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.
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.
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