gift

On Monday night we had a lovely barbecue at Heritage House with all of the new teachers and returning teachers who have already arrived.

At the barbecue I met a small four-year old boy named Gift, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy. He is from the babies' home close by, where one of the teachers (Cheryl Lynn) is very involved. Previously, the thirty to forty children (aged 0-5) at the babies' home never went outside the compound walls. As a result, they were terrified of their surroundings and didn't know how to function in the city. This also meant that the workers never got a break.

Cheryl Lynn pushed for this to change, and now each worker takes two children home to their village for a month or so. Last year over Christmas, Gift was one of the children left over because no worker wanted to take him home with them due to his special needs. Cheryl Lynn offered to have him stay with her family (she has seven children of her own!) over the holidays. Over that time, Cheryl Lynn's house help, a Ugandan woman, decided she wanted to adopt Gift. While this woman goes through the adoption process and Cheryl Lynn helps her get set up to care for Gift, he is staying with Cheryl Lynn's family. This is how Gift ended up at the staff barbecue.

Gift's story shows another layer of our experience here. It is hard to grapple with the desperate poverty that surrounds us here. When we go into town we are told to ignore beggars -- giving money is not sustainable and will only cause mayhem. When I watched commercials in Canada about "the hungry children of Africa" did I think I would sidestep a young boy holding out his hand for money? Did I think I would fix my eyes ahead of me when women holding babies try to beg through the bus window? I'm told some of the women actually borrow babies to beg with, but even that sad fact points to real desperation.

While I know that my first year of teaching will consume most of my time, and that by teaching at Heritage I am helping missionaries be able to stay in Uganda, I would like to volunteer in some capacity, to feel that I am helping in a meaningful, concrete way. One of the teachers visits the slums every Saturday and helps with a Bible lesson and feeding program, while Cheryl Lynn has offered to bring me to the babies' home.

I keep referring back to my experience in Ghana (I'm sure Isaac is getting sick of me mentioning it!). While there are many similarities, there are a lot of differences as well. In Ghana, I was in a small town. Here, we are on the outskirts of Kampala. This means we have access to things I didn't have in Ghana (like this Internet at home!), but, like any city, it also means that we can't possibly get to know everyone and, as a result, it feels more dangerous. 

From my immediate experience it also seems that the poverty here is much more desperate. I don't remember seeing so many people openly begging, even in Accra. I don't know if this is true, because my experience in Ghana is limited and I've only been here for five days! Just my own thoughts ... We've been so preoccupied with getting ourselves comfortable here, that meeting Gift was a sharp reminder of the greater needs that surround us.