Broken Anew

By: Michael Warneke

As the Executive Director for Fields of Dreams Uganda it is easy to fall into routine here in Uganda after so many trips to the Pearl of Africa. However, today was one of those days with the children at our partner schools that I will not soon forget. Not many of our team expected today to top or match our incredible day yesterday, and I think we can all agree that we have a renewed passion and purpose for why we are here in Uganda.

Our day started at Laroo Primary School. This is a very barren campus with around 800 students, around 40 of which our hearing impaired. It is a campus that needs a lot of assistance, and it is easy to get overwhelmed by the needs while present with this beautiful mass of children. We had the honor of listening to many speeches, dances, songs, and more speeches, as Northern Uganda is a very formal place. The children both blessed and impressed us, as many songs and speeches were performed by the hearing impaired children. Living in a developing nation, children with disabilities are the last to be catered to in the education system, and there is still much ignorance in Uganda that deaf students are also "dumb" and unteachable. It was inspiring to communicate with so many of the teachers, students, and community members about the future of this vulnerable population, with the knowledge that we are all dreaming together for a promising future.

I first walked on the grounds of Laroo in November of 2013, and we were informed of all of the challenges that they were facing. One of the main issues was they lacked electricity and a fence, and because of this, many of there students have been attacked at night. For the hearing impaired students who live on this campus, their communication ends when the sun goes down. Not anymore!!! Today, we had the joy of being an answered prayer to this community by bringing electricity to their campus. I cannot thank the Pendergrass family enough amongst many others that have decided to help change the course of these children's lives through your gifts and assistance. Laroo will not be the same when I return in June, and I am excited to hear about all of the positive changes that have taken place through this effort.

The girls at Laroo were just as eager to receive the kits as our other partner school as this is a such a huge burden removed from their life. These simple hygiene kits bring a sense of dignity and pride to their lives that they may have never felt before.

Following our wonderful visit at Laroo we loaded our van down with more hygiene supplies and had the honor of visiting with the staff and children at Bungatira Primary as well. And this is the campus where I literally had my heart broken. Two brave girls shared with us their stories and the difficulties they have faced. One young girl talked of her father not being able to afford school fees, and so an early marriage was arranged at the age of 12. It is not uncommon thinking in Uganda for a girl to be believed ready for marriage after her period arrives. Parents struggling to pay school fees, simply see marriage as a better option free from the burden of trying to cover the education fees for their daughters. By God's grace this girl is back at school through the interventions of our education advocate, Florence Ngamita.

Following this heartbreaking tale, we all got to hear another student talk about the continual rejection of family members, that have sent her all across Central/East Africa as she never seemed to be wanted by anyone, and her schooling was too much of a burden on her family relations. She was sent away by herself to an uncle at the age of 2 on a bus, and was then immediately rejected when the police were finally able to find this relative, and cast aside as unwanted. She too has found a home at Bungatira and Fields of Dreams Uganda through Florence our incredible education advocate.

One of the saddest parts of both of these stories, in which I did no justice at all in telling, is that their school fees equate to roughly 7 or 8 U.S. Dollars every three months. To a family or child living in crippling poverty that is often a monumental task, but to us living in the western world that is equivalent to an extra value meal at McDonalds. We are literally allowing young girls to be married off as children over a Quarter Pounder Meal. I don't know if I will sleep tonight trying to make sense of the senseless.

Yesterday at Pageya Primary School a representative from the PTA thanked our organization for giving the children "hooks instead of fish." He could plainly see through the work, efforts, and programming of Fields of Dreams Uganda that lives were being empowered, uplifted, and directed toward a path that does not end with a scared little girl as someone's wife.

As I often travel and speak about our work, it is hard for me to put into words the positive impact our work is having in Uganda. Lives are literally being saved from horrific endings, and dreams are within reach for these beautiful children. You can't really know how important this work is until you live it, breathe it, smell it, and look it in the face. We need you to be a part of the positive change that is happening here in Gulu. I don't want to look another child in the eyes and tell them that a meal in America is more important than their future education. Please consider helping us continue this great work by getting involved with a monthly donation, $25 dollars a month could literally help us keep around 35 kids in Gulu in school and away from an ending that none of us wants to believe is a reality. 

http://www.fieldsofdreamsuganda.org/#!donate2/cvw2