Family

Let me tell you about my fantastic family here.

Momma is the head principal at a vocational school for vulnerable girls in Kampala, the capital. She's been doing this for 10 years. The girls at her school come from rough backgrounds. They come to her school and choose a course to do, such as tailoring, culinary arts, computer sciences, and more. Momma completed her bachelors degree at UCU, where I am, in Social Work and Social Administration. She's now completing her graduate work at a university in Kampala in Human Rights. She has a passion for those who don't have a voice and is especially interested in gender related issues, sex trafficking, and child labor. She decided to go on and get her masters because she constantly tells the girls at her school that they have rights and value simple because of their humanity. She told me, "How can I tell the girls about their rights if I'm not even completely sure what they are?" So her coursework now outlines things such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights and things like that. She's an incredibly hard worker and I love talking to her, hearing about her heart for those in need.

Matilda is my sister. She's 23. She completed culinary arts training at her Mom's vocational school and she's incredibly good. I've been eating very well while I've been here. She's an amazing cook. She showed me pictures of the cakes she's made. She used to do catering for weddings and things, making 10 cakes for every event since Ugandan weddings tend to be big and never-ending. But lately no one can afford luxurious cakes so she's looking for a job. She's really fun to talk to. She hopes to go to university after she has enough money and continue something in like restaurant management.

Tony is my brother. He's 15 but acts much older. Within my first few minutes of encountering him he chopped off a chicken's head for dinner without so much as a second glance. He's more quiet and serious, trying to pull off the macho man of the house type role. Honestly, he's pretty successful.

Deo is my other brother, 13 years old. I called him "Del" for the first week because of the Ugandan English accents here haha. But he didn't even notice because they sound so much the same. Deo is so sweet. We've been playing a lot of cards. I taught him how to shuffle the cards and do the bridge. He practices a lot haha. He also calls clubs "flowers". So funny. He's like, "Rachel did you put down that 8 of flowers?" Deo is so thoughtful. The first day I arrived he asked me if I liked novels. I said yes. That night he appeared with a copy of "Silence of the Lambs" that he had dug through boxes to find for his sister.

I also have an Uncle that's living with us, recovering from a stroke. Then I have an Aunt and her 1-month old staying for a few days, and then her two children will move in with us tomorrow because though they're from northern Uganda, they live here during the school terms so they can go to the better schools here. My brothers leave for boarding school in Entebbe tomorrow. I'm gonna miss them. To be honest, my family is pretty wealthy. My house has 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 sitting rooms, and a covered garage. We also have indoor plumbing and eat meat multiple times a day. But even so, my Momma constantly reminds her kids to take NOTHING for granted. We pray at every meal for those who are less fortunate. And my siblings work.... a lot. They clean constantly and Matilda spends hours in the kitchen preparing every meal since Momma is at work all day. Momma has drilled into them that a hard work ethic and good morals will bring success. Actually most Ugandans believe that. Everything is achieved by toil and sweat. I'm not gonna want to leave them at the end of this week. Not at all.

My internship is going pretty well so far. I've spent several hours reading over the case files of the kids and learning a lot about how most children come to Chain and some of the challenges they face. Dorothy, my supervisor, hasn't really been around this past week. Hopefully that will chance. Other than reading, I've just been hanging out with the 15 or so children who are currently at Chain. Most of them at still with their guardians on holiday since school doesn't begin for them until tomorrow. So this next week will be much better with school in session and most of the 106 kids present. My first day the children totally ignored me and I was sure I was doomed for failure. The second day, they acted as if I was their best friend. I have no idea why. They rushed to greet me. Instead of ignoring me and speaking Luganda to eachother, they spoke English so I could understand. They grabbed my hand and pulled me around, showing me their beds and their possessions and their lunch, everything. We hung out in the chapel and played musical chairs while I played the bongo drum, not well I might add. Then we went to the playroom and they taught me how to play Ugandan cards and Ludo, which is their version of Trouble! (the American board game with the dice in that popper-bubble-thing, you know?) Then I taught them some outside games like Mother-May-I, which I changed to "Wangi?" which means "Yes please?" in Luganda. Next I wanted to teach them Red-Light-Green-Light...... but how do you teach children who have never before seen a stoplight what those words mean?? So once again, I changed the game to some simple commands in Luganda - come. slow. stop. Haha. All in all the first week went really well, and I was able to get most of the children's names down.

Lastly, today my Momma took me to Kampala and we went shopping at the bigger grocery stores. My heart lept when I saw brand names like: Kleenex, Tresseme, Doritos, Lays, Oreos, Pringles, Crest, and more. Amazing what a little familiarity will do for the soul.

Today I wished with all my heart I was at Trinity. My family is Catholic. Another adjustment.