peter

I first met Peter when he was working at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. He was twenty-four then - good natured, personable, funny and bright.

I have gotten to know him pretty well over the past two years. He served as our tour guide/organizer last year and will do the same this year for Team 2.

Peter was born in Gwembe, a small village outside of Kampala. He is the third youngest of eight children. He was determined from an early age to get an education. His mother, Edith, sold coffee beans grown on their plot of land to see him through the first couple years of secondary school. When she could no longer pay his tuition, he wrote a letter to the director of the school asking if there were any odd jobs he might do at the school in return for admission to classes. For his final two years, he worked around the grounds of the school and became the first (and only) of Edith’s children to complete his education.

He saw no future for himself in the family’s village, but could not afford the fees for University. So, Peter moved to Kampala and began working as a volunteer at the orphanage. He has a special way with children, and he loves theatre. He eventually worked his way into a paying position at St. Mary Kevin’s, counseling kids and teaching drama.

After a serious illness, he quit his job and returned to Gwembe. He realized that his slight frame would never land him a manual labor job, and he could not afford to further his education, so he set about making bricks to bring in some money. He desperately wanted to “make it” in the world and was frustrated and depressed by his situation. He wanted so much to set an example for his nieces and nephews (two of his sisters have lost their husbands to HIV/AIDS) and to succeed on some level, but he felt he had hit a wall.

Two sponsors from the US stepped in to help. Peter has always dreamed of being in business. Because of the assistance provided by his American friends, he has completed about half of the requirements for his Bachelors of Applied Accounting. He doesn’t want to start a family until he has reached his goal of being able to completely fend for himself. Though his classes are difficult, Peter is determined to make his dreams a reality. He told me that when he received word of the assistance coming from the US, a “gate was opened” for him.

He’s walking right on through it.