i have crabs...papa fidem scit...

i'm still laughing...

Monday, September 11, 2006

There were a couple of Ugandans that were staying with my parents this past week. One of the Ugandans, Patrick, told his story to a group at my parents' church on Sunday. Before I get into Patrick's story, let me explain this church (some of you know it as "The Big Ooogly Church"). The church building itself is distressing for me to walk into. It is enormous. The church, as in the people who attend tend to have so much money...the pockets of these congregants are bulging. Some of them use their money wisely (yes, I know this is bias, but) like my parents. My family has always lived moderately and given plenty. What is the use of massive amounts of money sitting in the bank, when you can send our sponsored child, my sister, Joanita to university? But some of the congregants just want to hold on to as much money as possible (picture the Donald Duck cartoon, where Donald, Huey, Duey and Louie are rolling in the money vault). I have a hard time getting past this overwhelming gluttony, so I feel like the spiritual energy of the church is tainted so as to make these hoarders feel better about their lifestyle. Needless to say, I rarely enter the church anymore.

But I love when Church-sponsored Africans stay at our house and decided it was worth going to The Big Ooogly Church to hear them speak.

So, Patrick, who is about my age, told his story:

Patrick's dad had 10 wives and 56 children. He was a businessman and doing very well, until he contracted HIV, like so many in the Rakai region of Uganda. (The percentage of HIV cases in Uganda is about 6%, but in Rakai it's about 26%.) This was in the early 1990's. The dad then decided to give all of his land and money to "witch doctors" who promised to cure him. Just FYI, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. He proceded to give HIV to all of his wives.

More tragedy.

Most of the children decided to try to find work in the city after their father sold everything. By the late 1990's there was one mom and 6 children left in the family.

More tragedy.

Patrick then lived in a two-room house with his 5 siblings and mom. The house was really just the remnants of an old 6-room house. It's in such disrepair the roof has caved in, there are holes in the walls. There is no money for any sort of light; a snake got in and bit one of his brothers. Patrick woke up next to his dead brother the next morning.

More tragedy, but now there is some hope ??

Thanks to someone at The Big Ooogly Church having far too much money, Patrick now goes to university in Kampala (the capital). The church only pays for his tuition, though, and he can't afford room and board.

How stereotypical rich folk to only partially solve a problem despite them having the means to do more.

.: posted by Kristen 4:41 PM

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