Second Luwero Trip

This morning things got off to a rough start. Emily and I woke up early and went to the super market to get some food and candy for our sponsor kids and their families. I also got some underwear and hygiene stuff for Moses to take home with him. The first super market we went to was closed, so we had to walk down to one further down the street. I also wanted to get Moses some clothes so he wouldn’t have to wear the Remand uniform home, but unfortunately, only the first supermarket has clothes.

As it turns out, it didn’t end up mattering.

Once Francis, Emily, and I got to Remand home, we found Moses dressed and ready to go and super excited about going home. I have never seen him smile bigger. We went to talk to the head warden about him leaving and she said that she needed to talk to the warden that we talked to on Thursday. She called him, and when she called, the man totally changed his story.

He said that Moses couldn’t leave because his case requires “resettling” which means that the Magistrate in charge of his case requires that paperwork be filled out and signed by the chairman of his village and turned back into him before he leaves. It is the government’s way of ensuring that the kids are going home to a decent environment.

They haven’t yet taken care of his paperwork.

So then, I asked for the paperwork and offered to find the chairman today and get him to sign the papers so that Moses could go home once I turned the papers back in.

They haven’t even started filling out his paperwork.

So then I said we could wait for them to fill the paperwork out and I didn’t really care how long it took.

They don’t even have a copy of the required paperwork in the office.

At this point, I got really upset. Moses got released the Thursday before we went to Luwero. That’s close to a month ago. I told the woman that in America keeping someone in prison a month after their release date is very much against the law. She told me that it was because the van has been broken down.

I kindly informed her that the van has nothing to do with the paperwork. She promised it would be done on Monday. I told her I would be checking in on Thursday when I came. Francis said that when white people take an interest in the case, it usually helps. I’m hoping that this, added in with how clearly upset I was will help.

Then came the worst part came when we had to tell Moses that he wasn’t going home. Francis was speaking to him in Luganda, but you could tell that whatever Moses was saying, he was really upset. Francis told me later that he was begging to go home. He also promised to behave and go to school everyday if we would take him home. He said all he wanted to do was sleep in his bed and hug his parents. He also started crying. Which made me start crying. Francis explained to him that it wasn’t in our control and that we were going to keep doing whatever it took to get him home and I gave him the stuff I had bought for him, but I don’t think it made him feel better.

I think it probably takes an awful lot to make a 17 year old boy who has spent the last 5 months in prison cry.

Watching Moses cry made me feel like the worst person in the world. I have never felt so bad about disappointing someone. His face and the sadness and urgency and pleading in his voice broke my heart. It was awful.

After leaving Remand home we went to the taxi park and caught a taxi to Luwero. It was about and hour and a half drive and I slept and read the whole way. Once we arrived at the primary school, we talked to the headmistress for a while, and then rode boda bodas to Emily’s sponsor kid’s (Lydia) house. Emily gave her a cute stuffed animal, some candy, a Bible and some food. We talked with her family for a bit, took a tour of their house, and prayed for them. It was really a lot of fun.

After Lydia’s house we went back to the school and got the headmistress and she came with us to Jovan’s house. Visiting Jovan’s house was so awesome! The second we got there his mom started hugging us and telling us thank you and being so nice and friendly. I gave Jovan a soccer ball and a Bible, and his family rice and beans and some candy. We talked for a while, took a tour of the house, met Jovan’s dog, Fix, and prayed for the family. As we were leaving they gave us about 20 pieces of maze and some special Ugandan food that looks and tastes like bitter grapes. It was such a wonderful experience.

When we were taking a tour of Jovan’s house, we realized that Jovan, his 8 brothers and sisters, and his mom and dad all share 2 mattresses on the floor of a room that might be 8 feet by 8 feet. They also don’t have any mosquito nets. This week Francis and I are going to go buy his family a new mattress, a mosquito net, and a new set of clothes and shoes for Jovan. The shoes he his now have bottoms that are almost completely detached!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet Rosemary’s family. Rosemary’s family lives in a village about 20 minutes away. Her home life is also so bad that she has been living with the headmistress (who is a family friend) at the school for about a month now. I did get to play with her and give her a doll and a Bible. I am also going to get her a new dress and some shoes. Rosemary doesn’t have any shoes at all, and today she was wearing the exact same dress that she was wearing when I first met her. As it turns out, it’s the only one she owns.

After hanging out with Rosemary we went and walked to one of the family’s homes that we built the goat sheds for. Brett had bought them a Bible, so we went to deliver it.

After that, we headed back to Kampala.

On a side note, we saw Sirius again, and he totally remembered me and again followed me every where while we were at the school. It made me smile.

Once we got back to Kampala Francis had to go to band practice because he drums for his church. We got to meet his pastor and talk to him for a little while (he LOVES to talk!) we also got to hear the church band play, which was cool.

We then headed back to the house. I ate some dinner and spent the rest of the night working on my paper.

Tomorrow after church we are going to see Harry Potter!!!! I am SO excited!!!

Hooray for Harry!
Jenna