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!)