A Dolly in Kyamagemule

Only God knows why exactly this pout-faced little girl latched onto me the very moment I set foot on the ground in Kyamagemule. I wasn’t the only muzungu there, I hadn’t said a word, I hadn’t even gotten out the bubbles yet. She followed my every step all over that school compound. Upon closer inspection I could see the circular scars on her scalp and skin that resemble the symptoms of HIV/AIDS. While I don’t know for sure that is what she has…let me just say…nooooo, in the name of Jesus! She can’t be more than three years old.

Little Nakato, of course, was the next recipient of the now-famous dollies. She studied this dolly and refused to let go when the other children approached for inspection. By the time our welcome ceremony was finished, during which she sat skin-to-skin close to me on a small wooden bench, she could hardly control the yawning.

Following the ceremony and a quick check on the well, I hopped into the van to wait for another meeting to finish. Nakato stood at the foot of that van by my feet. She just stood there. No expectation, no puppy dog eyes, just stood close. How odd…why/how does a child sense something like this. Yes, of course… I couldn’t resist any longer (not that I tried very hard) and lifted the child to my lap where she promptly fell asleep and I fell into heaven.

Really…can I just have a “holding sleeping children who may never get warm, gentle touches at home” ministry?

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Kyamagemule Meet Hawthorne

Martin, the headmaster at Covenant Junior School in Kyamagemule, is a very kind and helpful man. The teachers seem to respect him. When asked what the barriers to success might be in this very remote place, the teachers were quick to point out that their salaries were insufficient to even provide shelter. Why would teachers come this far from home for substandard salaries? Because they love the children and because they have a job. One teacher pointed out that several of them stay in one room in the village to avoid excessive transportation fees and because that is all they can afford.

After meeting with the teachers, I talked to the team about the Hawthorne effect and suggested we develop some simple skill-building workshops that could take place during the time others conduct child sponsorship updates. Among the team members, we have enough education and teaching experience to provide a little something that would encourage and give hope to these faithful teachers. Just knowing that we care about them, according to the Hawthorne effect, ought to raise their performance and morale.

Mercy Uganda is thinking about creating a teacher's conference for those teachers where we have sponsored students. Perhaps we create a teacher-to-teacher program where a teacher from the States mentors/sponsors a teacher from Kyamagemule. With only eight teachers, this may be possible. I’m thinking something like sending over your old books, tools, and maybe clothing (these teachers need real, practical help too) where your donation would go directly to a specific teacher that you chose to sponsor. You can correspond with this teacher, who may have questions or need suggestions. Still…we need to think more about this. Your ideas are quite welcome.

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Homework in the Dark

Song and dance are common welcome gifts from the school children when we arrive in Kyamagemule. Unfortunately I cannot upload the video clip from here. Watching these children perform, right down to the tiny ones, is so much fun. The boys are quite adept at playing their drums too.

The sponsorship update on one child in Kyamagemule revealed a lack of paraffin (oil) at Joyce’s home, which means that she cannot do her homework because the house is too dark. As American’s we simply want to provide the paraffin for her. Culturally, we expect the paraffin would be used by the father and/or mother for cooking or for purposes other than light for homework and so…what is the best way to correct this problem of darkness? Perhaps the answer is to provide enough paraffin to fuel all the household needs so that there is enough for the lamp. But this is only a short term solution.

In reality we need to equip these people to produce their own income for paraffin and pray that they use

this paraffin for light to do homework. Alternatively, we need to help them find alternative light sources or alternative routines. Educating and equipping people who live so very far from any real marketplace to get paraffin from that same very far away marketplace is no easy task. Pray that God reveals an alternative solution to which the family may agree.

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Kyamagemule Bubble Chasers

The children of Kyamagemule are familiar with me, but not so much with bubbles. Once Pastor George described the fun of bubbles, the children came swarming after me. Sticky bubble syrup was everywhere.

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Roadside Bubble Chasers

Soapy, slippery, stunning. The bubble chasers of Kawuku took time to understand what the bubbles were, but the children along the roadside to Kyamagemule never quite caught on. I hopped out of the van to play with the kids while the others shopped for school requirements. Okay, the children were more watchful than playful.

Bubbles. What could be the purpose of this mzungu blowing until she’s light-headed? What are these weird things coming out of that yellow stick? Why do they sometimes go this way and sometimes that way? A neighbor boy joined us while his mother watched on with a smile. I have a feeling she didn’t really know what they were either, but realized they were intended as a harmless game for the children.

Oh the simple things in life!

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Christmas Eve Dinner

A mattress, mosquito net, and some rice were the Christmas gifts sent by Olivia’s sponsor (not my friend’s Olivia, a different one). The family invited us into their home and I continue to be surprised at how neat and clean the homes always are – given the dirt floor and mud walls. Commonly the family has a wood chair or two, but most have hand-woven mats for sitting on the ground. Kick off your shoes before entering.

