It has been a busy couple of days as I make plans for my research and meet with Roy and Benoit to discuss the agriculture work here. I hope to conduct my first interview on Saturday with the help of Jan who has graciously agreed to translate from Fulfulde to English for me. Clarisse has tomorrow off of work so we are going to rent a motorbike and go in search of some women to interview. We are aiming to interview four women who have been through the Women and Children Gardening for Health Program while their children were patients at the nutrition centre. While almost 150 women have been through the program they come from near and far and tracking them down is no small task. They do not have addresses or phone numbers; we only have a name and a village name to go by so Friday should be interesting. This is also field season so women spend hours each day preparing their fields, planting and weeding so finding them becomes even more difficult. We will persevere though as my thesis depends on it and I hardly want to change topics now!
I hitched a ride to Berberati yesterday with Kim to visit the other half of the family there. The kids saw me coming down the lane first and they squealed with glee, came running at me and gave me all kinds of hugs. It is so nice to be loved. Elise set about making lunch while I sat and talked with Eloi and Lars, pretty well avoiding the elephant in the room. When Elise came in to sit and chat she told me about the happenings of the year, starting with the accident and then the burns that she sustained at ICDI from a leaky stove. Yikes! Eloi said he hadn't told me about the accident yet but that he would, and he did, in his own way. He took responsibility for it, but more so expressed his gratitude to God for preserving his life and that of his family. He is living in Berberati until his one year probation is over. I guess this helps him stay out of trouble and help Gamboula calm down. What I enjoyed most about my visit and what I am most thankful for in this country is this family that has taken me in and made me one of their own. I sat and listened to the trials and tribulations of the year gone by as one sister to another, not as though Eloi was my staff member and I had come to hear his side of the story. I just listened and sympathised and put all judgement and questions aside. He is my brother, he is in pain (though not physically thankfully) and what more can I do but listen and pray and cry and laugh. This is what family is. The more time I spend with them the more I realize our common humanity, that tragedy and sin and joy and forgiveness bind us together regardless of race or origin or faith. I am in awe and I am humbled.
Roy, Benoit and I plan to go to Bangui in the coming days to take the first steps towards starting the Agriculture Resource Centre that we are dreaming of for this region. There is a lot to be done and part of my time here will be spent in meetings planning for this project. I am still not sure exactly what our future holds but I am excited about the future work that the Resource Centre will be involved in. There is change in the air and hopefully some rain too!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Passing of Mama Maggie
I had a beautiful afternoon with Clarisse. We sat in the living room sipping lemonade while looking at pictures of her Canadian family. We looked at pictures of mom and dad, Sarah and Rob, Koko, Darren and the llamas in the backyard (no, she has never seen such a creature). I blessed her with gifts from home including cold tablets and a Costco sized bottle of ibuprofen.
She in turn blessed me with her story of hope and thanks despite an extremely stressful and trying year. Last summer, Clarisse’s brother was the driver of the agri project truck that crashed killing, four people and seriously injuring our brother, breaking his pelvis in three places. Shortly after he was released from the hospital, two months later, Clarisse’s aunt Maggie died. Maggie had raised Clarisse from infancy and was truly her mom. I knew she was very sick, even during my visit last year, and spoke to Clarisse the day she passed, but I never heard the details until today. I asked Clarisse if she passed in peace and Clarisse told me that she did. In fact, she knew in the morning that was going to die that day and she asked Clarisse to stay near to her, to read Psalms, to pray with her, to sing to her and to not bother with any more medicine, food or IV liquids. She knew she was “going home” as she told Clarisse. In the end Maggie’s sister (Clarisse’s mom), her mother and Clarisse were in the room when she took her last breath. They were able to hold her in her final moments and bury her in her home village across the border in Cameroon. As she told the story I was torn between sorrow and joy. I know that she is missed tremendously here, you can hear it in Clarisse’s heart and I feel it in my own. But the joy that Maggie displayed and the peace in which she passed is cause for joy, and I can only pray that when my own time comes it will be with such grace and peace.
She in turn blessed me with her story of hope and thanks despite an extremely stressful and trying year. Last summer, Clarisse’s brother was the driver of the agri project truck that crashed killing, four people and seriously injuring our brother, breaking his pelvis in three places. Shortly after he was released from the hospital, two months later, Clarisse’s aunt Maggie died. Maggie had raised Clarisse from infancy and was truly her mom. I knew she was very sick, even during my visit last year, and spoke to Clarisse the day she passed, but I never heard the details until today. I asked Clarisse if she passed in peace and Clarisse told me that she did. In fact, she knew in the morning that was going to die that day and she asked Clarisse to stay near to her, to read Psalms, to pray with her, to sing to her and to not bother with any more medicine, food or IV liquids. She knew she was “going home” as she told Clarisse. In the end Maggie’s sister (Clarisse’s mom), her mother and Clarisse were in the room when she took her last breath. They were able to hold her in her final moments and bury her in her home village across the border in Cameroon. As she told the story I was torn between sorrow and joy. I know that she is missed tremendously here, you can hear it in Clarisse’s heart and I feel it in my own. But the joy that Maggie displayed and the peace in which she passed is cause for joy, and I can only pray that when my own time comes it will be with such grace and peace.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Journey Home
Two plane rides and 550km later I have arrived in Gamboula. The last few days in Kampala were a struggle as I balanced my excitement to move on to Gamboula, while focusing on finishing final assignments for the class at Makerere University. In the end, after a few very late nights, I left Uganda having turned everything in taking only the joy of being finished classes, some Ugandan coffee and a fun new hairstyle with me on the plane to Yaoundé!
