The Bishop's Thunderbox

Those familiar with you correspondent will be aware that he may no be the world's most openly religious individual,so you will forgive a degree of irreverence in this post.Janice works at Ggaba Primary Teachers training college.This is a catholic Church owned college which has fought hard to maintain its independence,and has at last been able to offer teaching diplomas recognised by two prestigious Ugandan Universities ,and not just church aided ones. So I was honoured and not a little surprised to find myself invited to attend the second graduation in four years, at which some 2,000 students past and present under and post graduate were awarded their diplomas and certificates. This ceremony was to take place in the presence of the Bishop of Kampala ,who was unfortunately otherwise engaged so the "ordinary"took his place( I am by no means sure what an ordinary was but it seems he is some form of deputy.
There was great discussion amongst the staff that that Bishop was to be provided with a personal thunderbox (it arrived on the back of a decent sized lorry), no great surprise as the alternative was the long drop toilets around the campus, awful is not enough and awesome probably sums it up.TK was moved to comment that it was bigger than most peoples houses.
The day commenced with a mass no bells or anything just every time the ordinary raised the host the crowd applauded, they applauded the sermon, the offertory,and when everyone wishing to do so had taken communion, again a somewhat random affair with the various clergy present wandering around with chalices and donating the contents to whoever came next ,they applauded again. the whole thing was done with an enormous exuberance which I think only Ugandans can match.
At the end the graduation took another two hours with lists of students being read out and applauded, a few more hymns and anthems, one for Buganda, one for Uganda and one for the college,and more applause we went off to dinner.
the Ordinary said grace to more applause and we ate a celebratory Ugandan feast at which for some reason I was not allowed any meat, it was a Friday (several of the crowd, students etc had called me "Father" which may have explained it). More prayers and applause and the ordinary went home. Inevitably someone asked whether or not he had used the thunderbox,which he had not.TK had the key and gave evidence to this example of religious continence, remarking that he might as well take it home as he needed another bedroom.