no... There were some people gathering firewood near-by which had alerted the creatures. Not a problem. So we piled back into the van and continued.
We were going to return to Gulu by a different route by crossing the Nile on the ferry, but the ferry broke down. Our secondary plan was arranged to take the boat up to the falls. We were all down at the river front awaiting the captain, but I suddenly felt nauseous and light-headed. I decided to stay at the lodge this time, assuming that there would be another opportunity during the three years here. The others had a wonderful time and have exciting photos to share. (I am doing fine, now.)
On the way down to the Nile for the boat ride a group of elephants were munching on the trees and sauntered across the road. The guards encouraged the photographers to get out of the vehicle to take pictures, saying it was safe as long as we stayed on our side of the gate. Two babies were with them. Again, great photos! Wait till you see how close they were to us!
Herds of giraffes were another common site. We even found a small turtle crossing the road. Of course, we also saw some very unusual and beautiful birds like the ibis, guinea fowl, egrets sitting on the backs of hippos, storks, and crested cranes.
We arrived home in Gulu around 7:30, fixed supper in hysterical laughter, and all went to bed very shortly. The laughter surrounded our supper preparations.... On the way home we had discussed having fried egg sandwiches or buying "take-home." Egg sandwiches won out, so we stopped and purchased bread and eggs. However, we then discovered we had no fry pan! We ended up with boiled eggs and sliced avocado.... Not bad, but you had to be here to appreciate the fun.
This morning it took two hours before the computer was up and running, and the first e-mail went through. We had started the process at 7:00 AM, but the lines were sporadic in availability. Then we had some guests... Esther had arrived at 8:15 to go shopping, but started cleaning since the shoppers weren't ready. Then George came to get the key for the car. Then a Jesuit, Father Tony, stopped by just to make connections. He is working on setting up a secondary school near Lacor and had communicated with Jo Ann earlier. And before anyone could leave for errands, Father Matthew arrived to meet Father Tony! Can't you picture all of us gathered in this little kitchen? Tony glanced back and said something to the effect of "And all five of you are in this tiny place?" We assured him that we were, but that we were also handling it amazingly well.
Gratefully and prayerfully,
Pat Murphy

Leaning Into Peace

Hope all is well and things going great. Appreciate your notes and in time will respond personally.

We are doing amazingly well—everybody healthy and taking things in stride. We’ve learned that the “bombs” dropping on our tin roof are only mangoes! And, with expert advice we all know have about 3 different ways to go at eating them! Albert, you would be proud of us! I’ve always avoided mangoes because I never could slice them well. No longer!!!

On Wednesday we went out to Amuru—not time to walk through the camps and we hadn’t arranged to walk through buildings, but it was a great opportunity to see it overall. The land is more beautiful than I remembered, the people very, very poor and what’s tremendously hopeful is that there is a new town building up as this is a new government district. The town has one beautiful building complete—administration—and a health center, water dept. etc. in process. This is all in stark contrast to the huts around. The current pastor has looked at some 30 acres of land that will be available to the church for a new church or other development.

From what I can read and see, about half the population of the various camps have returned home to try to rebuild villages. Some fear rides just below the surface as the people have lived so long with this war. The bishops and priests here are trying to encourage the people as they feel that the potential for all to be well is much higher than for anything to turn around again. In our Trauma work Team Africa did last summer we had the story about a woman who had run out of any food and then put on a pot of stones to boil for her hungry children as she went out in the bush to see if she couldn’t find something. Leaning into peace is more productive than waiting for war.

We have also visited Lacor Hospital which I appreciate much more this round. Toured it in 2004 and the stark contrast to our hospitals was so overwhelming that I didn’t see anything else. Earlier in the week we went to Barogal to see the child mothers and look at the progress on the clinic our CSJ’s are building. We were late so we missed most of the child mothers but will see them Tuesday if not Monday when we go to Plumpy’nut. The clinic is coming along.

We now have a driver! This really helps us feel like we can start managing ourselves a little. His name is Olanya George and he’s very pleasant. He actually did the driving to Amuru [with Fr. Santo] and since, he’s taken us to town and various places. Amuru took about 1 and ½ hours but I think it’s only about 30 miles. The first third or so is on the Juba Road which is terrible because of all the lorries that go to the Sudan [just keep rutting the road] but the last 2/3 rd’s isn’t so bad.

Electricity went out today but came on again this evening. Most of the pieces and parts of our little cottage are now functioning pretty well. Staff here are really nice and quite skilled.

We have our own post office box now—think it’s 409—don’t have the key yet as they still had to change the lock. Will confirm later. We have done a little banking business and are treated very well. Actually, privileged, but right now it’s extremely helpful.

