African visitor

Dear Editor,

Residents, staff and visitors at El Dorado Manor in Trenton were able to tune out the news media's bombardment of remarks about religious intolerance, racial profiling and political battles recently.

Father Pius, a young priest from Uganda, came to help with Friday bingo. He accompanied volunteers from St. James Catholic Church in Trenton.

On his trip from Lincoln to McCook and then to Trenton, he was fascinated with Nebraska's fields of corn, wheat and soy beans. It was an opportunity to compare them with the cotton, coffee, bananas and sweet potatoes that are raised in Uganda.

Participants in the bingo game were impressed with the fact that Father Pius spoke fluent English. Later, they learned that Great Britain ruled Uganda for almost 70 years (English is that country's official language. However, many of its people speak tribal dialects.)

This was Father Pius' first time playing the game of bingo. There was laughter and lively discussion about it.

Coming to the U.S. from east-central Africa has given him a unique opportunity to learn about culture and traditions in our area.

Members of the congregation at St. James commented on how pleased they were about Father Pius conducting services there when Father Gilde was gone a few days.

Bingo players hope he will come back soon. They have lots of questions about Uganda.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Nebraska