Attending church

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Last Sunday I attended Atneyi's Catholic church in her village. It was a large, modern chuch which contrasted greatly with some of the stick structures I've seen.
The previous evening I had a great time with two of the guys from the church as Atneyi had told them that I wanted to take back a Ugandan Carol with me. So we sat out on the porch at her house, singing, notating and translating carols ( one of which was 'Il est nee'). They were so impressed with my Runyoro -it's easy enough to read as it's all phonetic, that we decided the following day I would address the congregation in the local language!

The service was at 8am. Everyone puts on their best clothes, Atenyi insisted that I couldn't wear a skirt that I planned to wear as it was dusty, so I ended up going in trousers that were freshly pressed with the charcoal iron. I walked up to church with Cleophas ( a very bright sixth former who'd helped with the translating). It was quite an amazing sight, the steady flow of people all walking towards the church and the singing could be heard from about 100m away. The local secondary girls school were attending and were therefore involved in leading the singing and read the Intercessions. The singing... it's impossible to find the words. I had goosebumps throughout! The service was half in English, half in Runyoro which added to the length as the readings and sermon were translated. After the notices, the 'muzungu' was invited to address the congregation. It was nerve wracking standing up infront of about 500 people, but after I greeted them in Runyoro, they all immediately clapped! I continued, basically thanking the various clergy members, nuns etc. I introduced myself, said where I came from and where I was working. The reception I got was just incredible. They were obviously surprised that I had spoken in Runyoro (I also added a bit in English), and were really pleased with the effort I had made. After the service, there was a lot of handshaking and greeting. I left with a very warm feeling inside.

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