“Good morning MD, God has blessed me with twins – a boy and a girl,” our Jimmy Ezra Okello notified on Sunday, 11^th February 2024. And so, I invite you to please join our CPAR Uganda family in congratulating our Ezra and celebrating with him and his young family, his first born blessed gifts from God.

In the days of our Nilotic ancestors, there would be a cleansing ritual to protect our blessings from the gods, the twins. There would be slaughter of a sheep and three chickens. The meats cooked to be consumed as part of the ritual feast; and together with our local brew.

In my own culture, Iteso, it used to be that “the birth of twins must be celebrated by all neighbours. A special drum (emidiri), covered with lizard skin, is used together with two small drums (ideteta).

Mock alarm is shown by the family and men folk run about with shield and spear adopting threatening attitudes. Separate ceremonies take place in the two families concerned.

Food and beer are provided in large quantities. The beer must be drunk, initially at any rate, from a special pot (adogoria) having two mouths. 

The dance sometimes lasts several days until the woman (mother of twins) is fully recovered.”

J. C. D. Lawrence in “The Iteso – Fifty years of change in a nilo-hamitic tribe of Ugabda.”

In the spirit of our ancestors, I celebrate. Knowing, however, that our Ezra is a strong Christian believer, in addition, I pray that the Holy Spirit watches over the twins and the whole of Ezra’s young family; protecting them, all the days of their lives.

Jimmy Ezra Okello, Innovator and Lira Learning Centre Caretaker, at work at the CPAR Uganda Lira Learning Centre. Ezra is a beneficiary of our “Mentoring young adults in Uganda into innovators against poverty” project that was funded through our partnership with GlobalGiving.

One way in which you can join us in celebration is to make a donation to our project led by Ezra, “Welding apprenticeships to empower youth in Uganda.” No donation is too small. A donation of US$ 10 (about Ug. Shs. 40,000) buys an angle bar among the the key materials needed in fabricating metal doors and windows.

Please do support Ezra’s dream to support disadvantaged youth in Uganda to acquire artisanal livelihood skills, so that they may be able to earn incomes and put food on the table for their desperate and food poor households 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE