Ask and You Shall Receive

Last Sunday, Doreen and I spent the afternoon looking through her photos from the past year. She stopped to tell me about her connections to Canada and about the many members of her family, near and far. More often than not, however, I found myself mesmerized by images of vibrantly clad women celebrating the marriage of a friend or family member.

Now, I’ll be honest, I’ve only been to a few weddings in my lifetime, but these snaps got me thinking, and I quickly decided that during my stay in Uganda I’d like to see a wedding. I proposed the idea to Doreen, knowing that back home this request might seem intrusive and assuming, but per usual Doreen was receptive to the idea and promised I’d get to a ceremony soon.

I don’t know what took her so long, but yesterday (just four days after her promise), I found myself front and center at a Ugandan wedding! We didn’t know the couple or even really where we were, but the celebration was incredible.

We had to be at Rwentutu until 3:00 that afternoon, so unfortunately we missed the formal marriage ceremony. BUT when we did arrive, we were just in time for the food, drinks, and dancing. How could you go wrong, right? We were immediately handed plates filled with food and ushered to our seats directly in front of the wedding party. (Typical Muzungu life: show up to a wedding uninvited and find yourself in the best seats in the house.)

While we ate…

with our hands,

a few things happened:

The groom’s mother gave a speech for the bride.

I made friends with this firecracker.

The groom presented the bride with a marriage necklace.

A group of local students performed.

The wedding cake display was essentially lit up like the 4^th of July.

And, the bride ceremoniously said good-bye to her brother.

It can be difficult sometimes to accept the selfless generosity of the people here, but once again Uganda has opened its arms and heart to us and all we can do is say wasingya—thank you.