How pilgrims at Namugongo are relaxing ahead of D-day
Pilgrims engage in some chit-chat in a tent at the Catholic Shirine in Namugongo on Thursday. PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI
Pilgrims are continuing to make their way to the Catholic and Anglican shrines ahead of next Friday’s celebrations commemorating the Uganda Martyrs.
This year’s celebrations have been opened to pilgrims following a previous two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s partly due to this reason that pilgrims are looking forward to the upcoming main event with a lot of excitement.
“I am so happy to be here to pray having missed out on the 2021 and 2020 experience because of the Covid-19 lockdown,” Ms Beatrice Aceng, a pilgrim from Otuke District, told Sunday Monitor.
Ms Aceng arrived at the Anglican Shrine on May 23 after walking for eight days from her home district.
Since there is not so much activity currently happening within the shrine except for preparations, Ms Aceng spends most of her time praying alone, reading the Bible or scribbling down notes based on her walking experience.
Other pilgrims are spending their time in other ways as they wait for the main celebrations.
Ms Mary Nalwoga, who arrived at the Catholic Shrine on Wednesday (May 25) after walking from Gayaza, a town in Wakiso District, spends her time mostly engaging in conversations with other pilgrims. Often, she narrates her ordeal of beating Covid-19.
“That disease almost took me out of this earth,” Ms Nalwoga could be heard telling some pilgrims at the Catholic Shrine last Thursday.
“Imagine, my family barely had money to afford my treatment but somehow things worked out,” she added.
When one of the pilgrims asked what exactly she did to get well since her family could not afford treatment, Ms Nalwoga responded that she mainly relied on concoctions that mainly included a blend of ginger, lemon and honey.
“That [concoction] boosted my health and because I got better, I came here to thank God for giving me a second chance,” Ms Nalwoga told the attentive pilgrims.
Like Ms Nalwoga, there were many other pilgrims within the Catholic Shrine who were sharing personal stories from the lockdown.
One man, who identified himself as Ssalongo Nyanzi, was heard telling other pilgrims that the lockdown shattered his marriage and his intention of going to Namugongo was to pray to God to restore it.
“Things fell apart during lockdown. Spending too much time indoors with my wife caused a lot of friction between us. We fought a lot and, in the end, the marriage fell apart. So, I came here to [Namugongo] to pray for God to bring us back together,” Ssalongo Nyanzi said.
Ssalongo (a title given to a father of twins) said his wife left with their twin sons after the marriage fell apart. He was counselled by other pilgrims, who assured him that everything would be fine.
Making some quick money
The annual Martyrs Day celebrations usually gives businessmen and women the opportunity to make some money by selling different merchandise.
Some pilgrims are tapping into the opportunity by selling mostly rosaries, key holders, among other small sized items, to other pilgrims.
These cost anywhere between Shs5,000 and Shs50,000.
The items were made by the pilgrims back at their respective homes before carrying them along during the journey.
The pilgrims hope by selling them off, they will in return get money for buying food to eat during the remaining days at Namugongo.
