We are finding our time in Bududa, which is about to end for 6
weeks or so, filled with heart-felt connections, challenging differences,
grounding similarities, heart-breaking hardships, side-splitting humor, and out
and out amazement. So then how can we truly inform you about the vast number of
moments and stories that occur daily without being glued to the keyboard day
and night? Know we are fully immersed in this incredible place and we
will continue to send you small, selected moments of our experience in hope you
can create a picture for yourself that feels near complete.
Here then are a few new moments/stories:
Nakuti Medina is the School Nurse for the Saturday Children
of Bududa program. We were so delighted and surprised to see her. Back in 2004
when David, Derek and I were in Bududa, she was in her early teens and one of
the original Children of Bududa. What a success story! Now a nurse she is
caring for a new wave of children in the same Saturday program that nurtured
and cared for her so many years ago. And if that wasn't amazing enough, one of
the CofB children, Doreen, who is an orphan who lives with her grandmother and
her 4 siblings, had an awful case of scabbies, which is unfortunately not an
uncommon medical problem because of the poor living conditions some of these
orphans have to deal with. The treatment requires bathing each day, taking an
antibiotic to kill the parasites and then applying a topical cream to lessen
the itch. It was felt that Doreen shouldn't return to her home because it was
not clean and her siblings were also infected, so Medina agreed to take Doreen
home with her and administer the meds and keep her and her clothing and bedding
clean for a week. What an angel....and she didn't even hesitate when asked if
she could manage this. Because conditions at home had to also be attended to,
the CofB social worker, Martha, arranged for Doreen's house to be cleaned, all
bedding and infected clothing washed, as well as bringing her 4 siblings to the
hospital for treatment. This kind of caring and help is commonplace in this
program because some of the situations are so dire and the needs are so great.
Many, many thanks to Medina and Martha.
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| Medina at her nurse's station at Saturday's Children of Bududa program |
Monday, October 9 was Ugandan Independence Day. Independence
was declared in 1962 in the era when a number of African nations were born. The
Bududa Vocational School (BVA), like most schools, had the day off. There
was little fanfare or celebration in Bududa and we were told that local
villages rotate the annual celebration and this was not Bududa's year. By
Thursday we began to hear there would be a soccer match on Friday between the
boys at BVA and another school and we were primed to see the match. On Friday
we learned the soccer opponent would be a Christian boys school from some
distance and they would be visiting the school before the match. The boys
school arrived in time to share lunch with us and after lunch there would be an
assembly to officially greet the quests before the soccer match. The
assembly was spectacular! After praying, singing the National Anthem, and
introducing ourselves to one another (which often comes with words of wisdom from
each person----all 20 of us!) the students then had their turn. Two BVA
students shared the BVA program with our guests, including urging them to send
their friends and brothers and sister to the program. Before the
Christian school student spoke, Somali, the BVA faculty person in charge of the
assembly, told them that they had no more than 15 minutes to speak so we could
end the assembly to go to the soccer match. This seemed a bit strange
since the BVS student remarks lasted on 5 minutes each, but once the Christian
school student launched into a full-blown sermon we understood the caution for
the time limit. The student was a master at preaching and had both
schools in the spirit------and did push the 15 minute limit out to 20!
Everyone fully charged, we made for the soccer match----except-----we
couldn't get onto the village soccer field by the school because they were now
having the Independence Day celebration that did not happen Monday. After
Robert, the BVA Chief Operating Officer, pleaded and wrangled with village
officials for 30 minutes, the two teams were allowed on the pitch. Of
course, the celebration continued on the sidelines which meant small children
and chickens kept running onto the pitch. In the end BVA was triumphant,
1-0. The athleticism in the match was astounding and it was the perfect
ending to an amazing day.
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| BVA 1 - Boys Christian School 0 |
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| Soccer game commences during the Ugandan Independence Day Celebration |
Today, we drove from Bududa to Entebbe to prepare to leave tomorrow to visit our friend Sallie in South Africa. The drive takes about 7 hours, if all goes well, and includes navigating the 40 kilometer dirt road out of Bududa, the beautiful countryside around Mbale, the mind-blowing bustle of Kampala. We had dinner with Pascal, a Masters level Business student from Makarere University, who we hope can help be doing some research to better understand job availability and interest in the Bududa District. With good luck, he will start his research work when we return to Bududa in December.
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