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| Emily & I - Proud Parents Of Harriet :-) |
How I got to go:
Felix, the head of sponsorship here at Empower A Child, was traveling to Rakki to pay school fees for children as well as give them school supplies such as school bags, pencils, pens, notebooks, as well as any letters that they had received from their sponsors. Felix had to visit all of the children and travel from school to school to find the children. I was able to tag along because Harriet was one of the kids that Felix was going to be visiting. Felix aslo was grateful for a travel partner.
The Journey There :
Now Rakki is a far trip from Kampala where I live here in Uganda. So, Felix and I had to leave the house by 5:30am. We were taking taxis to get there. So at about 6:00am Felix, myself and about 12 other people squeezed into a 14 passenger van and headed out of Kampala. I slept almost the entire ride there. By 10:00am we were in Rakki. AND on the other side of the Equator !!!
Felix and I then sorted out the school bags and filled them with goodies for the children. Then as he visited a child at a school near by, I went into town with a staff member from Send A Cow. My mom has always told me to never go anywhere empty handed. So of course I couldn't visit Harriet's family without bringing them something.I had gifts for the children, but nothing for the family. So in about 1 hour I collected 5 bars of soap, 2 kilos of sugar, 4 kilos of flour, a packet of match boxes, 5 liters of kerosene for cooking, and a loaf of bread.
When felix returned, it was time to head deep into the village. So we hired a boda boda for the day to take us around to each child that we needed to visit. So before I knew it, I was on a boda boda with our driver in front, me in the middle,and Felix behind me, holding 7 bags and all my gifts for Harriet's family.
On our boda ride into the village I was blown away by the beauty around me. I was looking around at the world around me and all I could think of was " Where in God's green Earth am I?? " A saying that I have heard from my mother while growing up. It never made much sense to me until this week. THIS IS GOD'S GREEN EARTH. He created the beautiful sights that I was seeing as I was ridding along a dirt African road in the middle of nowhere called Rakki. For the entire day I was blessed with the chance to be in awe of God's beautiful landscapes, beautiful people, and beautiful wonders of this great country.
Visiting Harriet's Family :
Because Harriet was in school, she was not at home when we visited her home. When we got to her home, the only one home was her younger brother, Emma. He was in the house alone, eating what looked to be moldy makokee. He greeted us, but was scared of me and my white skin at first. The Aunty was in the fields working, so we had to send for someone to get her to meet me.
( Both of Harriets parents had passed away from HIV/AIDS. Her and her 3 siblings are now under the care of their unmarried Aunty. This Aunt also has 2 other children form other siblings of hers that have passed away. She is young and single taking care of 5 children what are not even hers. SUCH A STONG WOMAN! )
As Felix and I waited for the Aunty to come up from working in the fields, I tried hard to make Emma like me. He was so hesitant until I gave him a sparkly bouncy ball. (Thanks goes to Brandi for mailing it to me!) He is such a precious child. It was a pleasure to play with him as we waited for the Aunt.
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| Emma |
Before the Aunt came, it began to rain. Emma let us come into the house and sit with him. Last year I did not go into their house. I only stayed outside with the family. While sitting inside the house.....My heart completely broke. I could not wrap my head around how 6 people could LIVE in this house. I had been in village homes before, but I guess when its a child you care about and pray for often it hits you a little harder.
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| This is their house. it is not much bigger than this picture. All 6 of them sleep right there. |
When Harriet's Aunt finally made it out from the fields to see me, she came running. She ran right up to me and greeted me by bowing at my feet. Culturally bowing is a form of respect....but for me it just makes me uncomfortable. So I hugged her and most likely made her feel uncomfortable. When Felix asked her if she remembered me, she said "YES, it's Aunt Amy!" It was such a blessing to see how she appreciates me enough to remember my name and be excited that I came to visit.
When we all were settled into her home, I presented her with the gifts that I had brought for their family. With each small gift I gave her, she thanked me as though I was giving her a million dollars. I was so humbled by the fact that my small gifts meant so much for the family. They were the most excited about the kerosene that should last for the rest of this year, and the loaf of bread. Emma, who was eating moldy food when I arrived was the most excited about the bread. This was also humbling as well as eye opening to me. That same loaf of bread is bread that I would never eat. When my team spends time in the village we get that type of bread.... but it tastes stale, so stale that I usually just pass on it and go hungry. But for this family, it was as though I handed them the best cooked steak in the world. They were so unbelievably grateful.
I was so happy that I was able to visit Harriet's family. They were so grateful for my visit that they are now planning on making me a broom. So, I'll have to go back and visit them again before I leave Uganda :-) !!
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| Harriet's Aunt is the woman in the yellow t-shirt |
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| Emma with his bread :-) |
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| The family and all the neighbors wanted a picture :-) |
Seeing Harriet :
Harriet was at school when I went to visit her family..... so I didn't get to actually see her until the end of the day! It killed me to wait that long, but it was worth it. When we arrived at her school, most of the children were out in the school yard. I kept my eyes pealed for Harriet, but I did not see her. We had a teacher call for Harriet and her cousin who is also sponsored. When Harriet saw me, she ran as fast as she could over to me. She gave me a huge hug and bowed as well. She had the biggest smile on her face as she looked up at me. Felix asked her if she new who I was and she said yes ..... but then called me Aunt Emily. But when she found out that I was not Emily, she quickly said "Aunt Amy!" It is so nice to know that Emily and I are not just sponsors to her. We are not just two Americans she met last year who help pay her school fees..... we actually mean something to her. She does honestly love us.
After we said our hellos, we went into the school's office. We were in there to pay their school fees. I saw that Harriet was not wearing a school uniform. In Uganda, every child has to wear a uniform at school. The children who can no afford them don't have them..... but often times they get in trouble if they do not own one. But our little Harriet did not have a uniform. We asked the teacher about it and apparently Harriet had grown out of hers so she did not have one that fit her anymore. Being the mother/Grand-mom/Sponsor that I am..... I looked at Harriet ( who was already smiling at me because she hadn't taken her eyes off of me since she first saw me at her school ) and asked her if she wanted a new uniform. Of course she smiled and said yes followed by a bunch of "Sank Kus". ( In Uganda the TH sounds are hard for them, so often times Thank You comes out more like Sank Ku ) . I did not want our Harriet to be one of the only kids without a uniform. So once I paid the 15,000 (about 12 dollars) for her new school uniform, she was handed one immediately and she wore it proudly.
Harriet in her new school uniform :-)
After we were done with what had to be done in the office, I only had a short amount of time with Harriet before I had to go. So I had felix tell her that I had left gifts for her at home. (I saved a few pillowcase dresses and goodies from the last package Brandi & Mom sent me ) I also told her that I loved her very much and that Emily and I want to see her do well in school. She just hugged me and smiled.
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| Harriet and I |
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| All of her classmates wanted a picture as well :-) |
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| Harriet, me, and Harriet's cousin |
I wish I could have had more time with her ........ But there is always next time ! :-)
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| Harriet & I |
So, where on God's green earth was I ? I was right where God wanted me to be on that Tuesday afternoon.....ridding around the beautiful country of Uganda on a boba boba searching for a child who loves me and my friend Emily so dearly. It was such a blessing for me to go on this trip. It may have been a long journey and at the end of the day I was exhausted ...... but it was completely worth it.
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