Gulu: Delays, Easter, and Kopé Café

Good Friday started quite early for me. Sleeping in a tent on the Scotland’s compound in Ikotos, I was awakened not only to rooster crowing only a few yards away but to the neighbor’s radio playing nothing but static. It was not even 5 am. After lying there a few minutes hoping that our neighbors would just turn off the radio, I finally stepped out of my tent. Kennedy, our Ugandan friend with LWF (Lutheran World Federation), was supposed to pick us up at 6 am so that we could proceed to Gulu. By 5:30 Lydia (a new short-termer working in Ikotos with Meghan for three months), Meghan, Matt, and I were up and getting ready for our journey.

Lydia and I

By 5:50, we were ready and waiting. 6 am faded into 6:30 and still no Kennedy. Matt and Meghan walked over to the LWF compound to find out where the ride was. When they got back, they told us that they had gotten Kennedy out of bed and that we would probably leave in another hour. Well, we didn’t actually leave until about 10 am. (To those of you who hate delays, this is a typical travel day in Africa.) Now, we originally thought that the only people riding in the vehicle would be the driver, Kennedy, Andrew, Godfrey (both of whom also work for LWF), and the four of us. When word got out that there was a vehicle traveling to Uganda, there were more people that turned out to get a ride. We drove a Land Cruiser to Uganda. There were ten of us in the back on bench seats, and three in front (including the driver). Needless to say, it was a tight squeeze. Most of the luggage had to be put up on the roof rack since we needed has much space as possible for leg-room. The road was extremely bumpy but was much smoother (still a bit bumpy) once we crossed into Uganda. We had lunch in Kitgum, where we also dropped a few passengers. As we traveled on to Gulu from Kitgum, we passed so many IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camps. These camps were set up during the war in Uganda when the LRA (Lord’s Resistant Army) was attacking the north. People fled from their homes to these camps and many of them are still living in these camps. These camps were full of hundreds of tukels just piled up on top of one another. There was barely any space between each tukel. I wish I could have taken pictures but the vehicle was moving too quickly and the road was too bumpy.

Gulu

We finally reached Gulu in the late afternoon. Gulu is a small town (but much bigger than Torit) bustling with Ugandans and NGOs. Our first task, after dropping a few people, was to find an ATM. Unfortunately, due to the holiday weekend, practically every bank was closed, including the only bank in Gulu that accepts our missionary accounts. We dropped Matt and another girl off at the “bus stop” (the gas station where the busses stop). Matt was going to travel on to Kampala that evening and we confirmed that the busses to Kampala would be arriving shortly. Kennedy then took us girls to a guest house close to where he lived called Crete Mini Conference Center. Well, it wasn’t really a conference center and, in fact, it wasn’t really set up to accommodate guests. There were beds and facilities but I got the feeling that there weren’t many people that stayed there. Our room consisted of three sets of bunk beds crammed into a very small space. The bathroom was a full bathroom without running water. We had to dump water from a Jeri can into the toilet to flush it. (I believe that was the hardest shower/sponge bath I’ve ever taken!) While our room was being made up, we visited Kennedy’s family for a while. Around 6:30 pm, Kennedy got a phone call from Matt. The busses to Kampala hadn’t shown up yet, and Matt decided to not travel on since he wouldn’t arrive until after midnight. We picked Matt up just as the busses were arriving and from there went to Andrew’s house for dinner. We met Andrew’s wife, Doreen, and his youngest child, Gifty (she is named this because Andrew and Doreen believed her to be a gift from the Lord). Gifty is so adorable! She’s only 3-months-old and she can already sit up.

Andrew, Gifty, and Doreen

Dinner was amazing! I believe that was the best African meal I’ve ever had. Doreen is an amazing cook. We kept telling her that she needed to open her own restaurant. We had such a great time visiting with Andrew’s family.

Saturday, I was awakened to “Another One Bites the Dust”. It was 4 am and Meghan’s cell phone was going off. Doreen was calling to let us know that they would be leaving at 5 am for Kampala and that Matt could accompany them. I fell back to sleep before Matt even left. Later that morning, Meghan, Lydia, and I walked into the heart of Gulu. Our first stop was a Ugandan bank where we were able to exchange some US dollars for Ugandan shillings. It wasn’t much but it was enough to get by with until the banks reopened on Monday. We had breakfast at this little coffee shop named Kopé Café. It was a quaint little café with Mzungu food. We spent the entire morning at this café eating, sipping coffee, and reading. I almost felt like I was back in the States.

Inside the Kopé Café

Our Waitresses

While we were at Kopé, Meghan discovered an older lady that lived behind the café who made jewelry. This woman, Janet, made paper beads and then strung them together into necklaces. I was so excited because I’ve wanted to purchase this kind of jewelry. I went back and talked to Janet for some time and she showed me how to make the beads. Before I left I purchased several necklaces and thanked her profusely. She in turn thanked me so much because she knew that she would now have a good Easter meal. (Now, don’t think I spent a lot of money because I really didn’t. It was only a couple of dollars but to her that was quite a bit more.) Later in the afternoon we walked all around Gulu and did a little souvenir shopping. Towards the end of the day it began to rain, so we headed back to Kopé Café for dinner and then to the guest house for some sleep.

