Breaking barriers

Day 11 in Uganda

This morning was the first day of school. The school bell rang throughout the compound. I could hear the laugher of the children.  Children lined up behind the borehole. The kids that had been staying with relatives during the holiday have now returned. I saw many faces outside the window. Parents brought their dues to the school to be weighed. They brought firewood and corn. George sat outside holding meetings for the first part of the day. I noticed a mother holding her baby boy and he had on a Auburn jersey. Matt’s favorite team is Auburn, so I grabbed my camera to get a picture. 

Mansul stared in the window. I love this kid. He has such beautiful eyes. Christie told me that his family kept him in hiding after he became deaf after a long battle with malaria.  When she came to live here and they started profiling children to find them sponsors, a little boy showed up to enroll but they quickly discovered that he was deaf.  So once they found a school for the deaf to send him to, word spread and 2 other parents came forth with their children.  Disabilities here are viewed as curses by some, so children are kept in hiding.  I looked at him and said, “I am so glad he can get out now.” 

Christie had noticed a little girl had hit another girl at the borehole. She was enraged. It is one thing for people to live in poverty, but to be picked on by peers can be eliminated. She told Kakumba to tell the little girl there will be no hitting on the compound. The little girl fled. We had another chicken that kept coming in the house. I kept running it out and as soon as I sat back down, it was in the house again. Finally I tossed a dirty diaper at it, but it didn’t work either. Christie wanted to get an action shot, so I got something else to throw, but it didn’t come back in. Momma Nabakalu brought us our tea and Wilson followed with some pineapple. Later he asked if I wanted any mango. This is what I had been waiting for - fresh mango. I told Christie that I can leave with ease now with a bit of sarcasm and she asked “Why?” I told her because now I had mango. So she told Wilson to never give me mango again. It wasn’t long before the kids filled the living room. School was out early today. Christie had them all do flash cards. Joviah sat in the living room and told us she wanted us to go see her cow. She wanted us to come and watch Elijah milk it and she demonstrated how he does it. We laughed so hard. She is a sweet girl. 

George needed to go into Kampala for some supplies for the school. So he and Viola loaded up for daddy and daughter time. He told Christie and I to prepare us something to eat because we were out of charcoal and for us to teach Betty. So Betty and I prepared an African meal. We had a tomato and carrot sauce with rice. My rice didn’t turn out so well, but we ate it anyway. 

Momma Maria always asks Christie for clothes but she never has clothes for women.  She does now, thanks to the clearance racks at Walmart.  So we found some halter top dresses for her in the totes. Christie cut the spaghetti straps off and we made her a skirt out of it. Jjajja Gerald and Nalongo (mother/grandmother to many and also serves the ministry as the school cook) came up so we got them some skirts too. 

Wilson was being silly so I snapped a quick picture of him. We had a few kids come up and we got them all new outfits. You wouldn’t believe the sizes these kids wear. At age 10 and 12 they are wearing a size 5/6. Some need bigger shirts than they do pants because they have worms and their bellies are swollen. Even though there is a borehole, some still get water from a dirty pond where water collects. The water is polluted with parasites. Because there is only one borehole, some have to walk for miles with heavy jerry cans, so they choose to walk a shorter distance for dirty water. Maria was one of the first to get her some new clothes. When she walked out, her mother was so proud. Momma Maria is a very special woman. She suffers many health problems and when Christie first came here she couldn’t even walk. Now she is thriving. Fred was the next to get new clothes. He is one of the kids that lives behind Christie and George in the home they built for Maria and her Mom.  He is the grandson Nalongo, who was moved in to care for Maria and her Mom.  Francisca and Joshua, who are also grandchildren, were given clothes as well.  

Maria hasn’t ever had much to do with me. So I started playing with her. After she got used to me, I picked her up and started kissing her cheeks. She went crazy with smiles. Then when I sat her down she held her arms out for me to pick her up. I picked her up and put my forehead to hers. She smiled so sweetly. She laid her head on my shoulder. I felt loved. I finally broke that barrier. I later went outside and she was playing with me. She has no idea she was that one that started my heart stirring for this place. She opened my heart to a new life. A life that I will never regret.

Tonight they all sat in the living room. I finished my book Scared by Tom Davis so I started reading The Journey by Billy Graham. I sat with my book while Christie had the kids reading the flash cards. This place is filled with love. Night is the only time that all the family is together. The day is filled with chores, but the nights are fun. The children watch TV (permitting the power is on), read, or just laugh and have fun. Christie had them make up sentences with the flash cards and here were some they came up with: