Exploring the Force Behind Foot Pilgrims

Category: Faith
Date 03-06-2024
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In recent weeks, parades and throngs of pilgrims are the common phenomena on Uganda’s highways from all directions heading to Namugongo for the annual commemoration of the Uganda Martyrs day. This writer has encountered multitudes from West Nile, Acholi, Lango, and South Sudan along the Gulu highway. At another time, he has met others on Masaka road from the southern parts of Uganda including Kigezi, Ankole, parts of Buganda plus those walking from Tanzania, Rwanda,and Burundi.

The media has also broadcast events of pilgrims from the east and west including those walking from neighboring countrieslike Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The pilgrims from distant areas started trekking much earlier, in smaller groups but their numbers surge as others from nearby districts and parishes from the central region (Buganda) join the ramble to the holy site of Namugongo.

The trekkers seem the same, whichever direction you look. They display various insignias such as flags, crosses and crucifixes, portraits and statues of saints, posters, rosaries, bibles, prayerbooks and other mystical articles. Many groups have also travelled with musical instruments like drums, flutes, horns, whistles, shakers, bells and vuvuzelas. Most of them surely prepared for the journey.

Some pilgrims apply for and take leave from their formal work. These might include health workers, accountants, clergy, teachers, engineers, politicians, lawyers, journalists and uniformed personnel. Others are in private businesses including farmers, traders, consultants, and brokers.

A person temporarily abandons gainful work and suspends development initiatives to make a pilgrimage. One gives up personal interests to be a pilgrim. People leave their homes and properties in the care of friends, relatives, neighbours, children or other helpers. Everything is left to God’s care.

A closer observation, however, reveals that the walking pilgrims face a lot of challenges during their holy voyage. They endure so many hazards. First, walking is a tiresome activity. Like other human beings, pilgrims get tired too. They are not the most energetic in their communities. Some are very old and others very young. Some are emaciated and others may have noticeableand hidden impairments.

On ordinary days, these people are not happy to walk everywhere. They loath the sun heat on a hot day and they take shelter when it rains. They travel by car, motorcycle or bicycleeven for distances as short as a kilometer. Some can avoid a journey to a neighbouring village for fear of distance. How, then, are they able to walk step by step, day by day to reach Namugongo?

No individual pilgrim can decide the pace at which to walk. Young or old, weak or strong, tired or fresh, fit or frail, able-bodied or impaired, every pilgrim is expected to conform to the average speed of the entire group. They rest together, rise up at the same time and resume the journey at ago. It does not matter how long one may desire to rest; one will walk again when others decide. While they walk, each pilgrim must keep pace with all the others. The collective spirit of a pilgrimage overrides individual feelings.

Along the way, most pilgrims have swollen feet, but they continue to walk. They get bruised by the tarmac and sandals, but they soldier on. They suffer strained muscles and muscle pulls but they keep going. They get headaches and fevers, but they move on. Some of them become frail and dizzy but they do not give up. They do not get enough rest, but they persist with the journey. By the time they reach the destination, they have gone through so much, but their spirits remain high.

The pilgrimage is a period of scarcity. The trekkers do not access the normal diet. They rely on occasional offers by the hosting communities around the parishes where they make stopovers. They are sometimes helped by generous passersby they encounter on the road - though there is no guarantee that they should meet Good Samaritans. They, therefore, rely on their personal means to eat or drink during the journey. No pilgrim leaves home expecting to be fed and helped by others on the way. It is another form of sacrifice.

The pilgrims have no choice about the weather they encounter during their expedition. The sun may cast a scorching gaze on the earth to the distress of the pilgrims as they sweat and mayfaint. Some days are windy and dusty. On a rainy day, the pilgrims will be soaked, slowed or delayed. The environment sometimes becomes cold, foggy and very awkward.

Almost all the pilgrims carry their personal requirements that include additional attire, towels, and gadgets like mobile phones and chargers. They are seen clutching bags that also contain personal hygiene stuffs like handkerchiefs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, face towels, Vaseline, and soap. Most also carry simple foods including roasted seeds and cookies plus soothing drinks suitable for the walking activity. Each person has a wallet or purse for pocket money. To an observer, such luggage may seem light but a person walking many kilometers daily can easily be burdened even by their own weight. Holding something as small as a bottle of water can feel like carrying a sack of sand.

This journey is a sacrifice that pilgrims make to emulate the pain the martyrs went through. As much as we may feel pity for them when they are weary and hungry, this is their way of communicating with God closely. The pilgrimage is a form of worship. When the body is denied food and rest, it becomes weak, and it is in such situations that a worshipper hears God’s voice clearly.

No wonder that the pilgrims are never miserable as they trek. In some ways, they are happier than many travellers in vehicles, ships and airplanes. It is their habit to be jovial. Along the way, they sing, dance and jump. They recite prayers and chant holylitanies. At each stopover, they engage in aerobics.

Another message is that a pilgrimage is not a luxury activity; it is not done for fun. It is a duty. Many understand that the martyrs gave up their lives for the glory of God, therefore it is necessary to give up time, energy and some drops of sweat to glorify God. The Church has turned the sad reality of martyrdom into a festivity and so are the pilgrims turning their journeys into a celebration. Instead of lamenting about tiredness, hunger, injuries, and other setbacks, they continue rejoicing.

A pilgrimage shows that progress is a choice. One walks with a destination in mind and decidedly walks to it. In the instant case, the pilgrims made free and conscious decisions to walk to the holy site and successfully accomplished their goal. This also relates to our goals in life. How far a person can go in life is a personal choice. Life is a pilgrimage.

A teacher and social scientist, Venansio Ahabwe has authored 4 books: ‘How To Manage A Manager’; ‘God Does Not Have Favourites’; ‘Globalisation and Mother Tongue Teaching’; and ‘To Hell with Male Prostitutes’.

Exploring the Force Behind Foot Pilgrims