We might take a little trip to Murchison Falls next week before Fr. Santo leaves so that Monica and Pat Haire will have a chance to see it.

Monica is concentrating on St. Jude’s Orphanage; Pat H. on Mary Immaculate School where she will start some group sessions Sat. The rest of us are still feeling our way for the work of the next two months.

Thanks so much for your prayers and know that you are remembered in ours.

Love,Marion

A Letter from Marion

From the CLT: All are doing well. Team members are meeting many people on visits to St. Jude's Orphanage, two primary schools in Gulu, Kairos Health Center, Lacor Hospital, and Plumpynut agency. They report beginning to get ideas for where they can serve best. They have visited Amuru, met people in the camp there and Fr. Romano, the pastor. Amid adjusting to new foods, new living quarters and learning a lot at meals in the archbishop's residence, they are in very good spirits and eager to be able to communicate more. Working on computer is slow; internet connections are slow and sporadic; electrical connections are on and off; all this and trips away and ministry visits leave a limited amount of time for communicating more directly so far. Here are excerpts from letters from Marion we can share:

June 15, 2008
We are really doing very well thanks to the welcome of the people and all your prayers and energy sent this way. Of course there are little hitches but we are dealing with the major stuff and have learned not to sweat the small stuff. All of this makes for great bonding at the hip among us. Everyone has pitched in and we've had some great sharing. I did have to go back to Kampala with Fr. Santo over last weekend to drop papers concerning the title of the car and to buy a refrigerator, etc. and change money. Unfortunately our car was broken into as we sat in a very nice Italian restaurant with a garden. Fr. Santo saw the light go on in the car and he, his niece Irene [incredibly helpful to me in shopping] and Bosco, a mechanic who was driving us in Kampala all went to see and of course the car next to ours drove away with all our stuff. I lost $$$ and little things, but Fr. Santo lost more. The next day as we went to arrange transport for the refrigerator, you can bet I wore my coat zipped up through the crowds! We are fine, just a little more aware and I've learned that all those little things you thought you really needed aren't even close to being important! Wonderful meetings with the Archbishop and Bishop Sabino who is the one we will work closely with.

We are slated for Amuru which the Bishop feels is quite safe at this time, especially as it backs up on two sides to the national forrest. We are going out there Wednesday. We had a great meeting yesterday with Dr. Beatrice and her husband Mpora. She will organize an effort at Barogal where our St. Louis CSJ ministry fund has built a small dispensary/clinic. Ultimately they hope to make this a small NGO with outreach at other sites in the Gulu Archdiocese. It's known as Kyros. Her husband, a teacher at Gulu U., is also managing the planning to get it up and going. It's to be a wholistic health center. It will probably be July when the building is finished but we are going to use Kyros as a stepping stone for our acclamatization to learn to know the people and situation which then we'll transfer to Amuru for more concentrated work there.

We won't go to Amuru until Fr. Santo gets back from UK--end of Aug or so. Meanwhile we will go down there next Tues. with the two teachers from last summer--Christine and Sr. Rosalba. I'm looking forward to seeing the child mothers. While I was gone to K, the sisters here visited several schools. Monday evening we all stopped by St. Jude's orphanage to play with the children. The headmistress and workers are still there! Tomorrow some of us might go back there because it's in walking distance.

We are learning an incredible amount at the table for meals and on the veranda waiting for meals. The two bishops, a professor at a college, the priest for the novitiate of LSMI, and the new head of the Tribunal which is just opening. It was a little awkward at first but I think they are actually enjoying us now. The discussion of the war situation, peace struggle, and historical bits is really interesting.

Today we went to the 10 Mass which is the children's Mass--no kidding--98 percent children with little ones toting little ones. They were amazingly well behaved and it was very moving to me to pray and sing with them. Our loving God can't help but hear their needs and praise. There is a change for the better here from last summer in that the spirit seems lighter. However you only scratch a bit and there's deep sadness--our driver into town just now said one of his children died last year--poisoned. I am so happy and feel very privileged to be here!

I do hope everyone is doing well--thinking of all the Cure d'Ars family, Mary Kay and the Denver sisters, and so many of you throughout the USA. Susan and Francine of the congregational office are just marvelous. We talk at length every few days. By the way our second phone number is 0752-391-328. I had given out an incorrect number at first. We are eight hours ahead of St. Louis and nine ahead of Denver. With great love and gratitude for you care and prayers.

S. Marion

Daily Life

Baya writes: Here are some excerpts from an email message which arrived this morning from one of the sisters in Gulu:

"We go to daily Mass at 7:00am so our day starts fairly early. After that we go to the Archbishop's dining room, which is very simple. We have been eating with him and about 5 priests. The Archbishop is a wonderful man, a very common man who exudes peace and calm. We have had a good education at the table and a lot of laughs.

