MINI-VACATION IN ARUA
On the morning of Friday, March 11, the three of us set out
for the district of Arua. On a map, Arua
is about due west of the district of Gulu.
However, there is no road to take us that way. We must travel south for about 73 kilometers,
then west for a very long time, and finally north about the same distance we
traveled south. It is a five-hour trip,
one-way! Jo Ann is our only driver.
Now this time there was a little “hitch” in our plans…. Jo developed a small sore on her middle-toe earlier
in the week. That became a very serious
sore by the time we were ready to leave on Friday. She didn’t want to scrap our plans, so she
drove, anyway.
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| Sherry's Guest House - 4 units |
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| Sherry's home |
We had rooms in the guest house of Sherry Meyer, a long-time
friend of ours. She and her friend, Fr. Tonino have run Radio Pacis, the diocesan radio station, from its beginning. We spent most of our
time in her house where she made us feel welcome. She even has a TV! She is a great and generous woman who is very
kind to us. In addition, she is a
marvelous cook! We feel as if each of us
gained ten pounds just over the weekend! Tonino took Jo to a medical place for her foot that evening. Say a prayer for him today.... March 19 is his birthday!
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| Sherry's Dining Room |
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| Sherry's Screened-in-Porch |
On Saturday we did some grocery shopping in Arua town for
many items we can’t find at home in our Gulu stores. For example, one of our “staples” is tuna,
which we had not found for weeks! (We also found some "Pringles"!)
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| Musicians at the chapel |
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| The middle aisle is full of people |
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| Beautiful and curious children after Mass |
We went to church in a small village chapel on Sunday, where
the people welcomed us warmly, and provided music for the liturgy with
wonderful harmonies and home-made instruments.
Tonino had been assigned to this chapel for this Sunday. The church was full and many more worshiped through the windows.
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| Sisters Paola and Severina with Fr. Tonino |
In the late afternoon two Comboni Sisters
came for a visit. We all ate some of
Sherry’s homemade ice-cream and cookies.
These Sisters are both in the nursing field, so Jo was monitored (in a
small hospital/clinic, at the Sisters house, and at Sherry’s) for her
increasingly serious infection.
In the midst of it all, Fran got “ants in her pants,”
literally. Sorry! No pictures of that! Here in Uganda, probably all
over Africa, ants tend to move in humongous groups, but they travel in a line
maybe six to eight ants across. They move
quickly in both directions, seeming to know what they are doing and where they
are going. If you get in their way, they
simply climb up! They also bite! Poor Fran….
On Monday morning, Jo felt that she could still drive us home. We attended Mass in a small studio in one of
the Radio Pacis buildings, then packed the car and started out. Fortunately, the roads have been greatly
improved recently, so there were only about 15 kilometers of really bad
road. In the past, at least two-thirds
of the trip was on bad roads!
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| Tonino, Sherry, Jo in the driver's seat, & part of Fran's head; Pat took photo |
Jo has continued treatment for the infection and has hopes that
it is improving. We’ll keep you updated! Other than that, we have happy memories!
Happy Feast of St. Joseph..... Our Jubilee celebration will be in the next blog!
