{UAH} Museum crowd told how 'artifacts' are still used in Uganda

Museum crowd told how 'artifacts' are still used in Uganda

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Milo Dailey Butte County Post staff

Gary Wood tells a Tri-State Museum audience that a museum is the appropriate place to tell about life in Uganda today. He said the pre-electric displays of local history show how people there live each day with treadle sewing machines and washboards to clean clothing. He is president of New Hope Uganda, a religiously-oriented program serving about 600 orphaned children.

2 hours ago  •  Milo Dailey Butte County Post staff

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Those treadle sewing machines and other pre-electric home appliances and lighting that are artifacts in the Tri-State Museum are still in use in Uganda today, Gary Wood told the First Saturday Brunch crowd at the Tri-State Museum.

Wood and his wife moved to Belle Fourche in 2007 to be closer to a daughter.

He is president of New Hope Uganda Ministries, a support arm for New Hope Uganda, a religiously-oriented program that cares for about 600 orphaned children.

Looking around the museum's collection of ranching and farming in the past, he asked how many know what a corn sheller might be.

"That is a very useful tool today in Uganda," he said.

Until an American farmer brought up an old hand-operated sheller, Wood said Ugandans removed corn kernels from the cob by beating the cobs in a bag. The corn sheller cut time and labor almost like magic, he said.

"That's just one thing," he said.

Treadle sewing machines are valued appliances in Ugandan homes, he said pointing to a museum display of a turn-of-the-century home.

"That's how far behind they are," he said.

Much of the problem, he said, arose when the nation had its colonial connection to the United Kingdom ended and generations of violent leaders resulted in 250,000 killed in the area where the current mission is located.

Lucy Cole told how she accompanied Black Hills Vision Care optometrist Jim Trimble to Uganda to help get as many appropriate glasses for Ugandans at the mission as possible.

In five days, she said, they special eye clinic saw about 250 patients.

"That's way more than we would see here," she said.

The museum and Director Rochelle Silva have hosted quilting bees that offer a living view into longtime home crafts in the area - and quilts for orphaned children at the mission.

Wood said Uganda is a very different culture, so Americans visiting to offer knowledge of traditional crafts need to know how to interact with Ugandans.

English is the national language, he said, but many customs are very different from life in North America.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower