Hello from Kisoro, the beautiful SW corner of Uganda! 8 March 2016
It was a long and exhausting trip, but surprisingly I made all my connections and made it here, almost without incident! The flight leaving Chicago was nearly two hours late, which made it a tight connection in Brussels. Sometimes the airlines really surprise me, both my luggage and my driver were there waiting for me in Kigali when I arrived. It’s always a relief to see my ride waiting for me when I arrive at 10 p.m. and to know that I’m not stranded! The only hitch in all of it was when I showed up at the Backpackers where I had reserved and even paid in advance through expedia.com (something I hardly ever do, plan ahead that much!) not only had they moved to a new location, so it took us a while to find them, but then they didn’t even have a bed for me when we finally did find them! The man seemed semi-regretful and refunded me $16. of the $17. that I had paid for the bed….all the U.S. dollars he had! We went and found a little dive hotel for $20. so it all worked out, even the border crossing was smooth and quick.
It’s been so fun surprising everyone; they didn’t know exactly when I was coming back. Of course everyone greets me with, “Oh, you are so fat!” or a few have said “You are very fat, and you look younger” for some reason this sits a little better with me! So, the fatter I am, the younger I look?!…great to know as I approach my 40th! I also keep in mind that being fat, to them, is a great compliment. To be fat means that you have money and you are successful. My personal favorite though was when my dear friend Evas exclaimed, “You are really, really fat. Everywhere but your breasts are so fat!” Gotta love the honesty and candid nature of the Africans! A few friends were even admiring my skin, telling me that the climate at home must be better for my skin because it looks so much better now than it did when I left. To which, I question, “Why? What did it look like before?” They can’t say, just that it looks so much better as they rub my stark white, Minnesota winter skin with their dark fingers. It looks blindingly white to me and I wonder was I just dirty, or did my skin really look that bad?! Then they get intrigued by the hair on my arms and slowly pluck at it, they don’t have much body hair and apparently it’s very fascinating to them!
The best moment and the most amazing feeling came when I walked through the gates of Amazing Grace School, where I taught English for fourteen months in 2013-2014. I hear “Teacher Bonnie!” echo through the compound. It spreads through the classrooms like wild fire and I am ambushed. There are more arms around me than I could possibly count. It must be the world’s largest group hug and I rightly fear I’m going to be knocked over and trampled! What a welcome, just one student is missing. My sweet Christine isn’t there. She has been a boarder at the school since 2014 when we started sponsoring her after she was chased from her home by her five brothers who were beating and abusing her. Christine is behind in school, can read like a first grader but for some reason has been allowed to continue advancing through the grades and was currently in 5th grade. She was caught wearing a stolen dress of another student and instead of returning it and apologizing; she threw the torn dress behind the toilets and fled. I hope to go visit her at home soon and possibly bring her back to school. Living with her alcoholic mother and abusive brothers she will undoubtedly be living in their abusive mud home forever and probably even be pregnant before long. The painful realities of life in Africa bring me out of the surreal moment.
Tomorrow I’ll be settling into my own little bungalow, I’ve been in a guest house since arriving. I was going to return to the same place I rented at before, the little cement bedroom with a shared compound and shared toilet, but the only room they have open reeks of mold and I know I’ll be sneezy and itchy for the next three months if I stay there. So, instead of the $15./ month I was paying there, I found a brand new, clean, little room that I’m splurging on and paying $34./ month. I’ll still have a shared toilet WAY down the hallway but the great part about it is that it’s on the second floor and has a balcony overlooking a very busy street during the daytime, but a very quiet street at night. Perfect!
Until next time, Lots of love,
Bonnie
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can make a difference,
in fact it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
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