Hilda was very excited to see us, although you could tell she was sad about not being at the orphanage anymore. She immediately asked how my mom is…..I’m not surprised….everybody seems to ask! I guess my mom made a really big impact on lots of people here! Hilda explained most everything in Luganda and Angella translated for me. From what we gathered, the orphanage used to have a director that was very good. It was overseen by a retired reverend that lives in Bukoto. Money came from Kenya and some local places and the director made sure that the money went where it should. Then she got sick with a mental problem (who knows what that means) and a woman named Hope took over. Since then, Hilda noticed that there was not a lot of money coming in and that things started to feel a little different. She then found out from somebody that her salary was supposed to be 200,000 and she had only been getting 150,000 per month. The other woman working there was also being shorted by about 100,000 each month. Hope has also been doing strange things with the money for clinic visits and food in order to make it look like the money went to the children and then she would take any leftover money each month and keep it for herself. Apparently she started her own shop somewhere and needed the money to do it. When Hilda tried to ask Hope about it, she was told it was non of her business and eventually Hope decided to fire Hilda. She made up stories and paid some of the older girls to make up lies about how Hilda treated the kids. She even went as far as making the older girls go in to a doctor and make it look like they had had abortions by writing out prescriptions for certain medications. She could then have a paper receipt as evidence against Hilda. If all of this is true, I am not really surprised, but I am still hurt. It’s like Ruth and the Woolies all over again. Somebody swoops in when a well-intentioned person can no longer take care of an orphanage and then uses it for their own gain! It makes me a little sick to my stomach that somebody would have no problems capitalizing on children this way! I honestly don’t want to ever meet this Hope lady……she doesn’t sound nice and I have a feeling only bad things would come of it. Instead of getting mad we told Hilda to try and apply at Watoto orphanage as a house mother. We offered to call the reverend and explain the need for a recommendation letter that could possible help her get started working there. It’s really frustrating because we want to help in so many ways but we also need to focus on our mission of bringing medicine. I feel like we could work forever and ever and never actually fix all the problems at one orphanage. Corruption is everywhere and I don’t know how to prevent it. I wonder what would happen if I were in a similar situation. I would hope that I don’t fall to the pressure of everything around me, but I have a feeling that poverty and hopelessness can cause good people to do not-so-good things.
After meeting with Hilda, we met up with Dennis and Isaac. We told them how to get to us by Mtatu, but they showed up on a boda. It turns out they had walked most of the way and then took a wrong turn. They just decided to take a boda to get back on track. At least they are together and are willing to get lost and then find their way back!
We called Joseph to pick us up and bring us to Little Angels. It’s so nice to have Joseph because he knows the places we normally go to. He also knows a lot of shortcuts to take when there is a jam. Without him, things would be just a bit more complicated sometimes.
I always get worried right before we get to an orphanage that the kids will be gone or something. I guess it comes from having so many random problems with finding orphanages and then having things completely change in a year sometimes. When we turned in to the driveway we could see a little old woman sitting in the shed so I thought it was a good sign. Then we saw a few kids running around that we recognized. There is a man named Max who runs this orphanage. He seems to be trustworthy and really cares for the kids, but we still like to make impromptu visits without calling Max so that we can talk with the mom, Judith, about the children and whether or not she has been paid lately. We have learned that the moms are the best source of information and are usually going to tell the truth about what is really happening. Judith seemed a little sad at first and it took a while for her to warm up. My mom sent money specifically to buy things for the children at Little Angels so we asked Judith what they needed. She didn’t ask for much, so we kept asking and then just started suggesting things that we thought she might be forgetting. Finally we came up with a decent list of school shoes, sandals for the house, backpacks, food, some cooking supplies, a broom, and that was pretty much it. Maybe when we go back we can find out more of what she wants. For now, we will go on Friday to the flea market (the flea market it pure chaos) to get all of the things.
There used to be a brick wall in the front yard, but about a year and a half ago it just fell down. Now there are big poles with huge pieces of tarp strung between them. It provides privacy but not safety. The gate still could be locked, but the doors are crooked and there is seriously no point to locking the gate if you can just walk through where the wall used to be. I’ve wanted to fix it for a long time, but I just never know how. The guys asked Judith if there were any work projects they could do. Isaac used to build sets for the theatre at his college so he’s pretty handy. Judith pointed out the crooked driveway door and started to look a little at the broken wall. The guys decided that they could repair the door and then maybe at least re-hang the tarp to make it look a little better. Maybe it will help a little!
