African Insights Blog

Christmas in Africa 2007

Will they know that it is Christmas?

 Christmas – it does something to me and in me…it brings back the childhood memories past.  Of Christmas trees decorated, of cookies, chocolates, Christmas Eve celebrations, candles, carols, and cooked goose on Christmas Day and in my case Lebkuchen and Marzipan.  Christmas meant family, friends, get together gatherings and of course Christmas Eve Church.  I remember attending a church service on Christmas Eve listening to the sermon about peace on earth while at the same time on the news I heard of Korea, troubles in Eastern Europe and more and always wondered what this peace stuff at Christmas was all about.

This Christmas once again I am in Kampala, Uganda.  As you drive around town there you might see something of Christmas here and there, but for the most part it is business as usual.  Munyonyo Resort advertised a 45,000 Shilling buffet with carved turkey, cranberry sauce, red cabbage, spinach lasagna, and an assortment of other familiar items, along with an assortment of Indian buffet items.  

On the radio is the occasional Christmas Carol performed by the Ugandan favorite Celine Dion.  It is kind of interesting, one rarely hears Celine Dion on the radio in the USA, and here it is all day long…she is a sort of Ugandan favorites when it comes to Western singers. I kind of thought that the spirit of Christmas would go the way of the Nile –downriver, but then I had a lovely surprise…it was the Bugolobi Church for Children Christmas Party.

Early on a Sunday morning I drove over to Bugolobi…as my car turned off the main road toward the Kiswa School where the church for children meets, there I saw children, holding the hands of brothers and sisters and moving toward the place where Christmas would be a week early.  The place where music, songs, stories, a Christmas play, a film that I had prepared would be shown, gifts given out and how could one forget there would be food, real food, beef, rice, soda and sweets.

Inside of the school yard, the music, the singing was already in progress.  Children who had left their home in the slum early that morning where together as a family,  a family of children who had something in common, that often at home there was simply nothing. Leaving behind their misery of hunger, poverty, life without

Many of them are orphans, at least one of the parents had died, others were living with an aunt or grandmother, existing on one meal a day, most of them unable to attend school for lack of funds for the daily meal, lack of funds for transport, lack of funds for school uniforms, lack was the common word…Today there would be an abundance, no one would go without.

As the children arrived they would be greeted with a loving handshake or hug by one of the many volunteers who gave every Sunday to serving the children born into slums, or simply living in slums.  Many of them that were there were below five years old, dressed in the one nice outfit that they might have, they were ready for church, especially today.

One might wonder what kind of children come here?  Just recently I sat down with just two of them and spend some time with them to find out about them and their families, their lives and their dreams and aspirations…lets meet them.

There is Innocent Kamugisha, his trousers frayed, yet his eyes shining with hope.  He attends school and is in Primary grade 5.  He is 11 years old and lives in a shack in the slums with his sister Eunice and his Mother. His father died of AIDS.  His mother attempts to make a living selling second hand clothing here and there.  There is no money in the house, not much to eat beyond Posho (corn – maize meal) that looks white in Uganda but along with beans stills the hunger pangs.  When he becomes ill, they pray since mother cannot afford going to the clinic or hospital.

He enjoys going to school and especially likes Math. The British Arsenal Football Team is his favorite and he follows their latest games whenever he can.  He has friends whom he plays with after doing his daily chores of carrying water to his home.  This Ugandan boy would love to become a teacher some day, built a house for his mom and family. 

Juliet Nantongo was also there with her bright and smiling face.  She is 11 years old lives at home with three sisters and one brother.  The father has died of AIDS.  Juliet’s mother is an Askari, a guard for a private security company and makes little money.  Juliet attends school but may never go much further since the lack of money is preventing her from doing so.  Like Innocent she wants to help Mom later on in life.

Innocent and Juliet along with their families represent the latest statistics just released by the USA based Kaiser Family foundation.  Numbers that show that 76 percent of Ugandans like Innocent and Juliet could not have access to health care during 1977.  66% could not access sufficient food, while 71% were unable to get clothing.  These figures according to Kaiser were the highest of all countries surveyed in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America.  

Here this Sunday morning I was surrounded by over 700 children such as Innocent and Juliet, children who had come to celebrate Christmas this morning.  There is nothing like the expectancy of a child.  That childlike spirit becomes infectious and touches the hearts of men such as I who have seen their shares of Christmas celebrations over the years, but this was different.  There was a bubbly joy that came from within and flowed freely as children sang, clapped and danced.  

They ate their Christmas meal with a smile and the sweets and sodas that followed.  I walked around spoke with quite a few of them but will never forget a little boy who represented many a child, but in manner that was ever so free.  This little three year old boy was sprawled on his back, behind him was the plate of food he had just finished, in his hand was beef bone he was gnawing on.  His eyes were closed, a quiet contentment on his face. 

I smiled, looked around the hundreds of children who had come and saw that same satisfaction of being filled. Children, who know all about going with out, now enjoyed the reality of being filled.  Of eating sweets, of enjoying the rare treat of a soda. 

We had set up a projector inside of a large classroom, music and all, but not just any film would do, this was DVD of images of the children.  Nothing could have served better.  As they saw someone they knew a great shout of recognition and joy would break forth from one group or another.  Today they were the stars on the screen.

At the end of the morning the children were broken into smaller groups and gifts were distributed amongst them.  They were simply happy today.  The gifts ranged from clothing to toys.  Some of the items were formerly confiscated by Uganda Customs and then released such as fake Levi Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger shirts and trousers.  No one here knew whether they were fake or real, they were nice pieces of clothing which these children found most useful.

It was a different Christmas than the one that I grew up with in Germany and have experienced in America with family and friends.  It was most meaningful.  Will they know that it is Christmas?  That picture of the little boy makes that real…the answer is a resounding yes!!!  And, yes there is snow in Africa, Uganda has five snow capped mountains.

As the children walked home with their gifts and sweets, there was a satisfaction, an inner peace, laughter and joy…The spirit of that first Christmas was replicated today in a school in Kampala, Uganda where they had come to celebrate the birth of a child over 2000 years ago…Yes, they knew it was Christmas and for me it was also Christmas…A Christmas that was more than the nice songs by Celine Dion, but one of the heart and soul where once again I was so glad that I could be someone who could help to make a difference in the life of a child.…Merry Christmas and to the many of you that may not share my tradition…may the days you celebrate at this time bring you peace and meaning…jon       

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