Patience Charles, the Crocodiles Will Come

We have reached Soroti! We’re feeling very proud of our travel arrangements – so far, our maximum driving time in Uganda has been 5½hrs.  Pretty impressive… and partly due to road improvements but also our knowledge of the place and careful planning – and the fact that Charles and I are happy to eat snacks and not stop for a meal.  

We arrived at the Global Care Centre at lunchtime – we could hear a fair amount of shrieking in the Ark. The Ark is a daycare centre for children with disability and provides basic education, physiotherapy, meals and play in a safe secure and caring environment. It’s an absolute joy to spend time in the Ark – anyone who comes falls in love with the children and staff. We walked in to be greeted by ‘Hello Dr. Tom, Hello Auntie Barbara, you are most welcome,’ accompanied by hugs and handshakes from the staff.  The children were eating lunch, but a couple wanted to greet us and within 5 minutes my clothes were smeared with posho and beans.  There’s a lot of smiling and laughing in the Ark. Although the children who are familiar with visitors were excited to greet us, some of the newer children were shy.

And that, is the best thing that happened today. There are new children… because 4 children started school this term. Its brilliant news. One little girl, (the poster girl for the Ark if you’ve seen any pictures), has been there for years, but now the van that collects her and her wheelchair each day takes her to school, not the Ark.  And even better – she’s doing really well.  

Anyone who came to the 2015 Soroti camp will remember a small boy who ran around and didn’t really interact with anyone. He was a bit wild and undisciplined! Over the last 3 years we watched him become calmer, play with other children and listen to adults.  By January 2018 the change in him was quite remarkable. And yes – he’s at school too. That takes dedication and commitment from a staff team. They have remarkable patience and a belief in the potential of every child. We didn’t really know the other 2 children, they were only at the Ark for a year – just long enough to prepare them for school.   While we’re here, I’ve been asked to gather information about the children to help a team of special needs teachers who are coming in the summer to provide training for both Soroti and Rukungiri staff. I can’t wait to get started.  I’ll remember to ask for an apron next time!

The other focus for our visit is a Disability Support Group in a rural village called Abeko.  Last year we spent time with them as they started to think about formalising their group and how it would function.  Now they’re a registered organisation, and recently started a Playscheme – a programme devised by ‘Disability Africa’ to help children with disability socialise, mobilise and learn, a stepping-stone to formal education. While Global Care will help them as they become established, the aim is for them to become self-reliant and self-sustainable.  We’re looking forward to hearing their ideas, although we’ve heard that they’re hoping when we visit we’ll help them vaccinate their chickens and build bee houses. I’m hoping this is a joke. Anyone who knows me knows that animal husbandry and woodwork are definitely not anywhere near my skill set!

We’ve been coming to Soroti for over 10 years and it always delights us how much change happens from one year to the next. But I’m sure we’ll also be hearing about the challenges and once again come face-to-face with situations of intense hardship and pain.  Today, I’m sharing hope and encouragement, believing that in the same way so much has been achieved here, children’s lives will be changed in Rukungiri.

At the Game Park, Charles was desperate to see crocodiles. He even asked the guide, ‘When will we see crocodiles?’ The guide said, ‘They will come, they will come, just there, just there,’ while pointing vaguely into the distance. I teased Charles, ‘Patience Charles, the crocodiles will come.’ Sure enough, they did. Humungous crocodiles swimming across the lake and basking in the sun. 

Sometimes we have to be patient, to trust that change can come, that the unbelievable injustices we’ve witnessed can be repaired.  Last week I saw something special, I saw desperate families given hope just at the thought of their child receiving a walking aid or transport to school. But there’s no point bringing hope if we can’t deliver. Charles would have been even more annoyed if there hadn’t been any crocodiles. We can never make promises here – we can’t even promise we can provide a wheelchair until funding is approved and a suitable chair sourced. But we can bring hope, hope that might make a family think someone cares about their child or their situation.  And today we saw crocodiles – 4 more Ark children at school. Woohoo!