Blog Series: Uganda Visit 2022 (2nd & 3rd July)
July 2022
2nd July: Theo and Prossy are the girls here at the compound who are cooking for us and, today, we enjoyed a breakfast of omelette and cow pea samosas and a lunch with fresh fried fish from Lake Victoria. We certainly feel we are being well looked after.
In between, we had a meeting with Gonzaga, our Administrator here in Uganda, to discuss finances and for Neil, to begin to gain an overview of how financial records are kept. Late this afternoon, Ted and Judi took a walk through the plantations and into the local village, where there are just a few small shops and some homes.
There’s always something interesting to see - today, a pedlar carrying his wares on his head and a motor cycle taxi - boda boda - accompanied by an outrider and carrying metal poles, so long, they took up the whole width of the road.
3rd July:
‘And my God will supply every need of yours’, was our experience today, as we made an early start from the compound to participate in a celebration
Mass at the shrine of Charles Lwanga, one of the Ugandan martyrs, in Birinzi. Stopping for diesel in Masaka, on turning the ignition to continue our journey, we found that the engine would not start. Amazingly, there were several very helpful mechanics there who at first thought a new battery was needed, but then tried topping up the battery water and…. we were on our way again.
On arrival, many hundreds of people were gathered together, having footed from home, or come by car, bus or truck. The service included a sermon from our Patron, the Bishop of Masaka and was accompanied by wonderful music from several different groups, one of which was the men’s choir from the Kyansi parish, where Father Boniface is priest in charge. We returned for a late lunch and a very wide ranging conversation with Father Boniface, about education in the two primary schools we use. This has given us a much greater understanding of the issues facing the schools and also, much food for thought as we plan for the future.