Saturday was the annual Ggaba Mukono Ecumenical Contact (GMEC), our partnership with Ggaba National Seminary. I wish it was more than just the Anglicans and the Catholics, but we take what we have. We are in our 41st year of this contact, which is wonderful. Several of the lecturers from both institutions were involved with GMEC while in seminary themselves.
Since we alternate the hosting responsibilities, this year we traveled to Ggaba (though the planning meeting was in Mukono). The day started off rather wet, and I was wondering whether we’d be able to play football, and whether the denim skirt that I had put on the line the night before would ever dry, since it rained. All. Night. And most of the morning. The answer to both questions is yes, by the way.
Though we arrived late to Ggaba (this is Africa; we left an hour late), we were able to do almost everything on the schedule. Rev. Omona presented a paper on “The Call for Ecumenical Pastoral Action in an Effort to Build Peace in the Great Lakes Region,” then Ggaba presented a response. We handed over our roles, responsibilities, and authority to the incoming executive committee, and received certificates. We had a fabulous skit about the conflict and the church’s role in it, and then a joint service in the chapel.
We broke into regional groups to discuss how we can build peace in our region. The international students clearly don’t have a region, but I was coopted into the group from the West. I suppose that works; I’m just further west than the rest. Due to time, we weren’t able to discuss, but after introductions, someone observed that they realized that there were people there who were related (I’m guessing that they must be in the same clan), so that was wonderful to see people connect. All went well until I mentioned really being a Muganda – that didn’t go over so well. Even mentioning my Mukiga (pronounced Mu-CHI-ga; I have no idea why the k sometimes is pronounced with a ch) nose didn’t seem to patch things up. Whoops.
Of course there was food, and football. What is fellowship without food? Sometimes it’s called swallowship if there are only drinks. We were defeated 3-2 in football, though it was a good game. Perhaps next year…
I must remind you that football (soccer) is a national obsession here. To say that there was a football match means that everyone was coaching the players, the coaches, and the refs. My friend Esther had a branch in her hand; I went over to be sure she wasn’t going to cane anyone. Dr. Opol went to assist with the halftime pep talk, after coaching from our seats.
Ggaba is in the part of Kampala that is right next to Lake Victoria, and it is exquisite to see the lake from the campus. Augustus appreciated the peace and quiet of the Ggaba campus, which was indeed lovely. And to be on the lake… that would be a great seminary environment.
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