Though it was a late bedtime, I awoke at 5 am to the sounds from a local minaret calling the faithful to prayer. For 15 minutes, I listened to the melody of the invitation. It was soothing and created a moment of holiness. The experience left me thinking, even in my sleep deprived state about what we may have lost in the important work of respect for all religions. Eliminating the sounds of holiness by all somehow leaves a vacancy which may have its own consequences. Our Canadian context leaves no room for a soundscape that draws us on a regular basis towards something greater than ourselves and greater than the Empire we live. (I read later that day that Uganda is 85% Christian, 11% Islamic, a small percentage of Hindu, and pockets of animism mostly in the northern rural parts of the country. There is little or no friction reported between the Christian and Islamic peoples while post-independence political conflict often followed Catholic-Protestant lines.) In short, religious tolerance seems to have a different sound to it here in Uganda compared to back home in Ontario. Perhaps this is another element of creating society that we need to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world.
That early morning pondering about the sounds of holiness was quickly refocused by the sounds of animals ‘singing’ (like wolves in the Rockies kind of sounds). This was followed by roosters crowing, birds beginning to chirp, then dogs barking and soon the first of the traffic in the city. It was the early morning and the different sounds kept this sleepy traveler up for awhile!
Kampala is built i
n the valley between a series of peaks and a lush green space that leads to the northern reaches of Lake Victoria. This lake shares its shoreline with the Congo, Kenya and Tanzania. The apartment my son has rented for a few months is on the slope of one of those peaks on the north east side of the City and affords a decent view of this pretty geography. Most of my day was spent resting with those views and reading the local papers to get a little sense of what was on the minds of the ordinary people and their government.
n the valley between a series of peaks and a lush green space that leads to the northern reaches of Lake Victoria. This lake shares its shoreline with the Congo, Kenya and Tanzania. The apartment my son has rented for a few months is on the slope of one of those peaks on the north east side of the City and affords a decent view of this pretty geography. Most of my day was spent resting with those views and reading the local papers to get a little sense of what was on the minds of the ordinary people and their government.
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