Mother of Children

Today 80 kids were sent home because they couldn't pay their school fees of 7,000 shillings ($3.50). Tomorrow, they return because I paid them with help from a donation. No kids will stay at home because they couldn't pay school fees that cost less than a fast food meal on my watch.

Today was a good day in the clinic. Thanks to some help from Mom and some of the UMC staff we have identified what has been ailing most of the kids: impetigo. Now that we know what it is it is a lot easier for me to treat it. I bought a lot of soap today and gave it to all the kids that came in with impetigo sores because hand washing is the most important measure to take to keep it from spreading. Thursday I will do a health seminar in each class about how to get rid of it and not spread it. We are at outbreak status currently, but hopefully we will be impetigo free by next week, or at least on the way.

Yesterday I did a health talk at my friend Robbie's school in Nkokonjeru. Which i think means "middle of nowhere." Not really, but it could. I did a workshop for the whole Senior School about general health (washing hands, seeing doctor, etc), sex education, relational health (men treat women with respect and women treat men with honor), and what to do if you are in an unsafe situation (abuse/defilement,etc.). Defilement is the term used here for sexual abuse/molestation. The talk went really well. The kids knew more about sex ed than they did about when you should wash your hands. They call it "playing sex" here and most begin between the ages of 10-14. There is information EVERYWHERE about safe sex...but not enough of an understand about the severity of consequences and if you become infected with an STD it is so taboo that most never tell.

One student, a boy in S3, came to me after the session and showed me the notes he had taken. Then he asked me if someone makes you "play sex" before age 10 is it defilement. I asked if he meant "forced" and he said yes. I said, Yes...it is defilement. He simply said, Thank you Madame and took his seat. And I had to leave the room. As discussed in the seminar...the best thing to do is find a "safe person" and "tell" and Robbie told the students that he would be their safe person. So I pointed him out to Robbie so he would know, but he will not approach him about it unless the student comes to him. And sadly, there's still not much that can be done here about it. Except tell.

Today the P6 teacher was sick so I decided to cover the class and work the clinic at the same time. So I explained to the class what a speech was and told them to write a speech answering the questions "Why I Should be the President of Uganda..." To give them some ideas of topics they could cover I asked them to list me some problems in Uganda. Silence. So I reminded them that 80 of their classmates had to go home today because they couldn't afford school fees. BINGO. Suddenly I hear "we need free school! better education! no more poverty! no more government corruption!" Yeah, P6 pretty much rocked their speeches. And this afternoon when I took pictures for the sponsorship campaign I'll be launching whenever I get decent internet...one of them has decided that he would really like to be President.

Today, I went with William again on another journey to visit Paul's house...finally. His sister, who is much older, showed me the toilet that Paul has to literally drag himself too (sidebar: most village toilets here are half mud and half stick with a hole in the center. They are covered on one side and open air sticks on the other to decrease the smell. They are also kept a good distance from the house to avoid smell). She also showed me the bathing room that is up some steps, but his friends help him to bathe. He sleeps on a rotted matress on the floor with some cousins that help him. William told me that everyday when he passes though, Paul can be found in the front yard revising his school books because studying is so important to him. I talked with his sister about what Paul needs most and the status of his health. Most importantly, he needs living arrangements that are more suitable to his disabilities. However, the good news is that the doctors say that all of his internal organs are normal and healthy so he should live a normal life. Very good news. I looked up for the first time after talking with her and noticed that at least 10 of my students that had been sent home earlier in the day were gathered around peeking through the spaces between rooms. It seems that Paul's house is hangout headquarters and I think most of them are also related to Paul.

Finally Paul's grandmother returned from the garden and she bowed at my feet to shake my hand and thanked me in Luganda which William translated for me. I knelt down to also tell her that everyone I know back in the US knows about Paul now too because he's written about so much on my blog.

When we were walking back to the school, William said that I was a real Ugandan now and he knew that God had sent me here with a calling. He said that every night he prays and thanks God for sending Kisa to Uganda for her calling. Then he reminded me of what one of the grandmother's called me last week when we were visiting her home...Maama Wabana. Meaning "Mother of Children." William said that the name was very fitting for me because he sees that whenever I am there the children gather round and crowd the clinic or run to the roadside or sneak up and hide around the sides of Paul's house. Now, most of the staff have taken to calling me that. I am quite honored, but it is a title I can think of for many other people that I have known in my life. I found out yesterday that one of those people from my home church, Mary Rowland Bass, passed away. I think it is only fitting that Paul be sponsored in her honor.

So this is for Mrs. Bass: Mama Wabana.