NicolesLetters.org

My heart is pounding as I think of writing this email. All day I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you. I cry every night I come home and read from those of you who have already offered to sponsor a child. You really have no idea what it will mean to them. These children that I interview, I can see it in them that they feel that their future rides on “giving me the right answer”. I try to make them not feel like that but sometimes I don’t know what to do.

Some are so silly and little that they just want to play and see me so I can give them a “sweet” a.k.a. Jolly Rancher… cute. They all say “Muzungoo…sweets”… It means, white person.. sweets Cute. It isn’t a bad word just the way they describe us.

We got together this morning for breakfast. I woke up late because I can’t fall asleep because my wheels are turning to think of how to put together a fundraiser when I get back. how am I gonna get all these kids sponsored…etc. I woke up late so I grabbed a half waffle with peanut butter and a coffee and ate quickly. We arrived to the school, the kids were in class so we didn’t get our normal chasing the bus greeting. ha, ha… makes me laugh. They are so cute. The little ones chase us and just grab for our hands as we exit the van. Then they all I mean about 10-15 “escort” me to the room we do interviews in. Then I have to say bye-bye a bunch of times so they

will leave and get to class. I think I have a little fan club or maybe they just want sweets.

I dropped my stuff off in the room and ran over to find something, I can’t remember now. I ran into Michele. She was very serious with her sarong on over her pants and her blue shirt. She said one of the children died last night. It happened to be one of the boys I interviewed yesterday. There are about 180 kids we have gotten stories on so far and I happen to have him. I remember getting to the room yesterday for interviews and I always go around the room and greet all who are waiting for us. I shake their hands and smile. Tell them they look beautiful and give them a sweet to give them something to do while they wait. Sometimes they wait there for a long time so patient and kind. I remember meeting Mike and his father had brought him. A six year old sitting with his father. By the time I interviewed him, the boy wasn’t feeling well. Pastor Steven came to me and said that the father has AIDS and the boy might be infected also but they weren’t sure. They wanted me to know in advance so I could add it to the story without having to ask them questions directly. Mike, the boy, was sitting in a chair next to his dad drinking an orange fanta while I spoke to his father about the boy. Dad would ask him questions from time to time. His father speaks English very well. He is a Christian now since 1994, he was Muslim before. Now he preaches at a small church in Lugazi. Lugazi is near Mukono about 30 minutes away. We are about an hour from Kampala. However they do not earn enough money. Mike said he wanted to be a lawyer one day to plead for people. His father said that he prefers to read books instead of playing a lot. I asked his father if anything makes him sad. He said it’s when the administrators of the local school tell him to leave because they don’t have the school fees.

Imagine how sad I was this morning when I heard he was gone. I interviewed one child and there was this little boy hanging around the chairs. Obviously young and just wanting to play and get attention. I finished up my interview with the one boy. As I got the silly one, one of the girls working there came to me and said that this is Mike’s brother. How strange that I would get both of them since there were 4 of us doing interviews for all different amounts of time, starting, finishing and just taking the next one waiting. This little one would not sit still. Imagine that. Mike’s brother’s name is “Purpose”. He’s 4. I ended up putting him on my lap and typing around him.

We went to the school performance / choir at 10. It was amazing these people can sing. I have to hold back tears all day long. I was in the back with about 20 kids hanging around me. I saw Sara and Angel. My girls. I made my way back after for more stories. During that time I overheard Andy telling the translator that he’d give a kid more candy if he could answer a question. It was funny. I said are you trying to bribe the kid with candy?

A few of us went to the funeral service for Mike. I went because I interviewed him and his baby brother. I felt they wanted me to go, everyone said it would make sense. I wasn’t going to go originally because I wanted to do more stories and give shoes but since I’m not going to Gulu with the group tomorrow and Friday I will do it then. We went to the house/compund where the family and community was. I saw the dad and met the other brothers. I saw Purpose and wondered if he remembered me, he is so little. I gave him some candy, it seemed to ring a bell. I see now why they want to get these kids to the school. The attached picture is of me with Purpose at his house. It really is like what you see on TV in some places. There were probably about 100 people in one community living space with all the front doors lined up, maybe I have a picture. I didn’t take hardly any pictures, just one of the family for whoever sponsors Puropse. The mother was sad, however I didn’t see a single tear from ANYONE. It was the strangest thing. I don’t know if EVERYONE was in shock or if they are used to this. We all had many conversations about this all day and can’t figure it out. There are some other different things that happened, I will spare in email. Everyone was around in the area eating out of bowls, rice and beans eating with their fingers scooping. You go to meet someone and they have been eating, they offer

