On a lighter note, we come to the most exotic element in The Revealed Truth<\/strong>: the donkeys.\u00a0 The entire time I was in Uganda I saw just one horse.\u00a0 I’ve never figured out why there are so few there.\u00a0 It could be that there were never any wild horses in Africa<\/a>, but they weren’t in North America either and here they’ve flourished. \u00a0 I thought for sure that the British would bring some equines along with them to build their colonies.\u00a0 \u00a0 Maybe it has something to do with the equatorial tropical environment or that Uganda’s such a small country that there’s no need to travel long distances.\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 They’re just not here.<\/p>\n Speaking of strange dinners, we’ve finally come upon one of the strangest Last Suppers I’ve seen.\u00a0 It’s also one of my favorites because of it’s unintended humbleness.\u00a0 Like Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi <\/em>mentioned in the introductory post of this series<\/a>, this Last Supper has a carnival atmosphere.\u00a0 Jesus can hardly be heard over the whirr of the generator, squaking of the intercom, and snickering of the crowd.\u00a0 The disciples dig into a bag of bread.\u00a0 Bland Ugandan bread probably has the same consistency of the unleavened bread that was broken at the original Last Supper.<\/p>\n Instead of a chalice of wine, Jesus passes around an old plastic bottle of Rwenzori brand drinking water.\u00a0 This could be a message of temperance.\u00a0 The Born Again churches that I worked with didn’t drink alcohol<\/a>.\u00a0 Maybe the director of the play was trying to downplay an mention of wine whatsoever.\u00a0 The reason for this prohibition also might have something to do with Uganda being the number one consumer of alcohol per capita in the world<\/a>.\u00a0 Bars are open twenty four hours and local brew is potent and plentiful.\u00a0 Vodka is served doubleshot size in a plastic baggie and costs about a 30 cents each. \u00a0 I’ve seen old men drunk in the street at 8AM and a two year old throwing a tantrum until his mother soothed him with a bottle of waragie. \u00a0 There’s reason to be afraid of liquor.\u00a0 I once asked a girl from the church out to a neighborhood housewarming party.\u00a0 She declined telling me that she doesn’t go to discos.\u00a0 There would be drinking and even dancing there.\u00a0 It was the equivalent of “Sorry, I’m washing my hair tonight”.<\/p>\n The Revealed Truth Blog Series<\/span><\/p>\n This post is the sixth of a nine part series that takes an in-depth look at the The Revealed Truth<\/strong> and how rural Ugandan culture influenced the making of the film.\u00a0 The\u00a0 movie is about an hour long\u00a0 but I’ve broken it down into 5 to 10 minute blog-size episodes.\u00a0 The next post will feature Jesus’s arrest.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh4.ggpht.com\/_1TlEAO6LHJc\/TBhE6gGNnDI\/AAAAAAAAA7c\/_G72O5BzETs\/s800\/Subtitles%20Part%20IIIa%20Lazarus.jpg\")
<\/a>The problem of the epidemic now is the false sense of security individuals get from believing that the disease has become benign.\u00a0 Young people think that if they get infected they can just take ARVs.\u00a0 This has led to an increase in risky sexual behaviors and infection rates are now back on the rise.\u00a0 On top of that, HIV\/AIDS therapy is heavily subsidized by foreign aid.\u00a0 One of the biggest players in Uganda has been the American government’s P.E.P.F.A.R.\u00a0 The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief<\/a> is a $63 billion worldwide initiative started by President Bush.\u00a0 However, while the epidemic is still growing in Uganda, a cap has been put on P.E.P.F.A.R. funds and doctor’s are now forced to send away patients.\u00a0 This is compounded by the hesitancy of private donors to give more in the economic recession and local corruption.\u00a0 If things continue this way the battle against AIDS in Uganda could become one step forward and two steps back<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_1TlEAO6LHJc\/TBhFACBWvEI\/AAAAAAAAA7k\/v2VBn9PPjfs\/s400\/The%20Revealed%20Truth%20Part%205%20Procession.jpg\")
<\/a>The play’s were striving for authenticity and imported these donkeys from Kampala.\u00a0 They became a spectacle in the village and drew a crowd even before the play started.\u00a0 People would gather around and shriek in awe at the sight of the beasts.\u00a0 It’s was like when we go to the zoo in America and see the elephants for the first time.\u00a0 One woman asked if I feared the animals.\u00a0 I told her no.\u00a0 Then she asked me if I eat them in my country.\u00a0 I played the part of a good ambassador and replied in the negative.\u00a0 I didn’t want to go into what goes on at the Jello factory<\/a>.\u00a0 I do know that they eat donkey in other parts of Africa.\u00a0 I discovered that at an all you can eat Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala when I asked the waiter about the mystery meat at the buffet.\u00a0 Fish and grasshoppers<\/a> aside, I don’t care to eat meat so I can’t give a review on the taste of donkey, but I can tell you that it looked a lot like ground beef.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh5.ggpht.com\/_1TlEAO6LHJc\/TBhE7IHYA1I\/AAAAAAAAA7g\/GDQCEsQNHd8\/s400\/Subtitles%20Part%20IIIa%20Water%20bottle%20last%20supper.jpg\")
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