Monday 27 August 2012

A story of a man named Daniel

Everywhere I go on Uganda,  I meet people whose lives graze at the border of my comprehension.  

Let me tell you about Daniel. He is a beautiful man, with skin the color of espresso, who is probably in his mid 20s.  He picked me up at the airport on my arrival in Entebbe 2 weeks ago (could it be 2 weeks already? Yes, yes it could). On the bumpy, congestion filled two hour ride to the house where I was staying, he talked with ease and was quite candid with me.  His story floors me. This is a brief, and probably not quite accurate, recollection. 
He grew up in a government orphanage, after bombings in Kampala in the 80s separated him from his family.  He learned to rely on himself, and was able to get a sponsorship to attend school. He did well in school, and went on to college, where he learned that his family was still alive by finding his brother on Facebook. His sponsors were Chris and Jurjanne, who have since opened and are running Kaja Nafasi, the orphanage where Fort is. Daniel is engaged to a Dutch woman, Jiska, who has moved here to be with him and help with the orphan crisis in some way. They have taken 5 street kids into their home.  They want to have their own children's home, and have the children live in their home with them.  Daniel has a car, and does some driving errands for Kaja Nafasi to earn extra money.  The fact that he has a car makes him upper class. Yet he lost his cell phone last week and doesn't have the 40,000 shillings (about $25) to get another right now. He is wanting to get his Masters in business, so that he can have a steady income to support their children's project. He needs sponsors for the nearly $4000 cost. 

Why is it that his story floors me?  Because I am watching these children at Nafasi -I see the damage that these 4, 5 & 6 year old kids have incurred by being abandoned, abused and malnourished.  Although they are desperately in need of families, they still have so much. Beds of their own, mosquito nets, clean clothes, 3 meals a day, fresh fruit, toys and activities like coloring and playdoh.  Right now there are 2 or 3 care givers and 12 children, plus often times there is a volunteer or friend around. And I know that the government homes don't have these things. They are overcrowded with not enough beds, not enough food, not enough care takers. Little children are mixed with big children. Vulnerable children are mixed with hardened children. Children are sometimes beaten - sometimes by other kids, sometimes by the caretakers. 
And here comes Daniel, who lived in one of those places.  Not only that but he made it through the traumatic loss of his family. And he didn't live in the home for a few years, no- he stayed until he was 18. And his family didn't welcome him back with open arms, no- they remain distant. He took care of himself because nobody else would. And yet....And yet. Here he is with an open heart. With love for his country Uganda. With compassion for those street kids, who he thinks have it worse than he did. Here he is feeling like he's been given a break by meeting this Dutch couple and is determined to turn it into something bigger. To give back to the world that gave him so little. 
And that is what floors me. 

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