Easter Sunday brought the rains. We went to Christ Church, an Anglican church, which is where Andrew goes to church. We just weren’t really sure where to go. It was a large church but when we arrived at 8 am the church wasn’t really full. I believe we were the only Mzungus in the church. I had high hopes for this service, especially when they sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and read from John about Christ’s resurrection. (The AIC churches, at least in Sudan, don’t really make a big deal about Easter so I was excited to attend an Easter service.) The bishop gave the sermon and he didn’t quite hit the nail. I won’t go into detail but I’ll give you an example: he claimed that the “one whom Jesus loved” was Judas. He was quoting the scripture from John! The bishop spoke for about 45 minutes or so. I started noticing that the church was getting fuller and fuller. People were still arriving AFTER the sermon. I don’t quite remember what happened in the second half of the service other than the serving of communion and the choir singing the Hallelujah chorus (the choir did a decent job, but I’m not too sure what the guy on the piano was playing). By the end of the 2 ½ hour service the bishop once again got up and addressed the people living in the IDP camps. He told them: “Go home! Go home! The war is over! Go home!” It was quite an interesting Easter service.

Christ Church

Lydia and I

After church we went to Kopé Café for brunch and then back to the Crete guesthouse to pack up our stuff. We then moved to another guesthouse called the Franklin House. (We really wanted running water.) After we were settled we walked to the outskirts of Gulu to this really nice conference center (which we couldn’t afford to stay at) for a late Easter lunch. We all agreed that Kopé Café was better. The rest of the evening we just spent hanging out at the Franklin House. I got the chance to know Lydia a little better since we were sharing a room (Meghan had her own room). Later that night, Meghan and I called our families.

Lydia, Meghan, and I inside Kopé Café

Easter Monday was a beautiful day. Our first stop…Kopé Café (yes, we went there every day!). Once we discovered the banks were open we were able to access the ATM and then do a little resupply. (Since we don’t have that much food variety in Sudan, more so in Ikotos, then we have to do resupply on dry stuffs outside of the country.) We spent the entire day stocking up. We took a short break and relaxed a bit at the guesthouse. (They had track events on the TVs in the restaurant area so we sat glued to the television for some time.) We then walked through the open market to see what fresh produce we needed. That was by far the most organized open market I’ve ever seen! All of the grains were in one area, fruits and vegetables in another, and fish in another. They even had an entire pavilion for just bananas. I’ve never seen so many bananas. As we were walking through deciding on what to buy, Meghan pointed out a few tables where several old women sat and noted that they were selling “witch doctor” products. The tables were full of random odd things. Once we had made our way through the entire market, we started at the banana pavilion and made our way back. Meghan and Lydia stocked up since they can’t get much fresh produce in the Ikotos market. I only bought a few fresh items (string beans, green peppers, and oranges).

After our market trip, we showered and returned to Kopé Café for dinner. While we were there we received a call from Doreen letting us know that they were back in town. She asked us if we wanted to come over so that she could teach us how to prepare a local Ugandan dish. We quickly ate and walked over to the house. We sat and chatted with Andrew for a bit and played with Gifty. Then Doreen showed us how to prepare greens with eggs (cooked leafy greens mixed with tomato, onion, and eggs). Around 9:30 or so we finished preparing the greens and sat down with the family and had a second meal (we didn’t eat that much). The greens were delicious; I just hope that I can remember how to make them! I enjoyed hanging out with Andrew’s family so much. They are such a loving family!

Tuesday was a travel day…and a waiting day. Meghan and I went to Kopé Café for breakfast while Lydia was running. We made a few quick stops before we returned to the Franklin House to finish packing. By 10 am our stuff was in the vehicle and the driver was taking us to visit the Invisible Children office. Meghan has worked with Invisible Children in the States promoting their efforts and participating in local events. She was really excited to finally see the organization in person. We were given a tour by the PR person, another Mzungu named Kelly. Kelly took us through all the departments and told us what IC is currently doing and what the future looks like as well. I would love to tell you more about what they are doing by I fear that this entry is already too long. You can check out their website on the link to the right of the page.

After our tour we went to pick up Kennedy and found out that we were going to Kopé Café to wait for Andrew. We were told that we would be leaving around 11:30 am. (Are you starting to see a pattern?) We waited at the café until about 1:30. When Andrew showed up we waited in the vehicle until 2:30 until Kennedy showed up (he had wandered off some where). My Western side really came out while we were waiting. I was really anxious to get back to Sudan and my patience was waning. When Kennedy finally showed up we sped to Kitgum but by the time we got there it was too late to proceed to Sudan. The Sudan border would close at 5 pm and it was either sleep in Kitgum or sleep in the bush at the Sudan border. So, we stayed in Kitgum that night. We left the next day about mid-morning and made it back to Ikotos by about 3. I had even more problems trying to get back to Torit but I finally made it back by Friday afternoon.

Our Gulu trip made for a nice holiday weekend and a nice break from Sudan, despite the few frustrations of travel. As my time in Africa comes to a close in the next few weeks, I will spend it in Torit. I am looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks will bring. Well, until next time…Salaam Taaki!!