Hi again!
Just a fast hello to each of you and a quick update on
Wilson and his new home! My plans to leave Kisoro changed when I sent out a
call to you, my generous and loving friends for help, and you again responded
so kindly and promptly. The rainy season has arrived in Uganda again and I
couldn’t make him wait until October for a decent home, so I am still in
Kisoro. We started construction soon after I sent that e-mail and progress has
been remarkably fast. Attached are a few photos of the many trips to the
village to bring supplies and to check on the progress of the building. Well,
it is a few photos if you consider
the hundreds of photos I’ve taken of the project! The entire community
is grateful to us for helping this Muzae (old man). The two loads of
stone and three loads of
sand were carried by local women from the truck, up the path to the
compound.
When I paid the ladies the 50,000 Shillings ($20. USD) for each load
that we
agreed on, then actually counted the number of women and kids who were
carrying, it was about $1. per person per load. The stones were carried
in one
day, but the sand took a couple of days for each load. They accepted the
work
and were grateful for an opportunity to make money. I’ve taken soap for
the
ladies to wash clothes with and books to read to the children, and of
course my slew of
children’s songs to sing with them. I am
happily greeted by dozens of people every time I arrive. It is an amazing
feeling, a feeling I wish more than anything that I could share with you, but
this computer is only capable of so much!
There is another reason I wasn’t meant to leave
Kisoro yet. The
new term started on Monday. Tuesday morning the director told me
Christine had
come on Monday evening and told him that all her clothes and bedding had
been
stolen from her. He sent her home to get the two dresses she said she
had
remaining and told her to come back that night; we would figure out what
to do in
the morning. Tuesday morning when I realized she wasn’t in class, I went
to the
Director and asked him if we could go to her home, I had a feeling
something
wasn’t right. I had also seen her brother in town the day before and
with his
limited English and strange personality, he told me something like,
“Christine is
stubborn. She doesn’t cook. I’ll come to school and tell the director to
beat
her.” I brushed him off and walked away. The director agreed that
something
wasn’t right and we went directly to her home. We found her mother and
oldest
brother, who lives next door there. After some confusion and translating
we
discovered that two of Christine’s brothers ‘chased’ her from her home a
few
nights earlier. They came home drunk and were beating her, so she ran
away in
the night. The oldest brother walked us to where they guessed she was,
all the
while telling us that his mother and brothers take too much alcohol and
can’t
be trusted. He also indulged us with stories about how he and his wife
didn’t
drink because of the constant fighting and yelling from his family while
they
were drunk. When we found Christine at her cousins, the cousin told us
the
whole story, or supposedly the whole story. I’m not sure what to believe
anymore, but my guess is that it was the brothers who stole Christine's
belongings. When Christine came in the room wearing dirty rags, she
didn’t look
any of us in the eye, but she shook my hand, then sat down on the wooden
bench
next to me. While the cousin, the director and the handful of other men
that
showed up discussed the details of the situation, I leaned down and
asked
Christine, “Do you want to go to school?” She shook her head no and
said, “I
don’t have shoes.” I told her, “Don’t
worry, we can get you shoes and blankets. Do you want to go to school?” Then she
said, “Yes”. She went to the back of the house and came out in another dirty
dress, a plastic shopping bag with a knot tied in the bottom to keep her few
possessions from falling out of the bottom. She walked along barefoot, answering
the many questions the director and I had on our way back to school. We got more disturbing and terrible
stories about her family life, including the fact that the oldest brother who
walked us there does drink and he beats his wife. He has even
beat his own
mother. She told us her family eats once a day and has gone for four
days
without eating during this holiday. After she bathed at school, I walked
her to
town and we bought her shoes, school books, underwear, a school bag,
socks, and a
basin for bathing, soap, a case to keep her new belongings in and bed
sheets
and a blanket. Most of which I had purchased for her before, but it was
all
stolen. After that, we went to the Potter’s Village and talked to the
Social Worker and the Medical Doctor. Christine isn’t admitting to any
sexual
assaults, but the Social worker is planning to visit the family. She is
safe at
school for the next three months and what
I’m hoping the social worker can manage to arrange is for her to go back
to her
cousins home during the next holiday…and forever more. As if life isn’t
hard
enough here, between hunger and dreadful living situations, then to have
drunken older brothers beating you for not cooking, when there is no
food in
the house to cook. What a “holiday” for Christine. The one thing, of all
the things we bought for Christine, that got a smile and even a HUG
from her...was the loaf of bread I brought her at school today.
Rain is pounding on the tin roof now, classes even cease
because teachers shouting at the top of their lungs cannot be heard with the
rain pummeling the tin roof. I see
children jumping around with mouths moving, but no sound coming out of them. I
can also see the water tank filling!
So maybe it wasn’t such a “quick hello” but I tried
to keep it short this time!
Love and kindness,
Bonnie
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help
others.
And
if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” –Dali Lama
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