Emilly C. Maractho (PhD)
I have been looking forward to this years’ Martyrs’ Day celebration in a special way, in solidarity with my diocese of Nebbi that is animating at the Catholic Shrine. I attended the last time Nebbi Catholic Diocese led celebrations and still feel nostalgic over a decade later. That may be the last time I ventured into Namugongo on Martyrs’ Day.
Given how many people from far and wide now come to celebrate it, I find it useful to give them the opportunity to be in the flesh, while I watch from home. The real reason is that I often cannot imagine the chaos of trying to get in as the years have gone by.
Nebbi Catholic Diocese has been a big part of my life. I spent my Senior Six vacation in 1999 volunteering at the diocese. We had nine months to kill for vacation and I thought I would be bored.
That may have been the most important decision for me. We got involved in a lot of work around Youth Alive and attended many events. At the height of it all, after I had been admitted to university and about to start school, the parish sent me and another lady to attend some important event in Nairobi, Kenya. It was an event that brought together young people from all over Africa. It was the first time I was going out of the country and Nairobi mesmerised me.
We were put in groups which ensured all members were from different countries and sent outside Nairobi for a study tour. It turned out to be the best part of that experience. We would introduce ourselves and tell the people we are meeting what we are doing with our lives. Whenever I would say I was going to Makerere University in a couple of weeks, they would tell me how lucky I was that I would be attending that university.
Until then, it had not occurred to me that I was lucky. Sometimes it takes other people to help you count your blessings. In fact, I had been depressed that I did not make it on government sponsorship and also could not study the course that I wanted. Just like that, I started to change my way of looking at the situation. That week in Nairobi and its environs would shape my world view and perhaps, can qualify as a turning point. It gave me confidence and partly helped me find my voice.
Those months at the diocese planted its seeds. I would at the university the next year become part of the executive committee of the Nebbi Makerere Students Association and in the next year, its chairperson. Eventually, as a lecturer at Makerere, I served as its patron. Without that experience, the shy girl that I was could not have done those things.
So many years gone, yet so little has been achieved when it comes to human and socio-economic development for our people. Yet, Nebbi has seen great days for sure. Former Bishop of Nebbi Diocese Henry Luke Orombi went on to serve as archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda. Nebbi Catholic Diocese has had its share of good fortune, I dare not count.
If one sees the enthusiasm with which these people have walked, it could tell of a much deeper faith. That faith nurtures a spirit of community that is difficult to deny, and saw many of us succeed in life, not by the efforts of our parents alone, but through the good will of other people.
For many people from Nebbi, when good things happen, they know it is not their own doing. They often say it is all the Lord’s doing. Even when God closes doors, they still say it is well.
What remains, which we must strengthen, is the deep faith that most random people of Nebbi have. I once read that ‘Faith sees the inviable, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.’ Many of our Christians could testify to this. We have grown up seeing favour and the hand of the Lord in our lives where systems have failed us.
Someone once told me that this attitude of ours is what makes it hard to develop socially and economically. Too many people get content and simply trust the Lord, the person told me. But maybe, we have to find different ways of seeing just how blessed, as a people, we actually are. May the deep faith of our parents which we have inherited guide and lead us. Happy Martyrs’ Day.
Ms Maractho (PhD) is an academic.
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