their wrist to shake because their hand is dirty. I held Purpose for a while, I asked Adrienne if he seemed like he wanted to get down but he was just content. It was Pastor Steven, Jim, Adrienne and I that went together today. Mike may have died from a combination of AIDS and malaria or maybe just malaria. I remember asking his father yesterday if he has ever had malaria. He said yes, and maybe right now because he is sick. We went to the grave site and trekked in from the road about 5-7 minutes. It was amazing the singing and the burial process. What a wild experience, I NEVER thought I would see a child die from malaria before my eyes. They said he had been treated but it was too late. These kids need help. I just feel like if I can change a few lives, it’s all worth it.

We left there and stopped at Pastor Steven’s house it was on the way back. We had to use the bathroom. I had never been so happy to see a flushable toilet with t.p. in the middle of the day. I just dehydrate myself so it isn’t a problem during the day. His house is humble yet functional. He has a few cows they used to sell milk to put their kids into school and now they have a chicken coop to support the home. The kids get hard boiled eggs once per week. To answer some of your questions, the home is sustained a lot by farming they have created due to donations.

They farm rice, beans, etc. They have some cows and chicken coops. They have created ways that will continue to produce food and resources constantly. The next project is a well. They have a shallow well at the school but it dries up and it’s broken. They have water brought in weekly or daily I can’t remember but it’s expensive and a well would sustain the needs better. They need a well at the chicken farm, the other farm and the school. Each well is $8000.

A mosquito is in my room! I get excited every night I come to my room and don’t see a mosquito in my room, then I don’t have to sleep with the mosquito net. Everynight I end up seeing one, I try to kill it and it disappears then reappears. At least the ones at home can’t give you malaria. Thank God for my malarone. Sorry back to the well. I see the girls carrying buckets of water on their heads and wonder where they get it mostly for washing clothes and dishes.

We went to the Lugazi hospital today. I couldn’t believe it. It just broke my heart. We went to the maternity ward, women’s ward and pediatric. I could hardly be a witness. I had to leave the room because it was just so sad. The individual rooms said 10,000 shillings for the first night and 2,000 each additional. $1-,600 schillings. Most were in the community rooms. Babies possibly HIV from mom, I saw a set of twins, another baby from another woman, her other daughter was there. She liked that I took the healthy adolescent’s picture and showed her. They just love that! I was very ready to leave there, it was an intense day.

After only having a jolly rancher and an orange fanta for lunch I was ready for dinner at 7. However, I was never hungry.

I can’t wait to go to the school tomorrow. I am going to teach the kids how to play UNO if I have time. The rest of the team is going to Gulu, in northern Uganda. I never had a desire to go there with the team, I want to spend more time with the kids. Today was off because of everything that happened. I have more stories to do and hand out shoes. Thanks to all who donated. The adults at the school have said to me, “thanks for giving them hope”. I tell them that it wasn’t me purchasing these shoes but that it was all of my friends who bought them. I gave a pair of Aunt Jan’s to a girl today and had the translator tell her that my mother’s sister sent that pair for her. She was very happy.

The team is going to Gulu over night to get information on children they want to bring to live at the school. That’s where they did the film Invisible Children. I feel like the people in Gulu won’t know that I’m not there and the team can represent all of us. However I feel like the kids at the school will know if we are all gone and I can represent the team tomorrow and Friday there. Plus I can get more stories and more kids sponsored. That’s my goal. Is everyone interested in attending a fundraiser when I get back? Heather, I will give Norah shoes tomorrow from you I am also going to get a couple of the kids a backpack it’s just so hard to choose. The only thing is it’s hard to choose.

I hope tomorrow is as planned, the pool is filling up. Sorry for the super long email. I get started and there the time goes.

Lots of love,

Nicole

P.S. Aunt Jan, how about the girl I gave the shoes to from you? Tera: I have a boy, Brian, he prays for a sponsor and I gave him a pair of shoes, he wants to be a doctor and he was wonderful.

P.P.S I just killed the mosquito. HA! no spell check today, too tired

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