Iganga, 13th of April 2019, 22:47 PM – Iyolwa gets closer!
The two of us are sitting on the only available seat on the matatu from Kampala to Tororo. Another passenger is sleeping with his head lying on Andi’s shoulder, while Jannik’s arm finds its place outside the window. However, we are happy to have passed four out of five hours driving from Kampala to our new place Iyolwa.
In Kampala, we noticed lots of people selling palm leaves. The same happens in Iyolwa, as Palm Sunday is an important church festival in catholic Uganda. Shortly after our arrival, Father Stephen starts preaching outside the church under the palm trees. Afterwards he moves inside, escorted by hundreds of students waving palm leaves. It’s the celebration of christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. During the ceremony, Father Stephen introduces us to the school’s community and prays for us.
On Sunday evening, we meet Father Robert who is our Project Partner. He invites us for dinner. To our surprise, we are not eating in a restaurant, but at a private party. People are celebrating “Vishu”, which is the New Year’s Eve in our host’s home region in southern India. We are impressed by dozens of people celebrating together, despite their different origins and religions. There are catholic priests from India, Hindus, Ugandans and us Germans. Living together in tolerance is one of the basic principles at the Iyolwa Secondary School. Most of the students are catholic, but several of them believe in other religions.
We feel mostly welcome by the people in Uganda. Especially in Iyolwa we feel very comfortable by the hospitality at the Secondary School. We are looking forward to all the tasks we are to perform during the next weeks.
Christina (eine Freiwillige an der Schule, die auch noch Leute von unserem ersten Projekt in Iyolwa kennt), Jannik und Andi beim Vishu-Fest
