Good Morning from Uganda...technically it should be Good Evening From San Francisco but somebody missed their flight. The past two weeks were nothing short of amazing, loving, exhausting and fun.
I'm going to start with yesterday and work my way back as I blog. First apologies for not blogging as I went along. Mahadi is a very active little boy so from 6:30am-10:00pm I was always on the go with him. By the time I could blog I was ready to go to bed myself. Now as I have some time to myself at Josephine's I can start putting words into paragraphs to highlight the fun times, the not so fun times and where my head is at today.
On Friday, we were getting ready to leave Mahadi's school, I told his bio mom- we will drop him at your house on Wednesday. So all week long I was preparing Mahadi for Wednesday, on Wednesday you are going to your mom's and I'm flying to America. On Tuesday morning, I wanted to get on British Airway's website to check my flight, pick my seats etc. But I got interrupted by Mahadi and figured I could get on line that night after he went to bed. That didn't happen either. Yesterday morning, bags are packed, we have had breakfast and I get onto BA's website and it says I can't check in...and that's when it clicks....my flight was actually Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I start FREAKING out...and Jack is trying to calm me down and I'm trying to find my US phone and American Airlines can't help me, so I get the BA number in Kampala and the lady says she will have to call me back and Mahadi is in the background saying "mommy mommy mommy I want the phone". He clearly doesn't understand panic. I'm on the verge of tears because A- I had mentally prepared to leave that day. B- I was terribly afraid this new ticket was going to cost me thousands of dollars. C- I really needed to be in the office this week.
As I'm crying and trying to figure out what step to take first Mahadi's like you're crying mommy. Jack tried to explain to him me crying at this time had nothing to do with him.
An hour goes by and I call BA back...she says I have to buy a whole new ticket....thankfully she was telling me it was $640 and not $1,500. I decided to get on American's website to see if i could use miles. I was able to book a new flight for tonight (Thursday) using 37,000 miles and paying $325.00...not money I wanted to spend but thankfully now nearly as much as I thought it was going to be. I also am thankful I'm able to get out relatively quickly as BA only flies out of Entebbe 3 times a week.
We got that situation straightened out and we started to head to Mahadi's school, but first we stopped for lunch. I was already crying in the car and really didn't want to eat. Jack and Josephine both said they were going to leave me if I didn't stop crying...not because they are mean, but because they don't like to see me in pain.
We had decided to take Mahadi back to school instead of his mom's per his grandma's instructions on Monday. We arrived to school and were told by Madame Emmy that Jja-jja (Mahadi's grandma) had left that morning to go check on her own mother who was sick. Mahadi would be looked after by Madame Emmy until Jja-jja returned. I trust Madame Emmy fully, so there was no concern there.
Most of the children left on Friday to go back to family villages for the next 2 months because it's the school holidays. Because of lack of money for food at Mahadi's school, the school has really started campaigning for kids to go "home" for the holiday break. There were still about 50 kids there, 50 kids with nowhere to go. some of the 50 kids are now in high school or older because they started at AGL when they were young didn't have anywhere to go and still don't have anywhere to go. It was 3pm when we go there and because Jja-jja was gone no meals had been cooked that day. Madame Emmy explained that most kids can cook for themselves and I said what about Mahadi she said I will cook for him. But it was disturbing that the kids who were still there had not been cooked for and it was nearly 4pm.
It's a complicated situation. Mahadi's official school name is Wakiso School Children of Hope, but you'll hear me refer to it as AGL, short for African Greater Life a non-profit a pastor started years ago to create a place for widows and orphaned children to go to. There are a lot of people who care about this school, but there is serious need for formal organization of who is donating money and what priorities are met first.
We stayed awhile and then decided to distribute the toothpaste, toothbrushes, vaseline, soap, panties and shoes to the kids who were at the school. We lined them up and passed out the toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and vaseline to all of the kids, even the big ones who are back from break. We then lined up the kid s who were under 13 and were able to provide shoes for every child under 13 who did not have a pair of shoes. The remaining shoes will be giving out once the kids return from holiday break, along with the remaining toothpaste, soap and toothbrushes. We then passed out the underwear to the girls and had picked up some pairs for younger boys. So thankful to Michael Mahoney and Brad Rolfe who felt compelled to do something based on my Facebook statuses. They were able to send me over $500. Some of that money was used for the final meal for 300 kids before all kids left for the holidays and the rest was used to buy the above hygiene products and shoes. I know many of you felt compelled to send me money or to donate in some way. I didn't solicit donations this time because for one it is a challenge to physically get the money once I'm already on the ground and for two I wanted to make sure I could handle a small assignment before all of a sudden I have thousands of dollars and no safe way to ensure items get distributed. Stay tuned for ways I want to start helping AGL became a good and functioning school.
After the distribution Mahadi was sitting on my lap and I was saying Mahadi, Mommy, Auntie Josephine and Uncle Jack are getting ready to leave. I was getting all teary-eyed telling him I loved him and to use his manners and be a good boy. It began to sink in with him that this time he wasn't going. Even though we had been preparing him all week long I don't think it had finally sunk in until that moment. He started balling. All the kids were around him telling him Mahadi we are here. We will play with you...it was awful. I went to the car and continued to cry as Josephine and Jack tried to calm him down. Then Josephine came to me and Jack was left with him and he stopped crying. Madame Emmy took him around back of one of the houses and told him she was going to buy him a sambusa, while Jack ran to the car and we drove off.
It was awful. Absolutely awful.
After about an hour I called Emmy and she said he was playing and was doing fine. I called Emmy this morning and she said he was fine. Then I got a chance to talk to him. He sounded good...we told each other we loved and missed the other one and I said I'll be back in 2013, ok? Ok. bye bye.
As much as I knew when the time would come to take Mahadi back school I'd be a wreck, I'm never prepared for how much I cry and I wonder if I'm doing the right thing...just showing up for a couple of weeks and then leaving him behind. Or is it better to not come at all? not for me but for him.
I'll write more about where my thoughts are on being in Mahadi's life in more permanent basis soon.
for now I'm signing off.
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I am teary eyed after reading this. It is a mixture of joy for both you and Mahadi for having each other in your lives, and of sadness that the various situations have no easy answers.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly a complicated world we live in. Yet, here and there, sometimes for mere moments, joy comes and makes us forget about the sadness.
I hope when both you and Mahadi look at the moon, you will remember those joyful moments. As Garth Brooks said, "I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the dance."