A happy ending to a marriage divided by war occurred in Naenae earlier this year when a Ugandan couple officially tied the knot after 34 years.
Francis and Grace had a customary marriage in December 1972. Both their families are from Alur tribe in Nebbi District, North Western Uganda.
They had five children.
But in 1985 a coup in Uganda forced Francis into exile, first in Sudan and then in Ethiopia. He left his family, including a one-week-old son, in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Grace meanwhile took the children to live with Francis’ parents in Nebbi.
Communications with Francis stopped for some six years and Grace and the family thought he had died. Finally Francis was able to communicate again but the family was not reunited until last July when Grace, her youngest son, Jenkins, and granddaughter, Krishna, joined Francis in New Zealand.
The rest of the children are now married and living in Uganda. Francis and Grace have 10 grandchildren.
To give thanks and praise for their reunion, Grace and Francis decided to marry in St Bernadette’s Church, Naenae on 28 January.
O’Shea Shield 2021
WelCom June/July 2021 The Year of St Joseph In this special year of St Joseph, it is fitting Hato Hōhepa – St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College, Napier, have won the…
Support the COVID-19 vaccination programme
WelCom June/July 2021 The New Zealand Catholic Bishops and the Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics have started a campaign to provide accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine, which is being rolled…
MFAT deal multiplies donations to Caritas
WelCom June/July 2021 Michael Fitzsimons Donors to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand will have their donations multiplied fourfold, thanks to a new funding partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and…