"The roads are very narrow, filled with people walking, bicycles, motorcycles and animals.

"The drumming here is wonderful.

"Our meal times are about 8:00am, 1:00pm and about 730-8:00pm. The food here has been good and plentiful. There are some new foods. The meat is very tough.

"Three dogs are turned loose around 9:30pm and put in about 6:40am and we do not go out at all when they are out. We also have two donkeys, goats, and pigs and chickens. The rooster is very noisy.

"We are getting ready to leave for Amuro where the main ministry will be once Fr. Santo is back from his two month Sabbatical in England.

"Hopefully soon we will have steady [internet] connections."

The photo is by Susan Hames, CSJ, and shows the house where the sisters live in Gulu.

Highlights from the June 1 Ritual

Here are the brief statements the five Gulu Sisters made at the ritual blessing at Carondelet on June 1.
Scroll down to view a 7-minute video of highlights of that blessing.

Sister Pat Haire (LA)

In Phil 3:12-13 we read, “Christ has taken hold of me so I keep on running.” It was sixty –one years ago that I said “yes” to God and entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Today, I feel humbled and honored to be a part of our Congregation’s new “Project Uganda.”
My love and special attraction for people of African roots was evident even as a very small child. I begged my parents to buy me a black baby doll I saw in the window of our neighborhood hardware store. They gave it to me for my fourth birthday. It is still my most treasured possession. My early attraction to and respect for my black brothers and sisters has deepened and grown over the years.
Once again, Christ has taken hold of me so I keep on running. I feel so privileged to be called to serve the people in the Diocese of Gulu, Uganda.

Sister JoAnn Geary (SL)

For me it’s about connections, it’s about relationships, it’s about recognizing needs. So it’s my connection with Marion (Weinzapfel), her relationship and subsequently mine, with Marcellina and Albert (Otii) and its hearing the stories of Marion being with the people—a people suffering under the violence of war for more than 20 years, the fear and horror of children being kidnapped to be child soldiers and the devastation of the mind, body and spirit that results. And yet, you hear of the beauty of the people, their deep faith and resilience and their energizing capacity to forgive.
And so I offer myself and my gifts to be used as the people see fit. As we walk with the people we’ll figure it out together. My past experience tells me I have much to learn from the Acholi people. And I fell ready to open to receive their gifts and their wisdom as I humbly offer mine.

Sister Monica Lubitz (SP)

Two of my childhood dreams have come true within the last ten years. The first one was in 2003 when I made my final vows as a sister. The second one is happening now. When I was a little girl I used to get a white dishtowel and put it on my head and get all my dolls out and pretend that I was a sister taking care of the babies in Africa. I am ready to go and minister to all the people there in any way I can. I worked as a Pediatric nurse for over 30 years and I will put those skills and any others that I have to help the people. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity. I am grateful and thank all of you who made this possible.

Sister Pat Murphy (SL)

When the invitation came to join the discerning group in Denver in late February I responded affirmatively. The Sunday following that, the opening song at Mass was "The Summons" … "Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?" I cried through the first three verses. Towards the end of our time in Denver we were given time to go off on our own to discern our response to what we had heard. God gave me a different song this time: "I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans of fullness, not of harm, to give you a future and a hope." I sensed that I was being told that I should not be afraid to say yes, and that the future and hope was for the people of Uganda. Time has passed, and much activity has taken place. This morning, as I was thinking about my call, I was given a new song: “Amazing Grace." Nothing else but Grace would sustain me and keep me so peaceful inside.

Sister Marion Weinzapfel (SL)

With the invitation from Marcellina and Albert Otii, our Team Africa from Denver went to Uganda in 2004. My heart was caught by the night commuters who walked to town to sleep in safety.In 2007 we returned…several of us stayed over and attended vocational school with the Barogal child mothers…We offered little beyond our simple presence and came to know that it was important and appreciated.
Everything in me wants not to turn my back on them but to affirm the love of God that has sustained them and brought them and all the people of Acholiland through immense suffering; to affirm God present in their midst, and to be privileged to walk with them.
In scripture, the discernment of spirits or gifts lies in the community. I am overwhelmed today at the support given first of all by my provincial team egging me on and then amazingly by the congregational leadership past and present who have taken this up, even to visiting Uganda themselves. I am overwhelmed as we stand here in the heartbeat of God’s love for us with our faces turned toward the Acholi people of northern Uganda.

This video is 7 minues long and includes sound. It may take a few minutes to get started.

The Acholi Language

Morembe!
Hello!

