Wednesday October 24th: Dadim. The service of remembrance. Go to tea.

The Mass

Today we walk to the breakfast table at 8.00 a.m.. Ben is preparing the flowers for the grave. The flower arrangement looks very beautiful. Our diner is walking around in the garden. It looks very good.

At 9.00 a.m. we go to the church. Long before the Mass starts we hear the singing of the choir. A lot of people went to the church. Father Boniface and father Iede say Mass. Iede is translating some Borana words for us. Father Boniface says: "Today, we celebrate the life of Abba Toon." Important words of Abba Toon are: "I'm happy with life. And happy with the word of God in my life.". A boy of the choir reads out a poem. The leader of the Catholic women of Dadim wants to say some words too. But, after three words, her eyes fill with tears and she's not able to speak more.
One of the Borana men says some words. Iede translates the words for us. Again, a lot of sweet and nice words, full of praise. "Abba Toon took very well care of all the people. Especially the children. It didn't matter whether the people were baptized or not." "He was a brother of all Borana people."
After the Mass, we all go to the grave. The tablet that the family brought is put on the grave. Lia lays the wreath on the grave. Father Boniface blesses the grave. After the ceremony at the grave, it's time for the coffee ceremony. We already dare to try a coffee bean!
The children's clothes we brought are handed out. It's a little chaos. It's a matter of course that all the children want to get some new clothes. After the distribution, we go back to the misionary house and drink some coffee and tea and have lunch.
Iede tells some stories about Abba Toon working on the book. The cooperation with Sylvia wasn't always running smoothly. There were some conflicts, but the final result is a very great and valuable book.

Drinking tea

We are invited for tea at 5.00 p.m. by the leader of the Catholic women of Dadim. They prepared Enjéra with potatoes and vegetables for us. We get tea with camel milk. Everything tastes very good. Very very nice they take all this trouble for us. At this moment, the woman is able to speak some words to us about Abba Toon. She is still in distress about the death of Abba Toon. Ben (Abba Toon's brother) gets a gift from one of the boys in the house. It's a Borana-bracelet. A gracious gesture. Ben will never take the bracelet off.
After the visit, we walk around Dadim. Some students are walking with us. They like to talk to us. They do their best to practice talking English.

Campfire

Back to the misionary house, the furniture is taken outside. The campfire is started. Again there is a very good diner prepared for us. Salad, tomatoes, sweet peppers, rice, lentils en off course the goat.
After dinner we watch some Big Brother Africa with Boniface. Iede brought a video of the funeral of Abba Toon. We all watch it together. After this we sit around the fire and talk for a while. At half past twelve it's time to go to bed.