Out of the Ashes Beauty Will Rise

She was one of the first people I saw as we arrived to the site. It was not my first time in Uganda, not by a long shot, but it was my first time at this particular children's home. My first time to see this particular organization. She lifted her eyes from the ground and shyly said hello. And as I looked deep within her eyes and I could see for a fleeting moment that she had lived life beyond her 14 years. She seemed somehow a girl, yet somehow an old soul, something I have seen more than once when a traumatic past is involved. I didn't know her story and I didn't ask. The first time I met her, I did see she had noticeable scars on her hands, perhaps adding to her initial shyness. However as the week went on and I spent time there testing soil, taking water samples and evaluating the site, as one of the few women who was there doing field work she seemed to be shyly curious of who I was. One day I went and sat with her and her friends. I asked them a few non-threatening questions and soon they were huddled around wanting to talk more. Waiting for our driver to come pick us up presented me with the opportunity to talk to her and her friends.  And I saw in her this love deep and wide for the girls she lived with. How, when given the responsibility as head girl of the house she rose to the occasion, she mothered the young ones and encouraged the older ones. She is a great help to her house mother. She inspired me with her quiet strength.  As the week progressed, I got to hear her musical laughter and see her bright smile.  The time I got to spend with her and her friends has never left my heart or my mind.

I never did ask her what her story was, I wanted to celebrate who she is rather than making her uncomfortable by asking her about the pain of her past.  It was only a few months later I was told. This lovely young lady has a story that broke my heart. She used to walk 3 hours one way to go to school, her father is in prision, her mother has HIV and is not in good health. Those scars on her hands, they were blatant, inflicted by her aunt, who one day in anger burned her hands intentionally. She was 13 and shortly after she came to live at the children's home I met her at. She dealt with great pain for some time. But this young lady, she talks about the love she now receives, the opportunity to go to school nearby, and the opportunity she has to sing, because she loves to sing.

This girl, she has inspired me. She has reminded me that out of the ashes beauty will rise. Quite literally. I saw the beauty in her laugh and her smile. She still feels deeply the pain of her past, but she lives in the joy of now. She is a light that radiates out darkness. She reminds me what it means to have quiet strength and why I want the world to be a better place.

Human Rights and My Sheltered Existence

Most of you know that I volunteer as a classroom assistant in an English Class at the local Immigrant Centre.  The few hours I spend each week with people from other corners of the earth open my eyes to see the world in a different way. These students broaden my horizons and I love to hear stories about where they came from and what their dreams are. One night a few weeks ago was no exception. The teacher announced that we would be spending the evening watching short video clips about human rights issues around the world and then discussing them. I was a bit surprised because the usual topics of discussion tend to revolve around subjects that help the students survive life in Canada. How to talk to the doctor, or shop for groceries, or make an appointment. All things that someone new to Canada needs and wants to be able to do, but is a big big struggle if having a good command of English is not within grasp.

So I was surprised when I saw enthusiastic nods around the room as the teacher announced the exercise. Before the exercise even started, one student told the entire class "this is a very important topic."  And I realized that particular student came from a country where human rights might not be viewed as important.  Some might say he comes from a country that has even been known to violate human rights in the past. And in that moment I realized I have led a very sheltered existence. I haven't known what it means to be treated as less than human. I hope I never will.  But some of these people that I smile at and speak with every Tuesday evening have lived in places where life is cheap and expendable. Being alive does not equate with having worth. I don't know what it means to live in a country run under iron rule. But some of these students, they do. I was reminded of this after the Canadian election when one student who grew up in a country that was at the time of his childhood under Soviet Rule found out that our new prime minister was the son of a previous prime minister. He looked at me and in very loud and accented English exlaimed "Zis is because it is ze Mafia."  The thought had never even crossed my mind, but having grown up in a political climate far different than the one I grew up in, it was the most obvious conclusion for him.

And I realized I live in a place where society encourages and promotes the equal treatment of every individual. A few hours and a few video clips one evening, made me realize I should not take this for granted.

As I speak with these students, I realize they are in-between one culture and another. And that is a hard place to be. They have come a long way from their homeland to the land of opportunity, only to realize that in these lands living life is expensive and finding those opportunities are filled with obstacles and sometimes impossibilities they didn't count on. For some, the success they had hoped for and the independence they had imagined never becomes a realization. But in some of them I see determination and perseverance.  They work hard for sometimes many years on end to find mastery of a new language, they beat statistics and find success.  And being there on the sidelines to watch the small steps of their journey is but pure joy.