Despite my initial hesitation, I really enjoyed my time in Uganda. Amongst the many lessons that I learned, I now realize that government officials are only people and I can talk to them just like I do anyone else, with a little extra observation thrown in. I was actually quite mortified to think that I would be spending a few days interviewing people who were the equivalent of a provincial premier and his aides. However, I surprised myself with the ease in which I took this new role, as a consultant, and I am eager to go Bangui to see what officials I can meet within the international aid community. In the end, our ‘mock’ consultancy in Uganda was a good exercise. We went to Kayunga District, we observed, we interviewed some 82 people and we were able to make recommendations as to where the Canadian International Development Agency could intervene in order to reduce poverty.
Now that I am officially finished all of the courses for my MA, I am in Gamboula to begin the final leg, my major research project. However, I have decided to take the week off, catch up with old friends, mourn the loss of Mama Maggie who passed away while I was gone, and just enjoy not being glued to computer for ten hours a day. I have no internet, only a quick chance here and there to send email for which I am thankful.
We arrived last night around 6:00pm and we could see a major thunderstorm on the horizon. I jumped out at Clarisse’s house, as per usual, and went inside for a quick visit. Apparently she and one of the missionaries had been going back and forth over who would feed me on arrival. Clarisse wanted to feed me, but the missionary was expecting me and one other person on arrival. Well, when I stopped in ‘briefly’ to say hi to the family, wouldn’t you know but the rain started to fall and the thunder and lightning was so strong that I was trapped and was ‘forced’ to stay and eat my favourite meal with Clarisse. By the time the rain died down enough to leave, I had eaten my fill and we walked to the missionary's house in time for tea and dessert. We had such a good laugh about it. Of course I wanted to eat with Clarisse and God gave me the perfect excuse to stay. We once again expressed our love for one another with words of thankfulness and amazement that God has kept us close over the last year and that he brought us into sisterhood in the first place. Her family is by no means perfect, nor is mine, but there is a lot of love. A thing of beauty.
I took a grand tour with Roy this morning, looking at all the work that has gone on in the last year. Summer production in the nutrition garden is in full swing and it is very impressive. The winter veggie season has come to an end and they are now in the process of planting many different kinds of beans, corn, peanuts and root crops of various kinds. I am excited to start my research project and to hear what Nadege, Clarisse and others think about the direction the garden could take. Next week we begin in earnest.
As I was walking around the station last night I had this feeling like I never left and that nothing had changed. Of course many things have changed, children have been born, others have died, but life goes on as it always has. I sat on the front lawn of the guesthouse today greeting friends who had come by to say hi. I am blessed with the love shown and I think this is what I miss most when I leave, the closeness of the community here. It is something to cherish.
Despite my initial hesitation, I really enjoyed my time in Uganda. Amongst the many lessons that I learned, I now realize that government officials are only people and I can talk to them just like I do anyone else, with a little extra observation thrown in. I was actually quite mortified to think that I would be spending a few days interviewing people who were the equivalent of a provincial premier and his aides. However, I surprised myself with the ease in which I took this new role, as a consultant, and I am eager to go Bangui to see what officials I can meet within the international aid community. In the end, our ‘mock’ consultancy in Uganda was a good exercise. We went to Kayunga District, we observed, we interviewed some 82 people and we were able to make recommendations as to where the Canadian International Development Agency could intervene in order to reduce poverty.
Now that I am officially finished all of the courses for my MA, I am in Gamboula to begin the final leg, my major research project. However, I have decided to take the week off, catch up with old friends, mourn the loss of Mama Maggie who passed away while I was gone, and just enjoy not being glued to computer for ten hours a day. I have no internet, only a quick chance here and there to send email for which I am thankful.
We arrived last night around 6:00pm and we could see a major thunderstorm on the horizon. I jumped out at Clarisse’s house, as per usual, and went inside for a quick visit. Apparently she and one of the missionaries had been going back and forth over who would feed me on arrival. Clarisse wanted to feed me, but the missionary was expecting me and one other person on arrival. Well, when I stopped in ‘briefly’ to say hi to the family, wouldn’t you know but the rain started to fall and the thunder and lightning was so strong that I was trapped and was ‘forced’ to stay and eat my favourite meal with Clarisse. By the time the rain died down enough to leave, I had eaten my fill and we walked to the missionary's house in time for tea and dessert. We had such a good laugh about it. Of course I wanted to eat with Clarisse and God gave me the perfect excuse to stay. We once again expressed our love for one another with words of thankfulness and amazement that God has kept us close over the last year and that he brought us into sisterhood in the first place. Her family is by no means perfect, nor is mine, but there is a lot of love. A thing of beauty.
I took a grand tour with Roy this morning, looking at all the work that has gone on in the last year. Summer production in the nutrition garden is in full swing and it is very impressive. The winter veggie season has come to an end and they are now in the process of planting many different kinds of beans, corn, peanuts and root crops of various kinds. I am excited to start my research project and to hear what Nadege, Clarisse and others think about the direction the garden could take. Next week we begin in earnest.
As I was walking around the station last night I had this feeling like I never left and that nothing had changed. Of course many things have changed, children have been born, others have died, but life goes on as it always has. I sat on the front lawn of the guesthouse today greeting friends who had come by to say hi. I am blessed with the love shown and I think this is what I miss most when I leave, the closeness of the community here. It is something to cherish.
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