A lady working on the land cut a few stalks of corn for us and Olivia’s grandmother gave us a chicken…a live chicken. Gertrude the Christmas chicken rode home in the trunk of the car with the ant-covered corn stalks to keep her company. Given the late hour, Gertrude would have to stay overnight in our house until Christmas Eve when we would enjoy her company for dinner. The neighbor’s dog might have otherwise made his move.

Gertrude the Christmas chicken was tied at the wings and feet and, if I took a moment to allow it, I might feel a bit bad for her. Instead I told her to hush up so we could sleep. Lauren threatened to slit her throat in the night if she kept us awake, so the girl complied.

Christmas Eve day David the trusted boda man took Gertrude from our sight. He returned a short time later with a bag…full of a naked and quiet Gertrude. Sad? I think not. Hungry? You bet. Lauren whined about how hard it was to cut Gertrude into proper pieces, while I cleaned up her poop with a baby wipe.

Hot coals awaited this lovely Christmas chicken and the marinade Lauren created made the anticipation even better. AND Quality (the nearby supermarket) had Heinz…oh this was to be a very good day. As it turned out, Gertrude was about the best chicken we’ve had in Uganda and the corn was the tenderest. Remember the corn breed is different here, so getting anything close to tender is just short of miraculous.

I heard that I missed Tom’s chocolate cake with the family Christmas Eve night. I hope they ate a piece for me! As for my own Christmas Eve dinner, God is so generous.

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Kyamagemule Well Update

Swosh, swosh, swosh. The girls were riding the pump handle up and down as the water swoshed a steady stream to fill the jerry cans. Cool, clean water. They’re so thankful for the well installed in Kyamagemule this past September by some generous donors to Mercy Uganda.

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Christmas Delivery: Rovinsa and Millie

Dolls. These girls are absolute dolls. Rovinsa and Millie live together, although they’re not sisters. We had the opportunity to visit with these Mercy Uganda sponsored children who are on holiday from Covenant Junior School in Kyamagemule. Lauren conducted an interview of each child to help Mercy Uganda and their sp

onsors ensure she is well cared-for. I was given the gift of delivering Christmas boxes from their sponsors.

Not the first time I’ve had this opportunity, I noticed that Ugandan children – unlike American children (and adults) – don’t tare into their boxes to see what’s inside. They just look at the top of the box with puzzlement. After being instructed to search the content, the girls weren’t quite sure what to make of the whole thing. A gift?

One of the questions we like to ask the children, to help the sponsors, is what they might hope for if they were to receive a box. Millie said books and pencils. Guess what just happened to be inside her box. The family thought that was a wonderful treat.

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Christmas Delivery: David and Michach

A beautiful arbor of bougainvillea shaded the bench we used while interviewing David and Michach. Their mother and younger sister sat on a hand-made mat covering the hard-packed earth and looked on. The boys had been playing somewhere and were covered with dirt and out of breath when they came running to greet us.

The two stood obediently and patiently before Lauren and Martin (the Covenant Junior School headmaster) as they asked health and well-being questions as well as questions about their hopes and dreams. Sponsors often inquire about what gifts the children might like and inevitably this question, when posed to the children, creates the greatest dilemma. A box? A gift?

Favorite foods also causes some pause with rice typically being the most appreciated. Gladly, David and Michach’s sponsor provides for their school tuition and also sent money for mosquito nets and rice for the family. 30 kilos (about 66 pounds) of rice will meet the family’s needs for a short time. We also used some of the rice money to provide them some meat so they would have sauce for the rice. A gift like rice may not seem like much to most American’s but this gift sometimes means the difference between being hungry and being satisfied. Thank you!

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Kyamagemule Roads

Scrape, scratch, thunk. Kyamagemule roads have not changed since the first trip or the second trip. This time, though, we made the journey in a standard-carriage car that scraped along a good portion of the dirt road. The first two-and-a-half hours of the drive were on tarmac. But Gabriel skillfully navigated the treacherous, gully-ridden, rock-infested hills in the hour-and-a-half-long drive that followed the tarmac road and went deep into the remote village.

The ongoing problem is that the photos don’t do justice to just how horrid these crevasses really are. I’m sure they’ve swallowed whole cars before…or at least a boda and its passengers. In some places the high points of the road were so narrow that the wheels of the car slid down into the gully with quite a thunk to the undercarriage. Reaching the homes of the sponsored children by car netted a new plot of long grass growing from that same underside of the car. Finally emerging onto paved roads after the work was complete, Gabriel stopped and inspected the car. It’s a good thing he didn’t check underneath.

The drive, though, is always filled with beauty. Quaint little brick or mud houses were tucked into the thick undergrowth here and there. Children yelling “mzungu” played on the dirt plots in front of those homes. A vast array of purple, pink, and yellow flowers bloom sporadically throughout the hills. Cattle roamed freely while shepherds used a switch to gently guide them to greener pastures. What a magnificent place.

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