UgandAshis 2 Field trip to Mubende

UgandAshis 2: Mubende Field visit.
Saturday. October 18, 2008
“ We well-o-come you, we well-o-come you! “ Twenty-five kids in the age range of three to fifteen are singing and dancing for me. All are orphans from a small village near Mubende. AIDS has hit very hard in this neighborhood. A very caring grandmother at first took in her own grandchildren and when people started bringing other children she took them in as well. Over the years the village has donated a piece of land so the children can plant and harvest crops as bananas and beans. The land is big enough to feed them for 6 months. The other six months the Rural Health Care Foundation supplements food. There are plans to rent or buy more land so the orphanage can become more self-reliant.
Thirty goats run around the compound as well as many chicken (beautiful local black chicken which I should probably export to my chicken farm in Bahai, Chad to create a new breed). One semi-concrete hut for the girls and a mud one for the boys is where the children sleep. Their school is about 10 kilometer away and all have very few clothes and shoes. Yet the children are smiling and laughing. They are happy that they have a visitor and while I am sat down on a tree trunk the form rows on a rocks. Each child has a rock and I have an opportunity to explain who I am, what I do and why I am visiting. I tell them that I am a doctor and working with Dr Dickson, that we hope to collaborate more closely in the near future and that I will revisit them as often as possible.
I ask them what are their dreams: hands shoot up: school, going to university, playing football for the Cranes (Ugandan soccer team), clothes, shoes, books and notebooks. It reminds me a lot of the refugees in Chad. Despite a seemingly bleak future and present they have dreams and ambitions like any other child. They want to play, go to school, have friends and live their lives. As I had said that I might build a house in Uganda one boy asks me if I can build one in their courtyard. It is easy to make promises and what I can promise is that I will return often and work as hard as I can to inform my friends about how they live. That I can talk about their dreams and ambitions. It is remarkable and touching to see these kids not downtrodden or cast to the side, no proud, beautiful, sweet and full of laughter. Again the world shows me when you lose parents that there is still hope and dreams.
Dreams the Rural Health Foundation makes come true. Starting in 1998 they have amongst other things taken on the care for these orphans. The orphanage is an example how a small group of dedicated people (grandmother and one young lady) can have a huge impact on the lives of many. If then a larger group of people steps up even with minimal resources a maximal outcome can be achieved. That children live in a safe, loving and nourishing environment.
Over the last years the urge to find a semi permanent place to stay has become stronger and stronger. What I looked for was a family of friends that are making a difference by the being the change the want to see in the world. It is very likely the quest is over. In the next few post I hope to tell you more about the RHCF and the people working for it! Namaskar- Ashis