Medinah Thanks 2006 Expedition Members
This month we offer perspective from Medinah Kakyaama, Stay Alive Program Director in Uganda, on one of Reach the Children’s 2006 Expeditions. These are her words on how the group of volunteers worked to help children in Uganda.SIXTEEN BAZUNGU WORK WONDERS WITH THE VULNERABLE AND POOR CHILDREN IN UGANDAN COMMUNITIES
Sixteen Bazungu [“foreigners”] flew all the way from U.S.A. to our remote villages in Uganda to make a difference in the Ugandan little children lives. Theirs had been a long journey, born entirely from their hearts and souls. They had saved for this trip, determined to come to Uganda and help the poor underprivileged little children. Most important for us, they came to have an experience in marginal places, economically deprived, places with HIV/AIDS, and above all places where mosquitoes are a part of our daily living! We thank them for the friendship they showed, beyond their comfort zone, beyond their culture and language! They came to be with us with a clear agenda of what had to do in remote places they did not know where to find. But they said, “Whenever you want us to go, we want to go. All we want is to do is what those communities want us to do.”
We went everywhere, in rural, semi and urban places, orphanages and schools, hospitals and markets. And no-one asked, “Is it safe for us?” That amazed us. If it was safe for us, it was safe for them. They asked us, “What should we say? What would be appropriate?” “Just bring greetings,” I said. And I tell you what. They did just that. They were so humble. They identified with us. Despite the linguistic and cultural barriers, the volunteers were able to make a difference in all the places they went to. In all the schools they visited, they did dental presentations, hand-washing, nutritional and HIV/AIDS education presentations reaching out to 7,500 children. In each of the presentations, the children were taught very clearly the values, skills and concepts of the presentations. The volunteers came up with beautiful songs to facilitate their presentations. One would not help but smile at the way these children embraced the songs. This music became the universal link, a bridge that brought together people of different tribes and ages. The cultural exchange that it offered helped bring about greater understanding of these presentations.
Imagine! From these Nutritional Demonstrations we learned the four great colours that are always in our own gardens. We did not have to go beyond own gardens to have a balanced diet! And as fate would have it, for the first time in their lives most of these children got a chance of rubbing shoulders with Bazungu and a new toothbrush! A life long memory for these African children!
In the Ugandan orphanages, every child was without a father or mother. For some, this means that their parents had gone away to the next world. The mothers of a few had left them, either on a filthy pile or at the roadside. Few had been told about their fathers by their mothers. The mothers had suffered rapes and had gone through the trial of being pregnant alone. Luck knocked at the door of Agnes Children Care, Nsambya Babies Home and Mukisa Foundation, the day these Bazungu visited their homes. The Bazungu became the mothers that these children longed to see. With love, care and understanding, they interacted with them with such ease that left all of us wondering at the magic with which they did this! The children got a new pit latrine and a swing set built, hygiene kits, clothes and toys.
We also went to Wakiso District, Masulita, where the Ugandan liberation war caused a lot of suffering to the children and the communities around. Children go without food for a ten hour school day. The Bazungu helped start a school garden and it was lovely to see them work along side the children, in hot and difficult weather with tools that were obviously new to many of the Bazungu. Watching those Bazungu hoes’ flying up in the air was awakening, a vivid flash of something like GOD, something more powerful than love itself. And this is what these Bazungu brought and left with us. We know this, we who have seen this.
Unknown to the Bazungu, placing an incubator at the Kayunga Hospital was the climax of their visit! It was the first one of its kind in this hospital, replacing a local charcoal stove. The newborn kits, hygiene kits and special handmade donations were wonderful not only to the sick children but their parents as well.
The smiles on the little children’s faces, parents and stakeholders were a clear indication that these Bazungu had made a great difference in the lives of all the Africans they came across. Little did these Bazungu know that behind the smiling faces of the children and their parents, lay individual stories of courage, determination and, most times, tragedy.
Chronic diseases, including HIV/AIDS, are common in Uganda and young lives are further blighted by shortages of basic food, heat and medicine, but Uganda’s crisis is not poverty, it is not AIDS. Uganda’s crisis is confidence! What decades of colonialism eroded among us is confidence. Confidence that we can fight poverty, HIV/AIDS and other related problems. We Ugandans must often repent of that sense of inferiority. And this is what these Bazungu did for us. They were part of us, the little children, the parents, stakeholders and the community.
Life is a gift and all of us who have the capacity must remember that we have the responsibility to give something back.
Thank you so much THE SIXTEEN BAZUNGU! We love you and we will always be grateful that you gave us a chance to share your skills, life and money with us.
By: Kakyaama Medinah—Program Manager of Stay Alive, Reach the Children, Uganda.