Before we left, the kids sang us a bunch of songs and then did a couple of skits that teach them about sharing and different life lessons. There were only four of them because the rest were at school. These four had not had their school fees paid so they were sent home. They really are happy despite have pretty much nothing. There isn’t food stored in the house, so I think they rely on whatever Max brings them. It’s not like they have a stockpile that they can cook from every day. It’s amazing that there can still be joy without having basic needs met. Clearly they trust God to provide for them and the children happily sing songs about Jesus with huge grins on their faces. The only person that gives a hint of the real situation is Judith, who is worried about the children. I don’t think she has gotten paid in the past couple of months. Max uses the money he has to pay for things for the children, and usually if there isn’t enough, he just tells the moms he will pay when he can. Judith loves the children too much to just leave them, so she will just wait until he pays her, even if that means she doesn’t have money to send home to her own family. It’s truly a sacrifice for her, but one she is willing to make.
After Little Angel, we stopped by Mulago and Troy told us that he thought that Dennis’ bag had arrived. I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Entebbe, but they actually delivered it to the Kenya Airways headquarters downtown. We had just sent Joseph away in his cab so we took a Mtatu instead. We got off near where we thought it would be and then wandered around for a bit before we found it. We ended up calling Pat and he told us where to go. I also ended up just talking to him for a bit about his drive to Gulu. Pat works for the University of Maryland and a bunch of clinics all over the country so he ends up traveling quite a bit to make sure all of the procedures are being done correctly. It seems like a great job and he really loves what he’s doing.
Dennis got his bag back and everything was still in it! YAY! There were also two weird looking seeds in the front. Who knows how they got there or why they were there. I guess Dennis has a souvenir from his nightmare of journey over here. After Dennis got his bags we walked across the street to get lunch at Café Pap. It’s a pretty popular place for tourists but for some reason most bodas and taxis don’t know where it is, but if you ask for Nando’s which is right next door, they know exactly where to go. I suppose they only pay attention to the one that they normally go to. Plus, I realized today that the sign for Café Pap is awful. They tried to be creative with the letters but it ended up just looking like a block of color. Maybe somebody should tell them to advertise better? At least the food was good! We waited for Gloria to come and join us so we had a lot of time to talk and laugh. It’s so great to be around people who are happy and generally just excited about being here.
After lunch we tried to exchange some money that Dennis had brought. It turns out he had $100 bills that were from 1994 and they wouldn’t take them for the best exchange rate. It is a difference of 500 shillings per dollar which adds up a lot on that much money. I wish I would have talked to Dennis before he left! Since he’s never left the country, I think he just wouldn’t think of getting bills from after 2000. I guess Troy didn’t think to tell him either. So now Dennis has money that he can carry around but is pretty much useless!
We headed back to Angella’s house because her security guard offered to teach us how to play a local instrument. It looks kind of like a guitar, but with a lot less strings. I always see them in the craft market, but I never want one because I wouldn’t know what to do with it! We sat around Vincent outside surrounded by a bunch of the local kids while he explained how he uses the scale Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do to come up with the notes. I think that Re and Ti were way out of tune but maybe that’s what they were supposed to be!? Vincent was going to get each of us an instrument to play, but the center wasn’t open today, so he just brought his to play for us. We stayed out until after it got dark listening to him play. He sang songs in Swahili and Luganda about Jesus walking on water, Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, and other stories from the Bible. My favorite was one that is apparently about how you shouldn’t get mad at your neighbors but instead dig a hole to make a garden so that you can eat. Practical advice and a pretty tune……What more can you ask for?
When Vincent was done, we all went upstairs and ate the food that Angella had cooked. She basically re-made the dish that her and I had eaten earlier this week. It was still delicious. Dessert of pineapple and mango was the perfect way to end the evening. We just sat around for an hour or two and told random stories. I’m pretty sure there were times I couldn’t stop laughing even if I tried. We have quickly gotten comfortable with each other so we can joke back and forth too. In just a couple of days I feel really good about being around the guys and Angella. You really have no idea what to expect when you start out on a trip, but you are always thankful when the dynamic is a really positive one!
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