Today has
been a long, hot, amazing, fascinating, encouraging and challenging day!
Welcome to Uganda. Our day started like any wedding Saturday, breakfast, nice
hot shower (YES!!), change into smart clothes, wrap the present, and off we go.
Our walk was a bit different. We waved at a small boy sitting at the roadside,
took photos of a Marabou stork, were approached by motorbike taxis (boda boda),
and arrived at the church just after 11am – the advertised start of the
wedding.
The church was decorated with red, blue and white flowers and a bridal
arch by the entrance. People arrived on boda bodas, walking, in big 4x4s, and on
bicycles. They looked around and left again. A small group of us stayed and after
a brief flurry of me being official guest photographer, we joined the others on
an uncomfortable dusty stone wall in the shade. Tom pointed out that we stood up to
shake hands with a bishop, but didn’t stand up to shake hands with a smelly
homeless man. Negative point to us.
I wondered
‘How on earth do people know what time it starts?’
The wedding
finally started with the groom’s procession at 12.30 (groom, best man, 4
groomsmen, 2 pageboys) followed some time after by the bride’s procession (2
little bridesmaids spreading petals for the bride).
After 15 minutes, 4 more
bridesmaids arrived. The service was pretty much as you’d expect at an Anglican
wedding although every ’no objection’ and ‘I do’ was greeted with ululations,
clapping and the organ playing. This included the removing of the bride’s veil
when the groom was chastised for his lack of enthusiasm and made to repeat ‘yes,
she is the one I want to marry!’
Oh yes, and there was a girl carrying a live
chicken (never found out why), and at several points a crowd gathered at the
front taking photos on their cameras (e.g. when they exchanged vows). Hmm,
maybe not the same. It was fabulous if hot and tiring.
The ceremony
was followed by a reception which started late so we were entertained by guests.
The bridal party arrived (yes – we were waiting while they had photos taken),
and there were short speeches. We were informed outside church that we were
making a speech on behalf of Global Care! Fortunately David was there too so we
did a triple act. We had a huge meal (no cutlery), and the cake cutting (cake
had fireworks) was followed by a ceremony where the bride and groom washed each
other’s hands and knelt to feed the other – a brilliant symbolism of equality
and love.
When we’re
back I’ll write a full blog on the decorations, what people wore and other
snippets. Now I want to tell you about people. As a boy, the groom, his three
brothers and their sister lost their father and mother in quick succession. The children were cared for by their
grandmother, and became part of the second group of children sponsored by
Global Care – in 1991. Those small boys
have become a medical officer, a civil engineer, in the Air Force and the
youngest works for Compassion charity in Soroti. That is encouraging enough –
but imagine our surprise when David told us he was in the same group of
sponsored children. Then he introduced us to another of their group – a
teacher. This class of 1991 is a fantastic testimony to the work of Global
Care. At the time they were sponsored they were traumatised by civil war and the
loss of parents. Look at them now! We also met a man who, believe it or not, stayed at my Mum's in Durham in the 1990s, when he travelled to the UK to meet Ron Newby the founder of Global Care.
As we left,
David said how pleased he is that his friends are all happy and its great to go
to a wedding and see one of them married. He is full of thanks to Global Care.
We also met
the latest boy to be sponsored. A little chap who danced with me while we were
waiting for the bridal party. I wonder where he will be as an adult.
And finally,
our old friend Simon came over to see us this evening. If you can cope with
another awesome story of a previously sponsored boy, read Simons’ story at: https://www.globalcare.org/2018/01/simons-story/
.
Yup - I remain totally committed to Global Care sponsorship
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