It was Tuesday morning and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do for the day. I went over and sat by Bern while I ate my banana, piece of bread, and my boiled egg. While we were talking he asked me what my plans were. Of course I didn’t know. So Bern invited me to join the engineers in going to the new source that had been found and try to map it out. Then he told me I could join the construction crew in the afternoon while they found breaks in the pipes and repaired them. I was pretty excited to go and do both. It seemed better than going to a meeting about health education in another language. As we headed down the road in the Muzungu Mobile, the affectionate name for the jeep the engineers ride in, the construction crew pulled off to the side of the road and motioned for Bern. We heard that the others had run off the road and into a ditch. When we got there we found the truck hanging off the road over the creek while a fence post was keeping it from rolling over.
Now I have been in Uganda for 4 and a half months now. I have been in a lot of places that others might consider scary. I have slept on the streets of Kampala. I have walked through and worked in the worst parts of the city. I have camped out in the villages. I have ridden through town on taxis. I have ridden everywhere on bodas (bodas are considered the most dangerous part of Uganda). For some, it is following where God has led me. However the scariest thing I have done in Uganda is to ride in a vehicle driven by an everyday Ugandan, not one who gets paid to drive. Every day my life is at risk when we pile into the seats and take off down the road. I spend most of the time praying. This is not an exaggeration. Luckily no one was hurt. On any other day that would have been my ride.
We tried pulling the truck out with the others, but it did not work. So, we found a tree and waited for the tow truck to come from and hour and a half away. While we were waiting I got a surprise call from Athens. She wanted to know if I wanted to meet her and take the primary kids to school. I jumped at the chance. She said she would meet me at noon at their house.
I got Bern to drop me off in the village while I hiked to the house. It was about 11:45 when I arrived at the house. I was hoping Athens would be there since I don’t speak their language. Unfortunately she wasn’t. I didn’t know if I should yell since I didn’t find anyone in the front room, but I decided to walk around back since I heard some noise. There is nothing better than sneaking around people’s houses in Uganda. It’s still not as scary as riding with them. As I was coming to the last corner, Elia walked by and saw me. He smiled, screamed a little, and then ran away to grab the others. Beteth was the next to come over with big smile and a hug. The rest of the children followed with a hug as well. Beteth told me to follow her into the house. She had me sit down and then joined me. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go since neither one of us can understand the other. We smiled at each other many times and then she just went for it. She just kept talking to me and smiling. I simply smiled back. After what seemed like an awkward 5 minutes Paul walked in. Since Paul is heading into P5, I knew he could speak some English, and so he became my translator. Beteth left the room and sent Elia in with a gift of avocadoes for me.
Before long, Paul was beginning to open up to me. Janet was sitting on my leg. Elia was hanging on my arm. Obeth was sitting beside me. Unfortunately Esther was doing the dishes and so she wasn’t around. Paul brought me his notebook of school work and his exams. As I went through Paul’s work I noticed he was ranked first out of 21 in his class. I already felt a strong connection to these kids and so there was a little pride in this discovery. Later, Esther brought me her exams and I noticed she was ranked 8th out of 32. After a little while Paul disappeared again. He came out of the other room with the photo album. All the kids grabbed a seat on my lap or crowded around me to tell me who everyone was in the photos. It was great to have them sharing their memories with me. After we had gone through the second album, I pulled out my camera and showed them some of the pictures and videos of what I had been doing in Uganda. They were excited to see the chimps and see the other cities. It was now after one and still no Athens, but I was happy that she was late because of the opportunity it had given me to bond with the kids. Well, all but one. Ason, the one year old, still screams if I get too close and runs to his mother while everyone laughs. Finally, Athens arrived and we all headed out the door and met up with our car to drive us to the school, about 45 minutes away. So into the small Toyota poured the driver, Athens, an uncle, Obeth, Paul, Elia, Esther, Ason, Beteth, Janet, and me. It was the first time most of them had ever ridden in a car and they were very excited.
We pulled into Mother Care Primary school and all fell out. Athens and I went to meet with the headmaster to settle accounts and let him know that we would only be in charge of the finances and he should contact the parents with any other issues. Mother Care was a great school. I have found myself in quite a few since arriving in this country and this was the nicest. The facilities were nice, and the staff was very well educated and well spoken. They informed us that the goal of their school was to get 100% of their students into level 1 for secondary school. Last year it was 91%. Another way to look at the levels is for level 1 to be A’s, level 2 B’s, and so forth. Paul, Esther, and Obeth were soon taking their entrance exams for placement in class, while Athens and I went outside to sort all the supplies she had bought to get them into schools. Boarding schools are very strict with what they want. She had not been able to find all of the supplies at the market and so I gave her a hard time about having to buy all the items from the school bookstore until they didn’t have anything left.
Before long the kids began to finish their exams. Obeth finished first. The headmaster called us aside to give us the scores. This is where you understand how good a school we were getting them into, and the difference between a government school in the villages and a good private school. We decided that Obeth would repeat P1. Esther also did not score high enough to move forward and so she will be entering P3. I had high hopes for Paul after seeing his papers, even though the headmaster told me he didn’t think he had a chance to pass since they were all coming from the same schools. While they were grading Paul’s exam, we headed into the market to get them all the black dress shoes they needed. Shoes shopping is no fun, enough said. As we were heading back to the school it hit me that this might be the last time I would see these kids, not just now, but maybe ever. As I sat upfront with little Janet on my lap, my eyes began to get teary. They had stolen my heart and had become my kids so quickly. I gave little Janet a little squeeze and thanked God for His plans. When we returned the headmaster told us that Paul had passed. He was really excited, and so was I.
It was getting pretty late so we told Beteth it was time to go. I walked around and gave each one of them a hug, and blessing. I pray I get the chance to see them again. As we were leaving Janet, the four year old became upset. I don’t blame her. The headmaster picked her up and held her in his arms as we pulled away. I pray God will do the same with these little blessings. I know He will. The ride to drop us off to get bodas back was about 10 minutes. As we were driving I hear Beteth talking hurriedly in the back. Athens got my attention and said, “Andrew, she wants to pick you up. She wants to pick you up and give you a hug for helping them.” Beteth just laughed. As we got out of the car to get on our bodas and head different directions, I thanked them and told them I would see them again. God was continuing to use this family to teach me about His love and I was so thankful. As I rode back to camp I sang songs of praise to God. I know Beteth was doing the same.
As I said earlier, some people think following where God leads is the scariest thing I have done here. I strongly disagree. There is no better place to be than in His hands and in His plans. I will Choose2B follower no matter where it takes me. If I didn’t then these types of things would never happen. Thanks be to God for being Jehovah Roi (The Lord my shepherd).
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