My Friday

On Friday I went to an "opening day" celebration for one of the sites where our students volunteer. There were so many things that were typically Ugandan about the event, I thought I would share it to give you an idea of different events I've attended in the past.

This celebration day was for a site called Acheru, which works with children with disabilities. We have worked with them for a long time but they relocated in the last year and were dedicating their new site.

The first thing that made it an interesting day was the rain. It rained for hours that morning. I knew when I woke up that morning and heard the rain that things would be delayed. When it rains in Uganda most things come to a halt, because so many people use public transportation and walking, people tend to just wait out the rain. The rain also made for a muddy day since, like most events, it was being held outside- see the picture above. Below is one of our students, Mary, making her way through the mud.

So, as I expected the event started late- by 2.5 hours. It was scheduled to begin around 11am and started at 1:30pm. During the waiting time people arrived, there was lots of talking and lamenting about the rain, but really no one was rushed or annoyed.

Once it started the event contained all the aspects of Ugandan ceremonies I have come to expect. First, as pictured below, lots of speeches. It is important that everyone is greeted properly, and that the right people are given a chance to speak to the group. There is always an MC who introduces the speakers- in this case there were several staff members, clients and donors.

After about 2 hours of speeches, along with some singing and dancing, it was time for lunch. This was 3:30pm if you are keeping track, but again, fairly typcial- often meals are served late in the day. The meals are always buffet style, pictured below, with a variety of traditional Uganda foods- matoke, rice, beans, beef, chicken, potatoes, sauces, fruit and always a soda.

We left after the lunch since it was time to return to campus but there were still several hours ahead- the arrival of the guest of honor (a government official), a tour, a tree planting and assuredly more speeches. Also, the cake----->
Every Ugandan event has a cake that is served to all the guests, as you can see it is often very ornate and decorative. This order of events would be true for weddings, graduation parties, welcomes and farewells, really any type of event in Uganda.

I enjoyed this event- I got to see lots of people there and I really like the site and their work. If this had been a few years ago I think I would have been more frustrated- the delays, the formality, the mud. But I knew what to expect, and even though it is different from most American celebrations I accept and appreciate the Ugandan-ness. I think one of the "skills" I have learned living in Africa is a tolerance for ambiguity (that is a phrase from a cross-cultural book we use). Usually I would like to know what time something will start, what will happen there- I think this is typical American trait. Ugandans have a high tolerance for ambiguity and after living here I have learned that sometimes it is easier to just wait, be patient and enjoy the moment- not be wondering what is going to happen next. This is a skill I hope I can carry back with me to the States and enjoy those waiting, in between moments.