carol: part 2

As you may know, Change the Truth sends a monthly stipend to the orphanage - one that is used strictly for the purchase of food for the children. Carol accompanied Rosemary (director) and Joan (Rosemary's assistant) as they went to the market to buy the main ingredient for the porridge that is given to the children at mealtime.

"We truly entered the bowels of Kampala. I have never seen anything like it. There wasn’t an inch of either sidewalk space or roadway space that you could see through the feet of the throngs of people or the vans and cars literally crawling inch by inch to their destinations. I was terrified and excited to be there. First of all, I made the mistake of wearing sandals today, of all days. I thought for sure my feet would be run over by either a bicycle, boda-boda or taxi van and if that weren’t enough, walking was perilous simply because of the outcropping of car mirrors which I ducked on at least three occasions. I remember I kept thinking that I couldn’t get hurt today; I had a mountain to climb. Rosemary was fearless. Bound and determined to reach the place where she had a deal to buy maize flour for her children. They needed food and that was all there was to it. I rushed along behind her afraid that if I lost sight of her, I would be forever lost and swallowed up. When I got past my fear I was completely taken in by the life and activity going on all around me. Small stands selling goods. People carrying their goods. Boda-bodas carrying people. People and more people. I was having a blast.

Rosemary half-heartedly mentioned that it was too bad we didn’t have time so she could introduce me to her father. Of course we had time, and I excitedly told her she should lead the way. The way, of course, was through more and more of the deep markets and people and cars and more cars, and more people. She stopped along the way to say hello to people she knew. Joan told me that this could take hours because Rosemary knew everyone and more. She laughed when she told me that she used to get exhausted when going with Rosemary because their custom was to kneel at each introduction, and all that getting up and down was tiring. I laughed. And she pulled me away when Rosemary stopped so we didn’t have to say hello. My knee thanks her. We reached his stand well inside an inside stall market (reminded me of the Arab market in the old city of Jerusalem) and he wasn’t there. We waited. When he arrived, I was introduced. He didn’t speak a word of English. I shook his hand and did my version of a kneel. Rosemary and Joan deeply kneeled before him. We chatted (well, they chatted and I watched) and I bought some pottery from him. Very cool meeting Rosemary’s father. She was very proud. We said goodbye, and were off to buy the food.

More and more of the markets and stalls and people and cars. After ducking a few more times, squeezing through the car bumpers and learning to actually push through when necessary (of course saying excuse me, which fell upon deaf ears) we reached the stall where the maize was to be purchased. Rosemary pointed out to me the motor they needed at the orphanage to produce this themselves. I walked into the inner sanctum of maize production and took pictures. She talked to the proprietor; clearly she was a steady customer. Joan handled the transaction; Rosemary went off to hire the truck which would take the food up to Kajjansi. I was nervous. As the bags were taken to the truck, I was afraid they would steal it and then Rosemary would be upset. I need to get that trust thing in hand. The truck was loaded, and Rosemary and I were off to the orphanage. The ride was long because of traffic, of course, but also because six bags were very heavy, and negotiating the roads (if they can be called that) was difficult for the driver. But we arrived and were encircled by children as I got out of the car. I was surrounded by reaching hands and appreciative faces and words. They were thanking me for the food. I didn’t expect it and wasn’t prepared. I was flooded. Overwhelmed. I wanted to stay there and play. Take it somehow away from the food and just be there with them."