Chikaste koromiin (Praise Him greatly!)
I've just returned home to Mukono from Kapchoraw, one of Uganda's most beautiful districts. It borders Kenya and is home to the Sabine tribe, it is rather mountainous and wonderfully green even in its dry season. I spent the early part of this week with my host mom Dorothy chasing her cows through the harvested maize plots, watering her vegetable garden from the stream (using basins to splash water up on the shore...it was quite the spectacle!), milking cows (I almost had the hang of it by the third day), and drinking an abundance of milk tea (fresh from the cow)! The people in "those ends" were beyond hospitable in their sincere generosity and kindness. How I loved moving around and meeting the neighbors; the hills were home to many families but the community seemed as one. Snapshot: playing with my two sisters, Bonita ("beautiful" in Spanish--her mother did not know, for it was chosen as a Christian name!) and Angelina at night under a canopy of stars, chasing them around as they threw their glow-in-the-dark bracelets in the air!
We then journeyed to Seroti...down on the plains from Kapchoraw...we visited Teso, a broken part of the country that had been devastated by the LRA in 2003. Hundreds were killed at that time, people fled for their lives and children were abducted. These people are also victimized by the Karamojung warriors who use the weapons they obtained during the time of Amin to raid and steal the cattle of Teso. To further describe their plight, it was here that the flooding of last year fell (though now they await the end of a several month drought). We visited here with a group of Peace Promoters to discuss Conflict. I assumed we would debrief some of the quite tragic events with which these people have been afflicted...but through the sharing of dramas we focused our afternoon on the conflicts of everyday...on adultery, domestic violence and "bad relationships." Humanity remains consistent...sinful, and ever conflicted, starting with oneself and spreading throughout communities and nations. The afternoon raised questions and frustrations (including difficulty in translating). As our bus pulled away, it began to rain slightly, as Simon mentioned happily, the Peace Promoter I was honored to sit next to, such was surely God's good blessing on our time together. Pray diligently for peace. I pray that peace may start within you and that in somehow knowing the peace for which Christ paid, that we all would become active agents in promoting it throughout our worlds. Might forgiveness reign!
Spoiled to enjoy the Sipi waterfalls this weekend...and a night upon a mountain top under a brillant display of stars....
Long journey back..and March catches me off guard with lectures commencing once again in the morning time...jeepers
Oh, and wishing you all a happy mothers' day (from the Ugandan calendar)!!!
Thinking of you all and wondering how this new month finds you,
My love to you precious ones,
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1 comment:
what a rare, life memory, Erin! Expect this day will be one that will stay with you always--- what a rich time you are having and that we are having through your blogging!
Love you bunches,
Mom
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