JUNE 21/22 WEEKEND

SABBATH

I went to the Adventist church for the first time, and arrived in the middle of their Sabbath School. After I sat down, I soon discovered I was in the Lwo class…so I moved to the English class. The dynamics in the two classes were so different. The members of the Lwo class, mostly women and “mature” adults (like me, ahem!), actively participated in the discussion, yet kept their voices low (as is characteristic of the Acholi people). The English class (all men except me and another young lady) was extremely animated: they were talking very loudly and passionately. I sat next to a young man (Segara Lawrence) who is studying medicine at Gulu University (far right in top photo in front of church--the other guys are also medical students and friends of his), although he is from Kampala; his language is Luganda, which is very different from Lwo. He told me that mainly university students attend the English class. Sometime this week I will meet him at the University and he will show me around the campus and the Gulu hospital. He is also going to try to get me a Bible and hymnal in Lwo, which is SOOO COOL.

We had an afternoon picnic at the IC house with our Ugandan teachers—we made American food and our counterparts made Ugandan food. The fellowship was great—we pulled out the football and Frisbee (most of the Ugandans had never seen these before), and we actually created a “slip and slide” with an UN tarp they had just bought. The kids loved it—hopefully I’ll be able to upload some photos of this. (Photos: The young man, Guillen, is my partner French teacher (with wife, Leah); Elizabeth, my main partner teacher with her daughter (who is a French teacher at another school)).












SUNDAY

We took a trip to Bakersfort or Fort Patiko (city’s name). I think I told you briefly about Sir Samuel Baker in a previous blog, but here’s the full story. The Arabs used Patiko during the slave trade to “sort out” the slaves. It’s a high flat hill, so they could spy out the surrounding area for enemies. The slaves brought to that place were taken to Arab countries by boat or on foot (via Sudan). Our guide showed us the place where those slaves who were too weak were executed. You could still see the axe marks on the rocks where they were beheaded. The beheading took place on a slope and so the heads rolled a cliff and the bodies were pushed down. We also saw the small cave-like areas in the rocks where the slaves were kept until they were taken away. It really turned my stomach. (Photos: Fort Patiko from below and a view of the valley from the fort--we gave the kids a soccer ball and football to play with and they had a blast.)

Samuel Baker originally discovered the fort while looking for the mouth of the Nile. He and his wife were together. They saw the fort and what was happening and left without a word. They went back to England and requested forces from the queen (around 1870 or so) and then returned with 400 men; they were able to take over the fort and set the slaves free. He is, like I mentioned before, called the beautiful one because he was responsible for the ending of slavery in Uganda. (Photos: our guide; Me and my roomies.)

Another interesting side story was that his wife had once been enslaved. She was taken from Hungary from her home (by Arab traders). Baker saw her on the auctioning block and won the bid with every penny he had. At first she was a servant, then became his wife. When the people of Uganda saw here (rare to see white women), they thought she was so beautiful, they thought she could not have been born of men and so called her “Daughter of the Moon.”

Wouldn’t this would make a great historical novel! (Photos: Our "barbecue" to go (tied to top of mutaka) and other moments)

I have been in the classroom with my teachers for a week now—the next blog will concentrate on my time there—it is so awesome ‘cause I am so connected with my teachers, and we have learned so much from each other… ttyl!