|
April 17, 2009
Working with African Jews
Former journalist volunteers with the Abayudaya community.
CASSANDRA FREEMAN
Lorne Mallin, is preparing for what may be the most adventurous assignment of his life. A former editor and writer for the Province newspaper, the 62-year-old will arrive in Uganda just after Passover, to volunteer with the Abayudaya, a community of African Jews in the region of Mbale, some of whom may be descendants of royalty.
Known as "the people of Judah" in the Luganda language, the Abayudaya came to international attention when they formally converted to Conservative Judaism in 2002. There are also Jews in the Ugandan Jewish village of Putti who would like an Orthodox conversion and to ultimately live in Israel.
Former Israeli ambassador to Kenya Arye Oded has written one of many histories about the Ugandan Jews. He claims that the first convert to Judaism in 1919 was Semei Kakungulu, who married a Ugandan princess.
Kakungulu was a religious Christian military commander who broke away from the church because he felt Judaism was a more authentic match to the Old Testament. It's widely accepted that he circumcised himself and his approximately nine sons.
During the 1960s, Kakungulu's descendants and the community in general numbered about 3,000. But, in the 1970s, Idi Amin's reign of terror targeted the Abayudaya and, by the 1980s, only a few hundred remained openly Jewish.
Today, Ugandan Jews number about 1,000, but like most other Ugandans, they are subsistence farmers. Nationally, the per capita income is about $1 a day.
The colorful video and slide show Mallin recently presented at Or Shalom Synagogue shows Ugandan Jews working, singing and sitting together, with many of the men and boys wearing their own style of knitted head coverings. One picture in particular – showing three Abayudaya children wearing knitted kippot on their heads with exuberant smiles on their faces – might convince anyone with a heart to brave the heat and volunteer for them.
Mallin's slide presentation was prepared by the nonprofit Kulanu (All of Us). It showed the extraordinary developments in which Ugandan Jews and their worldwide counterparts are involved. The most striking is a fair trade coffee co-operative, the Peace Kawomera Co-operative, known as Delicious Peace (www.deliciouspeace.com). The co-op is run by 750 Abayudaya Jews, Muslims and Christians. Their buyer, Thanksgiving Coffee, roasts the coffee in California and markets it across North America as "not just a cup but a just cup." It is not only organic, but kosher and halal, too. By 2010, Thanksgiving Coffee expects to be selling 225,000 pounds of product, with several different kinds of roasts including decaf.
Another program, the Hunger Project, feeds 500 school children of different faiths one meal a day. These children are also taught "the mosquito song" to educate them about avoiding malaria.
A primary school and secondary school – open to Jewish, Muslims and Christians – have also been built over the last few years. The schools are crucial to teach Jewish Ugandan children about Judaism and to create generations of children who can attend university and return to serve their community. As a bonus, sources like Kulanu say they seem to protect Jewish children against anti-Semitism.
Kulanu is the organization with which Mallin has chosen to volunteer while living only on his pension. The seeds of his adventure were planted last year when he, upon visiting Kenya and seeing how desperate things were for the people there, decided to volunteer in Africa.
"I thought this was an opportunity to make a difference," he said.
He chose Uganda partly because of a CD, Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda.
"The music just blew me away," Mallin said. "I'm not a Torah scholar, my connection to Judaism is through its music."
The founder of the Vancouver InterSpiritual Chant Festival, Mallin is well known for the monthly chant circles he has led for the last four years.
"I struggle to find meaning in Torah, to see past the surface level. I feel connected to the divine through heart-centred, melodic praise, whether in services or in chanting or in spontaneous singing," he said.
Mallin is looking forward to learning Abayudaya music and sharing their love of Judaism.
"I also identify with the process they went through in 2002 to become recognized as Jews. Their's was a Conservative conversion, as was my daughter's ... in Tokyo in 1990," said Mallin, a single father for many years.
Mallin is also impressed by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the first African rabbi in Sub-Saharan Africa. The rabbi has said publicly that, during the reign of Amin, what saved Ugandan Jews was their music.
Mallin will be teaching English to as many as 65 children. He plans to spend about six months in Uganda before going to Cape Town to volunteer with the Jewish community there.
"I've been a journalist all my life, mostly copy editing and recently travel writing. Going to Uganda is a unique chance to be helpful on a more human level. And I have to admit it also appeals to my sense of adventure."
For more information, visit kulanu.org.
Casandra Freeman is a freelance writer in Vancouver.
^TOP
|
