#20 - June 26th 2007

A sweet reunion…

The boys expected me home on Monday afternoon; I arrived at the gates of their yard Sunday evening. At that moment, as I stood just beyond the entrance, my heart raced and I realized what I had been missing. I had been missing my family. My new family. I have spent minutes and hours and days and weeks with these boys now; I’ve played football with them, shared dinner, sang and danced; I’ve heard their stories, discussed their problems, given advice. I know their individual characteristics, their personalities, their likes and dislikes. Every day I discover new things, their goals, their dreams, their fears. I speak to each of them as if they were my own siblings, my brothers.

I stepped through the gate, Junior and Sandra were seated on the porch. Junior jumped up, a wide grin on his face, clapped his hands and let out a “whoop!” He ran over and squeezed me hard. I was elated to see him. As I hugged Junior I heard a squeak and turning around saw Robert, jaw dropped, standing at the gate. We ran towards each other and embraced, I swung him around in the air and his tears instantly brought tears to my own eyes. I was only gone for ten days yet it felt like years. Can I leave this place? I mean, can I leave in November? How? I can say for absolute certainty that unless my Canadian family decides to up and move here I will be returning home, but I honestly have no idea how I’m going to do it. It may be the hardest goodbye I’ll ever experience.

David, Marvin, Moses, Bash, Ronald, Joel, Simon, Samuel, Hamuza, Kenneth, they all came in, they all received gigantic hugs, all had a billion questions. We talked and talked and talked. It was a warm evening, the setting sun cast a coppery light around the porch. After a couple of hours of catching up it was time for the boys to return to their studies. Those in senior level were beginning mid-term exams the following morning. They have three exams per day for the entire week. At senior level in Uganda, students take fifteen subjects, including commerce, economics, entrepreneurship, geography, French, and agriculture. I promised to help them revise in all subjects except math, a subject in which I would be more of a hindrance than a help. Junior, who I mentioned in a previous entry is in his first year of a Business Economics degree, also had preliminary exams this week. I browsed through his notes and realized a lot of the courses he’s taking are similar to those I took at University. After assisting some of the younger boys with History and Geography I settled in for a long night of Development Economics with Junior. Its great because his lecture notes are very evenly presented; you get a pro-World Bank argument and on the following page the anti-WB position. Those of you who know me well can deduce which position I chose to elaborate and focus on. Thankfully, Junior leans just about as far left as I do. It made for some intriguing conversations; I’ve been discussing and learning about these issues, of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and Structural Adjustment Programs, with Canadians, from a Canadian perspective, but I’ve never had the opportunity to discuss it with someone who is actually from an LDC (Least Developed Country). I have to say though, it made the issues more frustrating; Junior has no option but to work within a structure that systematically abuses and exploits his country. I can only hope that one day the tables turn and there will be chance for Uganda to rise up and find its voice, so driven people like Junior can be successful and proud of their country and its people. So that all of these boys whom I’ve come to love like a family can have hope that their goals and dreams will come to fruition.

~Nicole