BRANCHVILLE -- A Branchville woman recently participated with Roopville Road Baptist Church of Carrollton, Ga., in a 10-day mission trip to the war-torn country of Uganda, Africa.

Regina Dukes stayed in a permanent missionary compound located in the town of Jinja, Uganda, a short excursion from the bush of Africa. The missionary compound requires a local person to serve as security to stand guard at night equipped with a bow and arrow, Dukes said, adding that the police and military are the only individuals privileged to bear arms.

"Parts of Uganda have changed very little in the last hundred years ... (The country) has experienced some political and military distress over the past 30 years, but has somewhat stabilized," Dukes said. "It remains subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias and various government forces."

Jinja is an unspoiled area within Uganda, with views of surrounding lush green vegetation, Dukes said, adding, "You can hear chatter of acrobatic monkeys and colorful tropical birds as well as other wildlife."

She said even though the city has more modern structures, the outlying buildings were handmade using clay and cow dung. Some homes are only made of reeds and simple tree branches, Dukes said.

"Most of the people cook and eat outdoors, many taking drinking water from man-dug wells. There is a very high (rate of) food or waterborne diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever," she said. Other health risks include malaria and African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), Dukes said.

"The open-air market place (is) jammed with hundreds of buyers and sellers. Any and everything is offered in the market -- food, animals and household items," she said.

Dukes said she remembers the air being filled with an indescribable pungent odor.

"The Nile River, often regarded as the longest river in the world, is more than 4,000 miles long ... Beginning in the 1980s, techniques of analysis using hydrology transport models have been used in the Nile to analyze water quality. The word 'Nile' comes from the Greek word 'Neilos,' meaning 'river valley.' The ancient Egyptians called it the Nile, meaning 'big river.'" Dukes said.

She said the mission team brought much needed medical supplies to the local hospital as well as items for the children of the local Christian school and orphanages.

"The children ... attend educational classes from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day. The school has less than 300 boys and girls and has a waiting list of more than 300. The children are taught math and English, which is the official national language. Each child is given two meals a day," Dukes said. "The meals usually consist of rice, potatoes, beans or mush that they eat with their hands. Some children bring sugar cane to the school to help satisfy their hunger."

Dukes said the team presented the female teachers with their own purse filled with items that women love.

"The children were so happy to receive Frisbees and soccer balls from the mission team," she said. "The school children had hours of fun swinging from the swing set that the mission team built for them."

The mission group was escorted daily by a group of guides and interpreters as they traveled to work at the school, hospital or orphanages. The guide instructed the group as to what photos they could and could not take, Dukes said.

She said the mission team witnessed and assisted in the local hospital. They brought Polaroid cameras into the maternity ward and took pictures of the newborn babies, then presented the mothers with the photos and Bibles, Dukes said.

"If you are ill and not wealthy and must stay in the hospital, you must provide your own water, food and bed linen," she said.

The mission compound where the team stayed was suppose to have lights every other night.

"Cheez-Its and bottled water was my lunch every day," Dukes said.

The team, however, did go out one evening prior to their departure, but Dukes noted, "I could not bring myself to eat my meal once I saw a large rat in the restaurant."

When Dukes isn't working as a local realtor with ERA Wilder Inc., she is active in her church and community and enjoys her time as the youth director of her home church. Her love of children is one of the many reasons why she adopted a little girl as a foster child in Jinja, she said.

When Dukes was asked by the pastor of Roopville Road Baptist Church to serve on the mission team to Uganda, she said she knew she "had something to accomplish."

"So many of my friends and co-workers discouraged my participation in the trip, fearing the danger and unknown that I would face in Uganda," Dukes said, "but the Lord led me to Uganda to make a difference."

Dukes said she is looking forward to her return trip in 2007.

T&D Correspondent Ginger Thompson can be reached by e-mail at vthompson@ntinet.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.