January 11, 2009 Sunday in Namitembo

I am sitting in the comfortable Namitembo rectory living room waiting for a dumping rain storm to subside. Then I'll go about 50 steps to the door of our house. Through the window, I see fuschia colored bouganvillias. It is quite hot, so the rain, I think, will cool things down a bit.

Chet and I attended a prayer service in the church this morning. The priests went to outlying churches, so there was no Mass here. The service was conducted by village leaders. The music was wonderful: singing, drums, clapping and swaying and great harmony We sat in the back because men and women sit on opposite sides of the main part of the church, but the choir in back has men and women mixed. The choir space was full so we actually were over on the other side with the mothers and toddlers. I wish I had a secret camera so I could catch the antics of the little kids. They were incredibly quiet and well behaved, all dressed up in satin dresses and good shoes. Many are carried in slings, but in church they also can get down and move around. When about 1 hr and 15 minutes had elapsed, there were a half dozen crawlers mixing it up under the benches. By 1 hr and 30 minutes one was saying "Bap, bap, bap" quite loud. The mother passed her fingers over his lips, to no avail. The next thing I saw was the little boy on her lap and she was pushing one breast into his mouth. That only worked for a little while and pretty soon she joined the other mothers of active ones outside the door. While I was watching babies, Chet paid attention to the offerings. In addition to vegetables and money, there was a case of Coke! At the end of the service (1 hr and 50 minutes) we went up to the pulpit to be introduced. We each said a sentence or so, which was translated, and everybody clapped. Outside afterwards, we were the object of a many stares. I said "hi" a lot and we both offered to shake hands. Some did so and some were too shy. It was an amazing experience.

I mentioned to John that I'd love to learn to drum like they do in church and he has already located a teacher for me. John is going to make a CD of this church music to be sold as a fund raiser. It will be a good thing!

Tomorrow I am to visit the primary school and Chet will meet the teacher of the woodworking class at the trade school. A new daycare center, called the nursery, will open in about a month. I will probably lend a hand in the hiring of the staff. Some of the puppets I brought along may be recreated by folks in the tailoring classes of the trade school.

Tonight as we waited for dinner, a welcoming gift from someone in the parish arrived at the door. It clucked as it was carried to a back closet for the night. I guess we'll see it on the dinner table tomorrow.

While waiting for lunch, Vincent, the cook, told me he supports his wife and three kids and the three orphaned children of his sister, by being the cook, cleaner and jack of all trades around here. His father had the job before him. He speaks fine English, so he is a valuable resource for us.

I hope you are all staying warm. We could use a bit of cool!