A Ugandan Christmas

Christmas in Uganda is one I will never forget. The Christmas season is so different from in America..I don’t know where to begin. The fact that it is summer makes it difficult for me to comprehend that it’s the holiday season because for 22 years I have associated Christmas with the cold, lots of layers of clothes, snuggling by a fire, hot cocoa, and hopefully a little snow;) Christmas in America means shopping for gifts, wrapping them, decorating the tree and house, cooking special treats, singing songs, going to church services, talking of Santa and Elves… Christmas in Uganda is not so complex…not so busy…not so distracting from the Real celebration.

Let me say that in many ways I missed my American Christmas dearly. I missed the cold weather. I missed decorating the tree and setting up the Nativity scene. I missed the snuggling on the couch with all my brothers watching Christmas movies. I missed my momma’s fudge and homemade bread. I missed my dad reading the Christmas story and The Night Before Christmas. I missed wrapping the presents to perfection. I missed watching Bowl Games with the boys. I missed going to church on Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night with a candle in hand. I missed watching my beautiful niece as she opened all her gifts. I missed spending this season with my family. But a Christmas in Uganda made me realize that so easily we MISS the real reason for this wonderful day…a day of celebration for the birth of our SAVIOR, our LORD, the Son of GOD! (he’s kind of a big deal;)

In Africa, Christmas does not begin in October or November or really even December. At least here in Tororo, my team and I did not see anyone decorating or any signs that Christmas was near. We wanted to begin decorating a little in our home a week and ½ before, and when our landlords saw our red and green streamers and paper chains hanging around the house they laughed and said we were much too early! Early? They said Africans put up their trees on Christmas Eve! Ha. (Those living in town might a little sooner). But they cut off branches from trees, tie them in a bunch, stick it in a box, decorate the branches with balloons and toilet paper, and call it a Christmas tree. So we did just that. And laughed the whole way through.

At SMILE during the week, we were busy preparing a drama and teaching songs for the children to perform on Christmas Day. Try to imagine teaching the story of Jesus’ birth to hundreds of African children (most whom have never heard it) in English, their third or fourth language. It was a headache at times, but well worth it in the end.

We spent Christmas at SMILE with the children. We all arrived in our new Katangis to fit right in with the African traditions. Those that can, will buy themselves a new outfit or wear their best on Christmas. A Katangi is a traditional dress that is usually a two-piece outfit of the same material, and we got ours made by the women at SMILE Women’s Center to support them for the holidays. Most of the children had on their best, though there were some still in rags or not fully clothed. They all just looked so happy- they just knew it was a special day you could see it in their face. I was so happy to be with them and to love on them on Christmas.

Although things took a little while to get going- as most things do in Africa- we did our best to get over 400 children seated under the pavilion and quiet (ha, yeah right). Over 400 more guests and family were expected to arrive for events and food. At times the adults were harder to handle than the children. The drama went so well- they were precious! We had to learn to let things go- keep it simple- go with the flow- its Africa. Ashley had put me in charge of the Nativity animals and baby Jesus- to just make sure they walked out to their place at the right time. I thought no big deal. As Mary and Joseph were making their way to Bethlehem, I look to my right to check on my sheep, hippo, lion, and elephant (we had to use African animals- they looked confused by the thought of barn animals). Who are we to say a hippo and an elephant weren’t hanging out at the stable with Jesus? So I look over and my elephant has disappeared! I turn around and he is a few feet behind me, elephant mask on, pants down, peeing in the grass by the pavilion! At first, I panicked thinking we was going to miss his part and that he just used the restroom in front of everyone…and then I remembered, I am in Africa. Nobody cares. I just laughed. He hurried back and all my safari animals made it to the stable on time. The drama was so cute, and it put things into perspective for me. To not worry about all the little details and making things perfect like we so often do with these things in America. It’s not what’s important. After the drama, we sang several songs in English and Swahili. It was chaotic as well but so perfect.

The rest of the day included a sermon by a Karamojong preacher and lots of traditional singing and dancing. We helped serve all the children, guests, parents, and family lunch. We had rice, posho, cabbage, and meat. Meat is important on Christmas in Uganda. For many, it is the only day they eat meat all year. For Africans, Christmas is a day to do what you wouldn’t do on any other day. They may buy a new outfit, get their hair done, try to look their best, and eat meat. Its kind of funny to watch all the cows, goats and chickens that used to line the side of your road disappear on Christmas Eve. The chicken that lived in our yard “Christmas Kuku” is no longer clucking- its hard to watch all your pets go and know that you’re eating them.

Serving lunch was difficult at times because we had to monitor the adults- as many will bring bags and take several servings of food to take home. But we were so grateful in helping bring a Christmas meal to close to 1,000 people!

After eating, all Africans want to do is dance! They could sing and shout and jump for hours and hours. We could barely keep up. We did jump right in to learn the different tribal dances, and they were so excited to have us be apart of their celebration. It is just so beautiful to look around and see their faces so full of joy and so happy to be alive and dancing for the Lord. They didn’t care about anything else that was going on around them. Christmas in Uganda was humbling. There were no presents. There was no Santa Clause. There were no distractions. It was just simply a day of rejoicing that God sent His Son. My eyes have been opened, and I hope I always remember to celebrate Christmas as the Africans do.