March 2009 Bududa Newsletter

David Zarembka reflects on his recent visit to Bududa

David Zarembka is the coordinator of African Great Lakes Initiative and our Bududa projects are part of this initiative. David recently visited from his home in Kenya and shares his observations on the Children of Peace Program.

"This program supports over a hundred "orphans". In Africa the word "orphan" has a different meaning than in the United States. An orphan may have lost both parents, or one parent, or even have both parents alive if one (or both) are dysfunctional due to alcoholism, etc, or the father has deserted the family for a second wife, etc. In short these are needy children. There are thousands of such children just in the Bududa disrict, near the Konokoyi village where our program is located. Each child in the program is sponsored for $100 per year, or, if a child is in post-primary education, then it is $200 per year. This covers school uniform and materials, soap/vaseline, a Saturday/vacation school where the children are given porridge in the morning and a good lunch (well, you might not think it was a good lunch - rice, beans, and cabbage!) and additional academic work. A nurse looks over all the cuts and scrapes that children get, but then the really big medical problems also arise.
>
> When you begin to deal with children like these orphans you find additional needs that should be resolved; each requiring resources. Which do you do and which do you leave because you don't have the funds? I'll give you some examples.
>
> One bright girl was taken care of by her grandmother. A grandmother who was blind and nearly deaf. They lived in a very small hut with only a little thatch to keep out the rain. The program did not have funds to adequately deal with the problem - sending the girl to boarding school and finding someone to care for the grandmother. In this case, Barbara found a sponsor who covered the cost.
>
> Another girl had an amazingly bad infection on her arm requiring a $200 operation. We paid for it. The surgeon said that if she had not had the operation she would have died.
>
> Or take the family of six children with an alcoholic father and an overworked mother. Two of the children were in the Children of Peace program. Then the mother died. What do we do? We put all six children in the program, but that was just a start. No relative (as would have happened in the old days) was found who was willing to take in some or all the children. I don't know what will happen here!
>
> The program could have many more students but there is a limit in the number that the program can handle and can afford. But we could go down the road and start another program. Another tough choice!
>
> Then, through contact with the Ugandan doctor who operated on the girl with the bad infection mentioned above, Barbara got him to bring seven US doctors for a day to attend to everyone needing medical attention. 700 people showed up for that day, mostly elderly people. One of the American doctors noted that they really only helped about 30% to 50% of the patients, but then one elderly man said that the medicine he received had really helped him! My attitude is that every little bit helps."

If you can sponsor a child, please email Geri Fitzgerald.