Baya writes: I had a brief phone call last Sunday morning from Pat Murphy and Monica Lubitz in Uganda. At that time they had not yet worked out a way to have internet access. Since they themselves have not yet posted anything to their blog, I'm assuming that means they're still working on getting it. So I figure, while we wait for them to speak for themselves, maybe we could improve ourselves by learning to speak a few words of the language of Gulu!

Our sisters are ministering among the Acholi people, who speak the Acholi language. Acholi is a language primarily spoken by the Acholi people in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, a region known as Acholiland in northern Uganda. Acholi is also spoken in the southern part of the Opari District of Sudan. Acholi is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo, and is mutually intelligible with Lango and other Luo languages. As of 1996 there were reported approximately 773,800 Acholi speakers in the world.
Acholi has vowel harmony: all vowels in a word have to belong to a single class. There are two sets of five vowels.Acholi is also a tonal language. Thus, some words may be distinguished by tone alone, e.g. bèl (low) 'wrinkled' vs. bél (high) 'corn' and kàl (low) 'place enclosed by a palisade' vs. kál (high) 'millet'. Tone furthermore plays a role in verb conjugation.


Download Essentials of Acholi, a small language textbook for speakers of English.

Get a short Acholi-English ~ English-Acholi Dictionary.

They've Arrived!

Great News! The Sisters headed to Gulu have arrived safely in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. There they planned to get a good night's sleep at a guest house in preparation for driving to Gulu today. The Congregational Leadership Team talked with them by phone at 3:00 pm St. Louis time yesterday. Their flights and connections were good. Fr. Santo met them in Entebbe. They send greetings and love to all! Thank you for your prayers and continuing support!

On Their Way...

Amy Hereford, CSJ, from the St. Louis Province, is studying in Belgium this year. She met the five sisters who are on their way to Uganda this morning when their flight landed in Brussels. See the photos and read her story at her blog.

Blessing for Uganda Ministry

The five sisters going to Gulu, Uganda for ministry were blessed by the congregation at Carondelet, St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday, June 1, 2008.

Marion Weinzapfel, Susan Hames, Marceline, Joanne Geary, Monica Lubitz, Albert, Pat Haire, Pat Murphy, Francine Costello

The Sisters going to Gulu were invited to form a circle in the middle.

Each one was then blessed by everyone present.

Laly Leigh prays a blessing with Pat Haire.

Let us pray: Bin Tipu Maleng- Come Holy Spirit-

You who call us to be in solidarity with the Acholi people of Gulu

and the people of Uganda.

We witness your call in Jo Ann Geary, Marion Weinzapfel,

Monica Lubitz, Patricia Murphy, and Patricia Haire.

Today we pray your deepest blessing upon them

and give them our love and support anew.

Pour out, in and through them, the great Mystery and More

of your love, your wisdom, your sheer aliveness,

your forgiveness and your peace.

Accompany them and bind us all together with them
and the people of Uganda in ever deepening communion.

May the suffering of the Acholi people lead, through your love,

to liberation and full, integral life.

In the name of Jesus, our beloved elder brother

and You, Holy Spirit- Tipu Maleng- we pray now and always.

Amen.

About Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, bordered on the east by Kenya, the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala.
Uganda is home to many different ethnic groups, none of whom form a majority of the population. Around forty different languages are regularly and currently in use in the country. English became the official language of Uganda after independence.
The most widely spoken local language in Uganda is Luganda, spoken predominantly in the urban concentrations of Kampala, the capital city, and in towns and localities in the Buganda region of Uganda which encompasses Kampala. The Lusoga and Runyankore languages follow, spoken predominantly in the south-eastern & south-western parts of Uganda respectively.
Swahili, a widely used language throughout eastern and central Africa, was approved as the country's second official national language in 2005, though this is somewhat politically sensitive. Though the language has not been favoured by the Bantu-speaking populations of the south and southwest of the country, it is an important lingua franca in the northern regions. It is also widely used in the police and military forces, which may be a historical result of the disproportionate recruitment of northerners into the security forces during the colonial period. The status of Swahili has thus alternated with the political group in power. For example, Amin, who came from the northwest, declared Swahili to be the national language.
According to the census of 2002, Christians made up about 84% of Uganda's population. The Catholic Church has the largest number of adherents (41.9%), followed by the Anglican Church of Uganda (35.9%). The next most reported religion of Uganda is Islam, with Muslims representing 12% of the population.
The Census lists only 1% of Uganda's population as following Traditional Religions, and 0.7% are classified as 'Other Non-Christians,' including Hindus. Judaism is also practised in Uganda by a small number of native Ugandans known as the Abayudaya. One of the seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship is located on the outskirts of Kampala.
Uganda has a very young population, with a median age of 15 years.
This information is from Wikipedia. Click here to read the entire article.