* Changed condition ... *
portraits & dramas from Kisiizi..
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Men made new…

“Return home and tell how much God has done for you” Luke 8:39a NIV

I was on-call at Kisiizi early one Sunday morning when the watchman banged his spear on our bedroom window to summon me to a man who had been carried unconscious all night across the hills. The team of men from the village who had taken turns carrying the “helicopter” [a stretcher carried by 4 men on their heads] now stood peering through the ward windows to see what would happen.

We took him into our Treatment room and guessed he might be hypoglycaemic from alcohol the previous evening. After a bolus of i.v. glucose he started to surface and a couple of minutes later was able to walk back into the ward.

I wish I had had a camera to record the looks of astonishment on the faces of those who had laboured so hard to carry him… in fact some began to assume he had been acting and had to be reassured that he had indeed been unwell.

It was a dramatic transformation from helplessness to wholeness.

As we read of many of the encounters of Jesus with a whole cross-section of society, we repeatedly see those around him staring in amazement at the transformation he produced, at “men made new”.

Who, for example, was the first missionary? A devoted follower? A chosen disciple?

No, a madman among tombs

Read Mark 5:1-20 and Luke’s version 8:26-39

The local people did not know how to handle this madman – he broke free from chains and roamed wild, distressed, flailing, screaming and naked in a cemetery.

“Absolutely no good to anyone” they probably said, yet Jesus steers the boat to land near him.

Imagine the reaction of the disciples - gawping, maybe cowering in boat, horrified… and then their open-mouthed astonishment as the power and compassion of the Saviour transform and restore this precious child of God…

He was indeed hopeless

Until the voice of Jesus was heard…. then life was never the same again

It was an Explosive encounter we see the confidence of Jesus, we catch a glimpse of unseen warfare: “you evil spirits come out…” Jesus wants this man back.

The demons retreat powerless, the disciples stand back and watch the Father fight

And rising from the ashes is the new man, calm and in his right mind, and now given a purpose, a Commission , to share the Good News of this Saviour.

“So the man went away and told all over the town how much Jesus had done for him” Luke 8:39b NIV

The Bakiga

Origins Social Political set-up Judicial System
The Bakiga inhabit Kabale and part of Rukungiri districts. They occupy the counties of Ndorwa, Rubanda, Rukiga in Kabale and parts of Kinkizi and Rubabo counties in Rukungiri district. Due to overpopulation, the Bakiga have been migrating to other parts of Uganda especially to Kabarole, Rukungiri, Kasese, Hoima, Masindi and Mubende districts; and Rwampara, Ruhama and Ibanda counties of Mbarara district. They have also settled in Masaka and Rakai districts.

They are a physically strong people. They speak Rukiga, a Bantu language.

Origins
The actual origins of the Bakiga are hidden in varying traditions. Some say that the Bakiga originally lived in Karagwe having migrated from Bunyoro during the Luo invasion. They are associated with the Banyambo of Tanzania. Another tradition which seems more sensible says that the cradle of the Bakiga was in Buganza in Rwanda. They migrated from Buganza in search of fertile land and to escape natural hazards or due to internal political conflicts.From Rwanda, the Bakiga are said to have migrated to Bwisa, to Bugoyi, then to Rutchuru, all in Zaire, and they finally settled in Kigezi. Since the Bakiga are Bantu speakers, this tradition could be true. What may equally be true is that the Bakiga were part of the Bantu speakers who migrated from the Congo region, through Bunyoro, Karagwe, Rwanda and eastern Zaire to finally settle in Kigezi. What has not yet been established are the exact dates when they settled in each of the areas enroute to Kigezi.

Social set-up

The Bakiga were organised into clans the biggest of which was the Basigi clan. Each clan was composed of several lineages and each lineage had a head, Omukuru w'omuryango. A man was not allowed to marry from his clan.

Judicial system

The Bakiga abhorred anti-social activities and if any one was caught he was heaiily punished. Such activities included stealing, blocking paths, murder, sorcery and night dancing. In the case of murder, for example, the murderer was buried alive in the same grave as his victim. Virginity was highly esteemed and it was a very serious offence for a girl to get pregnant before marriage. If an unmarried girl became pregnant, she would either be taken to a forest and be tied to a tree and left for wild animals or, she would be tied feet and arms and thrown over a cliff. In the past, many pregnant girls among the Bakiga were taken to the Kisiizi falls and thrown down.