la vie en rose: A Story I Never Thought I'd Hear in Person

The other day at the Najjembe Health Outreach, we de-wormed 850 children, handed out 94 mosquito nets, taught about malaria, sanitation and taught how to make a Tippy Tap (a homemade faucet). Overall it was a really great day and we like to think we helped a lot of people, especially one in particular. Betty, a beautiful woman moved to Najjembe about a year ago from Gulu, the town where Joseph Kony is from and where most of the LRA took action. As we sat and played with Derek, Betty’s son, we learned about her story and the pain she still suffers from. In 2000, Betty’s husband was killed by the LRA, after which she was captured for 4 years in their camps. As a result of her captivity, she gave birth to a daughter. When she returned from “the bush”, Betty’s mother was poisoned by their angry neighbors, since they believed they were in danger from the LRA. After a few years, she married a policeman who now lives in Entebbe, about 2 hours away from Najjembe and her daughter is still living in an orphanage in Gulu. Betty takes care of her baby, Derek, and hopefully with a little gift we gave her, Betty can go visit her daughter very soon. Even though we are so close to where corruption has taken place and is still taking place, I never thought I would hear a story like this in person. Now that I have, I have a greater realization of how significant it all is and how it truly is affecting the people here and will for years to come. Although Betty is all smiles on the outside, it is clear that she is suffering on the inside. I now realize that this is the story for many Ugandans and Africans in general. These people know how to “fake it until they make it”, but really, how far can that go? I have also had the opportunity to talk to many other Ugandans, including University students and even boda boda drivers, and they all know how corrupt their government is. The problem is that Uganda has had the same president for 26 years and will be in office until at least 2016. It’s no wonder there hasn’t been any change.