Church’s Chicken Takes On A Whole New Meaning

This past Sunday each of the Duke interns worshiped with a local congregation affiliated with the Umoja Project. Leonard, the head link teacher of the project, and I visited an Anglican church in which we were asked to introduce ourselves and offer greetings. After taking my seat, I thought I heard a chicken cluck. I looked around my area but only saw a purse and thought, “It’s the jet lag. I need some sleep.” I tried to concentrate on worship. Though the majority of the service was in another language, I thought I recognized one word- poultry. Before I knew it, members of the congregation were bringing live chickens to the front of the church. Leonard explained to me that this was the church’s fundraiser for emergency relief and community development. Parishioners who could not offer monetary gifts brought items to be auctioned off to fellow church members, with all proceeds going to the church. The auction eventually came down to one final chicken. Two groups were passionately vying for the prize, one of which assumed the responsibility of representing the Umoja Project. After a very intense battle, the group contending for Umoja won, and the auctioneer attempted to hand the chicken to me. Now I’ve encountered hundreds of chickens in my lifetime, but all have been dead. So I shied away and insisted that Leonard take the prize, and the entire congregation erupted in laughter at the American girl who was afraid of chicken. After service one parishioner reassured me that chickens did not eat humans. When I told my fellow interns about the experience, they ascribed to me the Kenyan name coo-coo, which means “chicken.”