Village Tour with Charles

October 16, 2009

On this day at GRRH I finally felt like I am settled into working here. I am sad to realize that it has finally happened, now that I will be leaving next week, but nonetheless, it does feel like home. I have relationships with my colleagues now, and that does more to help me feel like I belong than anything else. 

There were not many patients today so by four o'clock, Charles and I locked up the unit and headed towards town. We took bodas to the Mola Clinic in town, in order to greet Morris and make sure there were no patients that Charles needed to attend to. We made small talk in the office for a few minutes and then began walking toward a village southwest of the town center. On Kampala road, which coincidentally heads to Kampala, we headed south and Charles said we would go to see the market on that side of town. Libidi (I think that is how you spell it) is this part of town, and we were going to visit the smaller market to see if they had simsim. My coworkers had been jeering me tirelessly because I did not know what the small seed looked like, nor had I ever tasted it. They could not believe that I’d never seen it. Charles and I looked for it at the market, but were unable to find it. What we did find, though, were veggies, fruit and a long table of fresh fish being cut. It was not the most appetizing looking fish, but there were people waiting in line to purchase it. After passing through the market, we continued on to the village. We weaved in and out of the traditional round huts that are so prevalent in this part of Uganda, until we finally came to a small courtyard. Uhuru and I had been chatting the whole time that we walked along, and he was walking briskly. Then I noticed him slowing down and when I had finished what I had been talking about, he introduced me to his home. I was so surprised as he hadn’t said that we would be visiting his home today. And as we looked around, there were some women sitting in the courtyard. I had a sneaky suspicion he knew them, and within a minute or so he introduced them as his wife and daughters. I was so honored to meet them! We spoke a little about their home and family and pretty soon I was able to meet Patience, also. She is Charles youngest child, and is 5 years old. She was so precious, and beautiful. I asked Charles how many children he has and I think he said seven. However, his sister is no longer around, so he pays the school fees for about 16 kids, four of which are in secondary school. All of this he does on a small income. It was very eye opening for me, that my colleague lives in the situation that he does. Ruined me a little bit more, as well.

We continued on through the village and I was also introduced to Charles son, Stuart, who is 17 years and in Senior 3. He looked ‘smart’ (good) in his collared shirt and bright smile. We exchanged pleasantries before Chalres and I continued on. I was able to tour the whole village that my coworker lives in and even meet the ‘president’ of the village. He was an older gentleman who was very pleasant to speak with. I don’t quite know what is culturally acceptable here, so I just tried my best to be respectful. He thanked me for coming and helping his people. I told him I was honored to be here. I don’t have words for how honored I do feel to be here, serving these people. Though what I do may only touch a small portion of this population, and sometimes that can feel like a failure, I hope that it somehow helps. If all that comes is that I made friendships with my coworkers, I will be satisfied in that.