Home visit

Last evening when Paul got off work he and I walked to do some errands. Along the way we met Janet, EMI's cook. She invited us to her home which was nearby. Knowing that hospitality is an important part of Ugandan life, we accepted. Janet took my hand as we walked down the street toward her house. In Uganda, as in many countries outside the U.S., you only hold hands in public with people of your same gender. It was such a sweet gesture that it wasn't hard to overcome my initial discomfort.

Janet's husband is a teacher and they live on the school compound. The compound itself is a series of small concrete classrooms around a central dirt courtyard. The "homes" are also just a series of rooms in a one-story concrete building. This is another occasion where I wish we had had our camera along, because words fall short. I'm guessing their whole house is the size of our dining room at home. I have to guess because there was a piece of fabric stretched across the width of the room to separate the front room from the rest. This front room had a couch and chair and small table. There was a piece of linoleum on the floor. The edges of the room were neatly piled high with suitcases and cookware. Along the edge of the back room we could see a wooden bunkbed three tiers high. There are seven to nine people living in this home: Janet, her husband, their five children, and a couple children of relatives staying with them. One of them is Janet's cousin's child who is 14 and cooks and does childcare for them. The house had electricity but no running water or toilet.

Our first reaction, though of course we hope we hid it well, was shock at how little they had. I'll be posting soon on privilege and guilt. However, this was tempered by Janet's ease in her surroundings and the happiness and liveliness of her children (although I thought her one-year-old appeared listless). It's one thing to know that Africans don't have much, but to see it worked out in the life of someone you interact with daily takes it to another level.

Janet offered us Cokes, though she herself didn't drink one, and we visited. We got one of her daughters to sing us a song, and in turn I taught them "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." We met her husband who left his classroom early - apparently he usually works 7 to 7 - to come say hello. He struck me as a warm, dignified man.

EMI tries to give its Ugandan workers a leg up by offering them an annual schooling stipend which they can use for themselves or their children. Janet had used hers to get a counseling certificate. As far as I can tell, a certificate is something beyond high school but less than a college diploma. Maybe it's like a two-year college program. Anyway, she has her certificate but can't find a job using it. So she stays with EMI for the time being, but has the potential to move on someday to a better paying, more challenging job.