Growing up as a child somewhere in the hills of Mbale, to Mukite Prossy, Christmas was a period to look forward too, with a lot of excitement and longing and expectations both for the adults and the young. It was a time where one gave and received gifts of all kinds, especially food items and nobody in the neighborhood lacked food on Christmas.
“In my community, a lot of food and gift sharing was done during the Christmas season, the mood was a lively and almost electric one,” stated Mukite.
During Christmas, Mukite reveals that wounded souls would be healed and people who did not get along and stayed far from each other made merry and had a good time together, over a hot family cooked meal and left their differences behind.
She further stated that married women from different walks of life moved long distances with kilos of meat and other gifts taken to their mothers and fathers, who in turn gave them Chicken and bunches of matooke to take back to their husbands’ homes. A practice that kept families united and formed strong family bonds of sharing at Christmas alive.
However, according to Mukite this practice, among many others, has faded away with time.
“A lot has changed and people in society have become so selfish and self-centered. One would rather sit on a whole cow with his family at Christmas, than share with the less privileged and share joy and abundance,” Mukite stated.
According to Mukite, people have enclosed themselves in their small families that larger families and communities don’t mean a thing anymore, yet at Christmas the more the merrier.
“We have alienated ourselves to our family gates, that we cannot even know when a neighbor has gone without a hot meal, during the holidays, not even a simple Christmas card to wish our fellow human beings a merry Christmas and happy new year,” said Mukite.
Has the spirit of Christmas left society or is it too preoccupied with life’s happenings that Christmas has become more or less a ceremony than a celebration of the birth of Christ and giving back?
Mukite reminds us that Christmas is a period of sharing, gifting and loving one another, encouraging each other to push on through the next year, uniting us in spirit and togetherness as families, communities and above all renewing our faith and enjoying the spirit of the holidays in peace and joy.
Share the joy and abundance with a less fortunate person than you are and keep the Christmas spirit alive.