Wow. If you have been hanging in there with me through 8 posts already, you are a trouper! Thanks for reading!
My last couple of posts were about being out in the village — and I’m sure I didn’t do justice to what an incredible experience it was. While in some ways we felt like we had stepped back in time a couple of centuries, in other ways we faced very relevant issues, just intensified and within a different context and culture. People are just people, where ever you go. And we all need a Savior. Thank you, Jesus, for providing the way for our salvation.
We got going on our way back to Kampala, and the rain had really helped with the dust problem. Also, thankfully, this time our van led the way in the caravan, so we weren’t eating the dust from the other vans! We made pretty good progress down the dirt roads, only having to stop a few times to let cattle herds get out of the road. We were kind of in a hurry, because we had been invited to be the special guests at an engagement celebration, called an “Introduction”, at Kasubi. The women of the church there had gathered traditional African outfits for each of us to put on, and despite the fact that we ended up being nearly 2 hours later than expected, and we were all totally wiped out from the weekend (and looked it too!), they held the party until we arrived and seated us — you guessed it — right up front.
The Introduction is a BIG deal. It is actually more important culturally than the wedding! The pomp and ceremonies went on for about 4 hours, with formal introductions of the bride and groom and family members, the paying of the dowry by the groom’s family to the bride’s family, and presentation of gifts, lots of food (which we ate with our fingers, even though we were dressed “formally”), LOUD music, ceremonies and even a dancer on stilts with a goulish face mask on. (I have no earthly idea what that was about! ) It was all fun for about the first hour, then the fatigue began to set in and I (along with others) ended up with a massive headache and couldn’t enjoy the festivities any more. But, couldn’t go anywhere either, so we just got through it! We were SO happy to get “home” to the Stephenson’s home, later that night. Some of the others have great pictures of the beautiful bride, the gift presentations and the rest of the celebration – I will add more photos later.
Sophie, the bride, was a success story from the Kasubi school. She had graduated and gone on to college and was now about to be married. Someone asked why so many celebrations? Colleen reminded us that there is so much death, everyday, from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and so many other diseases, that they take every opportunity they can to celebrate life.
