This is JoAnn. She is a first year Uganda Christian University student and my closest Ugandan friend on campus. She is the oldest child in her family and has been sponsored by compassion since she was five years old. We have New Testament together and also go to chapel and lunch together from time to time. JoAnn’s English is superb and I have really enjoyed learning about Uganda from her.
This is Tayo (left) and Maria (right) . They have been living with us for a little over a month now and help Mama with dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc. Maria is 14 and is in Senior 1 (equivalent 7th or 8th grade) so she works when she gets home from school (she is a very hard worker). She enjoys singing, dancing and playing football (soccer). She thinks and I quote that, ‘girls have bad manners’ so she prefers to spend time with boys. :) One of my favorite things about her is the uncontrollable, buckled over laughter that often comes over her. Tayo is the primary help at home and is also a very hard worker and a great cook :) She doesn’t really speak English so we often just relate through the things we ‘do’ together or speak to each other through Maria. Even though there is a fairly significant age gap between them they have a LOT of fun together and sometimes I get the pleasure of joining in too. The other night we had a dance party around the dining room table…its a lot of fun to be with them.
These four have a very special place in my heart. Kasanvo Yamiro is the boy in the back. His sister Hachim Margara is on the left. His sister Zituna Kakawana is on the right. And baby sister Fiyma Kange is down in front. On my first several walks home from school these children would come to the edge of their lawn and wave at me yelling, “bye mzungu!” and I would simply wave back. Then one day I decided to venture across the street to say hello. They didn’t know any English besides ‘how are you’ and I didn’t know any Luganda except ‘oli otya’ so after shaking hands and smiling at each other for a few moments I told them bye and that I would see them again. I began to stop and say hi every time I walked home. Sometimes I brought a piece of candy or a small bag of g-nuts, but most of the time I just stopped to say hello, give three handshakes, a hug to the baby and tell them that I would see them again. Then one day I brought a book with me and I took the liberty of going to their porch and ‘reading’ to them…mostly we just looked at the pictures and made animal noises and they taught me the animals in Luganda. I did this for a few more times and then one day Mom also came out to say hello. Since then things have escalated and I have now met many members of the family and have stayed to sit for 50 minutes at a time. Its been awesome to see what four children saying hello to me on my walk home has done to build relationships.
We don’t speak the same language (even the mom does not really know English and of course I’m not too good on my end with Luganda either!) or come from the same culture or see the world in the same way, or have similar backgrounds, but that doesn’t need to stop us from enjoying one another. I’m learning (slowly) that just ‘being’ with people is not a means to an end, but an end in its own right and that ‘being’ together doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to ‘do’ anything. I’m learning about love and hospitality from this family who have welcomed me and loved me even though we hardly know each other.
Ok, I have to ask...did you get them to write down their names or have you learned to figure out the phonetics? These are adorable children! Our kids are hoping to make similar friendships with Burundian kids whenever they have the chance. We will join you on the African continent in fourteen days!
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