Our visit to the Abuyadaya Village

Wow! Today will go down as a day we will always remember. After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, Isaac and our driver picked us up to take us to the village, 20 minutes away. We first had to stop for gas in the town of Mbale but it was four stations before we could actually find one that had gas. The town was bustling and looked like business as usual, despite being Christmas day. We made our way up the hill, on a dusty dirt road, passing by many people walking. We arrived at the village and were greeted so warmly by Rabbi Gershom and his family. A reporter from Kampala was already there interviewing him and spent the day with us. He'll have a Sunday feature on Ugandans who don't celebrate Christmas and we were all interviewed and photographed for the story. It will be on the internet and we will send you the link as soon as it runs. Outside the van, Rabbi Gershom intruduced us to his family and children from the village. Rebecca met her pen pal, Daphne, who is Rabbi Gershom's daughter and only one week younger than Rebecca. We all gathered in Gershom's living room, to present the many Hanukah gifts we brought for the community. We especially wanted to thank the Brandeis first and third graders for donating school supplies and games. They were so appreciative and excited with all of their new things. We unloaded two suitcases full of goods, including Jewish books and 7 bottles of kosher wine. The adults stayed in to talk to Gershom and Rabbi Darren from Phoenix who was also visiting. Meanwhile all of the children, about 30 of them, went outside to play games. Rebecca and EJ organized a massive game of tag and spent a good two hours, lifting and swinging the little ones around. Kids are graet because they become instant friends. Back in the living room, the adults turned to CNN to see if Gershom's interview from earlier that week would be televised. It wasn't so we all took a walk to visit the guest house, passing by chickens (that the children named), goats and cows. The guest house is beautiful, just one year old. We'll be moving there for Shabbat. We pulled out many snacks that we had brought with us and 20 minutes later, Tzipora, Gershom's wife, arrived with a delicous lunch she had perpared for all of us: rice with peanut sauce, avocado and sweet fresh pineapple. After lunch, we took a walk to the palace of the king, the one who converted to Judaism back in 1919 by circumcising himself and his sons, after reading the new testament and deciding to follow it. The palace is not in use now and is in disrepair but the view from that spot was breathtaking. The community hopes to develop it someday. We visited the gravesite of the king and wanted to say kaddish, but were one short of a minyan (they count women in a minyan here in Uganda.). Isaac was there to meet us with the van and drive us back to the village, where we went shopping in the guest house gift shop and found some fun souvenirs to bring home. Gershom was excited that we now had a minyan and asked if we would join him for outdoor mincha and Hanukah candlelighting and then maariv, right after. We prayed while village Christians celebrated Christmas and the muslims were calling themselves to prayer. To hear it all at the same moment was inspiring. Marc called Rabbi Lezak from the village so he could hear the candlelighting. (Sorry for waking you up!) We all sang Hanukah songs together and then headed back to Mbale, where Rebecca fell asleep before her face hit the pillow. The Weiss family and I had a dinner picnic with our trader Joe supplies, being observed by the many children who had come to the hotel for their annual Christmas party. When I offered them biscotti, I was swarmed, while the Weiss' laughed. It was more than we ever could have imagined in a single day and we appreciate the chance to be able to share it with you. It will help us capture the moment and we look forward to telling you all about it when we return. Off to the village for Shabbat.