Need is a 4 Letter Word

(Grace and Sandra)

(Charles' feet)

(this is their school office and in the background is there classes)

In an effort to defy my friend, who questioned if I was actually in Africa due to the absence of myself in any of the pictures I post, I am posting this picture. Here is a picture of me in the field in a very typical bursar’s office with one of our orphans kneeling down to me. But look closely at the picture, can you see them? They are there- creases on my face. There are creases from extended smiling sprouting from simple joy. There are creases from unfixable sorrow. There are creases of helpless frustration. There are creases of settled content. It is not unusual here for me to get ready in the dark with little water, but as I look in the mirror each day some how the slightly weathered face glowing from the heat, lined with dirt from the road, a bit exhausted from work, looks pleased and alive. Each wrinkle I have acquired on my face reflects my experience here. They show the dramatic swinging of emotions that are felt as I delve into the work here. It feels like love.

This week we began handing out school supplies and paying fees for our orphan and vulnerable children program (OVC). We have identified 200 children in 16 sub-counties covering 30 km of gnarly dirt roads and 150 schools. We start early and end at dark. Like most things in Uganda, the task in theory is simple- take jerry cans to tap, fill up and bring home; work hard in school, go to college; meet someone, get married; buy ingredients, make dinner; drive around to each school, pay fees and handout supplies. But like most things in Uganda, it never ends up being easy- life is simple but emotions and unaccounted factors are complicated.

At one school, we met with this orphan named Charles, we began going through the process of fees and distribution. Then upon closer inspection we noticed his feet were slowly being eaten away by jiggers, and his limbs were skinny and dry as the parasites have began feeding on his blood and water. The image alone is sad, but you know what makes this devastating and frustrating is the fact that his caretaker is a smartly dressed man who is in fine health. So this does not mean his household is unable to take care of themselves, this means that this boy is purposefully being neglected.

On the other side, yesterday we broke our record by meeting with 28 students and finishing almost 1 whole sub-county. At one school we met a girl who was pleading to attend, but we actually were delegated to support her sister. After talking to her though, we found out that her sister, decided to get married instead (at the age of 15) and is no longer going to school. We had the money and the supplies so we decided at that moment to sponsor her instead, not only for her education but also in hopes of protecting her from early marriage as well. The girl, smart and brave, left home to get her things with her school fees paid and excited to learn. It was a beautiful accident.

Ever since you are little you are told to eat all your food because there are children in Africa starving. I don’t mean to belittle or deny this fact, it is true. But you know, African children are starving for education. I don’t want to make this into “For a dollar a day. . . “ commercial because that is not the image of Africa I feel. For all the bad here, there is equally good. For all the lazy days, there are heavy days of work. The progress is in the experience, and hopefully the reduction of a little less bad.