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.