By Angela Wright, December 12, 2017 — During my First Christmas in Uganda I really wished that I was back home. There were no Christmas lights, no Christmas tree, no gift giving, and no Christmas songs: not even at church.
We were invited to an Ugandan family home for dinner. I couldn’t believe that the dinner consisted of beans and rice and one of their special dishes, matoke. Matoke is like plantain. It is boiled and then mashed and put in banana leaves to steam. They served beef which was very tough.
Fresh mixed fruit was served. That was the best part of the meal. We ate at tables that had been set up outside. It was pretty strange to have a cookout at Christmas.
There was no exchanging of gifts or any such things. I was amazed at how happy everyone seemed to be as they went around saying what they were thankful for this Christmas. I kept imagining what was happening back home.
I don’t remember what day Christmas was on in 1995, but we did go to an Agape Baptist Church that Sunday. We met a couple from Texas. We found out that they didn’t live to far from us. They invited us to dinner that Sunday. The house was decorated. Oh, how it looked like home! They had a piano. A lady played and we sang Christmas carols. Afterward we had a great meal of turkey, rice, green beans, yams, apple pie and soda. That was the best Christmas, so far, in Uganda.