Bishop Barham University College and Kabale University Trip Report part 4

Donell and Carrie at Lake Bunyonyi

 

 

Here is the next installment from this very stretched out report:

David Nutter and I (Carrie Miles) left India from Mumbai on March 4. David flew home; I went on the Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to meet Donell Peck and fly on to Kigali, Rwanda.

Donell and I hoped we would meet each other in Addis, anyway. According to the original plans, Donell was coming to India as well as Africa, but she suffered an injury to her leg just two days before we were scheduled to leave. She had to cancel India and at first we thought she would have to cancel the entire trip. But she got the split off her leg and an okay from her doctor to travel in time to join me in Africa.  We were both a bit anxious about actually connecting in Ethiopia, though.  Fortunately, when I finally got from my Indian flight to the correct terminal in Addis (not a straightforward task), there was Donell, her back to me, watching the far door!  We were very glad to see each other.

Donell and I flew into Kigali, Rwanda, Kigali being far closer to where we were going in southern Uganda than Entebbe, Uganda’s international airport. The flight was full, and Donell and I shared a row with a young man going to a village in southern Uganda to do volunteer work. When we landed, I asked him how he was going to get to his village. He said someone was picking him up, but he wasn’t getting off the plane yet but going on to Kigali.  I said, “But we are in Kigali.” He said, “We are in Entebbe.” So I looked out the window and saw that we were, in fact, in Entebbe.

I was very surprised, and looked at the print out of my reservation several times. It didn’t mention Entebbe at all and had us arriving in Kigali an hour earlier. Apparently the stopover in Entebbe had been added after I had booked my flight. There is a little circuit that these airlines run: Addis, Entebbe, Kigali, Addis, or in the case of Kenya Air, Nairobi, Entebbe, Kigali, Nairobi; sometimes going clockwise, sometimes counter clockwise. Throw in Burundi and it gets even more confusing. I can’t keep track.  Maybe the routes don’t change at all but I suffer from wishful thinking, hoping the flights go first to where I want to go. In any case, most of the people on the flight got off in Entebbe, so I hope they knew where they were. I’m glad I didn’t automatically join the crowd and get off at the wrong stop. In any case, we eventually flew on to Rwanda, a rather short flight, where we were met by Frank Tweheyo, who drove us north to Kabale, Uganda.

White Horse Inn, Kabale, Uganda

In Kabale, Donell and I stayed at my home-away-from-home, the White Horse Inn. This is an old golf resort, in urgent need of a good coat of paint, and in some places, glass in the windows, but still comfortable, with bath tubs, hot water, and an electrical generator for when the municipal power goes out.  Uganda and Burundi too suffer from a shortage of electricity and so have a policy of “load sharing”, where every area has the power off for part of the day so that other parts of the country can have it on.  Sometimes the houses are wired so that certain circuits get the electricity but not others. For example, the lights may be on but not the water heater.  In Burundi, I will wake at 2:00 AM to find all the lights on because the power had gone off earlier in the evening and no one had turned off the switches.

Grounds at White Horse Inn, Kabale, Uganda

This year, we were especially (and ungenerously) grateful when the power was out in town because this put the broadcasting equipment at the mosque out as well. Either the mosque or the equipment must be new, as I never heard the call to prayers while staying in Kabale before. The muezzin sang for an hour on Friday beginning at 5:00 AM, but our sleep was uninterrupted on Saturday when the power was out.  We hope he doesn’t get a generator himself.

Donell and I had rooms with a connecting door between us, which we opened when we were feeling sociable and closed when one of us was snoring (me) or otherwise rattling around (Donell).

Kabale University Empower chapter

According to the schedule, we were supposed to have the day after our arrival to rest. But nature and our schedule abhor a vacuum, so we ended up meeting with a group of students at Kabale University.  One of our earliest Empower partners in Kabale, Annah Besigye, planned to start an Empower chapter there and wanted us to help her kick it off. We met with the students in the afternoon, and again on Friday. Annah has continued to meet with them weekly, teaching the New Man, New Woman, New Life study guide.

Canon Gideon presenting the overview sermon

Wednesday we began the Master Class for the executive committee at Bishop Barham University College. Although my report on this group was minimal last year, due mostly to my losing all the photos I took of them when my camera was stolen in Kenya, it would be hard to overestimate the importance of Empower’s partnership with BBUC. As Archdeacon Ribakare Pontien in Burundi observed, if we can reach young people before they marry, we can affect change very quickly.  Having BBUC, which trains many Anglican clergy members, promoting New Man, New Woman, New Life’s Bible-based material is a huge boost for us. Having high-level Anglican clergy and administration/faculty members so invested in the program is also a huge boost. The master class is the fourth program we have done for this group, who are been eager and apt participants.  We really love and respect these wonderful men and women, who have a true heart for the welfare of the family. The principal (president) of the college, Professor Manual, was unable to attend the program as he was called away to another very important seminar, but we were fortunate to meet with him before we left.

Canon Jovahn, BBUC master class Graduates, BBUC Master Class BBUC/Empower Executive Committee

We were really honored when the college commissioned the graduates of the master class to teach the program on behalf of the university itself!

Newly commissioned facilitators (not everyone was available during this service)

We were also delighted to spend two sessions helping Frank Tweheyo kick-off a new Empower student chapter at BBUC. And Donell, Frank and I also did a radio show on Saturday morning. After the show, I was on the sidewalk downtown and a rather large man came out of a shop, pulled me close and pounded me on the back, shouting, “I heard you on the radio!”

Lake Bunyonyi from the terrace at Birdnest Resort

In the middle of the master class, Donell and I enjoyed a lovely break when Frank and Phobice Tweheyo took us up to Lake Bunyonyi, the most beautiful place on earth. If you would like to join me in creating a retirement village there, you will not be sorry. We had dinner at Birdsnest Resort, a lovely hotel run by some Belgians.

The bride and attendants, give-away

Rev. Patrick Mbasa, one of our Empower team, invited us to his daughter’s give-away on Saturday. The give-away is traditionally the event in which the bride is exchanged for the brideprice. Rev. Patrick renamed “the giving in marriage”. It is a great party whatever way you call it. I attended one on my first trip to Uganda in 2005 and was happy that Donell got to experience one.

Carrie preaching at BBUC

I preached twice that Sunday at the BBUC chapel. Following each service, the congregants filed outside and danced! Great fun.

Celebration at end of service

The next day, we headed back to Rwanda to fly to Burundi.