April 2, 2003

Dear Friends and Family,
The day begins with a trip to Kanungu. We are in our ambulance, Scott and I, with 4 medical students, two from Tulane (Evelina and Rich) on a grant from the national Episcopal Church, one (Linnea) from the Univ. of Texas at San Antonio and the last, Ricky, a Ugandan in medical school in Kampala. They are having a great time together and the interchange of humor, culture and medical knowledge stimulating. Our mission at this moment is to get long bars of blue clothes washing soap for our 24 new pygmy students at the Bishops Primary School. We are still scrambling to get all the supplies needed as these children come to school with nothing. At present there are 50 pygmies attending, an amazing number considering last year in May there were only 10. Several pygmies are in top position in the school including Kenneth who now is in P-7 after skipping a level. Kenneth aspires to becoming a doctor. The new pygmies are adjusting well and the headmaster is pleased with their progress. After dropping off the soap and handling a litany of minor concerns we depart Kitariro, our closest pygmy settlement.
At Kitariro the medical team is to assist at the clinic while I find out what is necessary to complete the renovation of the nurses_ quarters. We have recently hired a second nurse and are expanding the clinic. News has spread that Kitariro has a clinic with good nurses, adequate drug stocks and a doctor that visits weekly consequently the census is rising dramatically. As we drive up the clinic is already filled with patients, some sitting out on the veranda. Scott and the students head to the clinic and I go to attend to the affairs of the other projects. I am proud to report that we have 6 pygmy carpenter apprentices and 2 mason apprentices who have been participating in our building projects. One, a newly married young man, painfully poor, comes in to get his tools bought with mission funds. I list out the tools: 1 saw, 1 tape measure, 1 plane, etc. Francis proudly signs for his tools and agrees not to sell them.
I then visit the nursery school which is wrapping up for the day; there are two teachers, 80 students and two classrooms. The children are boisterous and difficult to be controlled after several hours_ confinement. I am amazed at their progress in math and English as I review their writing slates.
Next two families come in seeking a small amount of money, $6, in order to present their new in laws with a gift, not being able to do this a great source of shame. Then some of the pygmies come in to tell me how dividing the land went. This was not easy but the elders have tackled this difficult task. The 15 acres of land includes hilly and differing terrain. All those that complained about this division were allowed to air their grievances and where necessary adjustments were made. The elders are telling me that some of the people who got land are not cultivating it and ask what to do about it. I ask what they think should be done and they decide to wait until next planting season and if they do not use the land then that the land will be redistributed. God has truly blessed this project and the process has been a great learning experience as this is the first time the pygmies have ever owned their own land. This is a group I am trying to mentor into a working system for governing themselves out of which I hope to get the most capable to run and win a place on the Local Council 1 in 2006.
Several pygmies approach me and question me if I am going to be at Kitariro church on March 9th. I am to be a godmother to a Batwa pygmy! But this group is really asking more they want Scott and I both to be sure to be there as this is the day they will bring their first fruits of the harvest to present them to God. I am deeply moved by the significance of this request. Just last year there was only one pygmy going to church and now there are many.
I walk out into the yard and under a tree find a number of women knitting sweaters. The teacher I just hired 2 weeks ago is busy checking for dropped stitches. The clicking of needles is music to my ears. These needles were bought in thrift stores all over Nevada County by a friend, Jennifer Fay, who was diligent in gathering things for this crafts project which pygmies requested over a year ago. I notice that everyone is knitting a blue sweater with white trim. Is this a favorite color among pygmies or the teacher_s choice? The women, from young teens to older woman, are talking as they knit and I can see they are enjoying this change in their daily activities. I am pondering this as I reenter the classroom now occupied by the pygmy adult literacy class. Evidently this class varies from 10-30 students depending on whether it is harvest or not. An elderly woman is given a working situation using actual money, asked to make change she is concentrating intensely and proudly comes up with the correct amount. The group cheers. Then she goes to the black board to write this number and the word for this number in Rukiga and in English. Upon making a mistake another pygmy races up to the board to help her. I am told that the students have wanted to learn to write their name as their first assignment this is a result of the recent land purchase when the elders were requested to sign their name on the document and all except one had to sign with a thumbprint. Several small children are crawling on the floor nearby one leaving a large wet spot. There is camaraderie here and I can tell they are very proud to be in school. There is an exam to be held soon and the teacher has promised a gift to those who pass. I ask the class what they would like as a gift and they say that they would like a school bag and a school uniform. Their children proudly wear a uniform and carry a book bag everyday to school and they would be pleased to be similarly identified as students. I am surprised and deeply moved at their courage and diligence. Matthew 18:2-4 comes into my mind. _I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven._ That_s it: the eagerness to learn, the joy, the total lack of concern about what the world might think, the humility, all the qualities that Jesus wished to instill into his followers right here before me. I am humbled by their willingness and open hearts. I am full of joy and gratitude to be part of nurturing these children of God.
God bless,
Carol