back to katalemwa. 12.16.09

I was able to return to Katalemwa Cheshire Home to volunteer yesterday. I traveled by matatu to the children’s rehabilitation center with Benon, one of the veteran Ugandan Empower A Child staff members, and Beth, a seventeen-year-old Texan MST [Ministry Support Team member] who just arrived in Uganda shortly before I did.

The journey time was long, as we had to ride a matatu into the heart of Kampala, walk to the crowded and chaotic taxi park, load into another matatu, and drive back out of the city and through busy market streets and neighborhoods before riding a boda boda the last leg of the excursion.

Katalemwa is home to children with a variety of disabilities including Cerebal Palsy, clubfeet, Hydrocephalus, facial tumors, limb deformities, and many other conditions. Upon our arrival, the classrooms were jumbled with wooden crutches scattered across the floor and tables as children as children wrote letters to Father Christmas. I sat beside a teenage boy who asked me for some help as he pondered on what he wanted to receive for Christmas. As I listed possible gifts, he vetoed every one. I was taken aback by how humble he was in deciding an appropriate gift. Every potential item I offered was something he felt he did not need- a backpack, clothing, notebooks... We finally were able to settle on a Madrid soccer jersey.

One of the teachers requested that we organize a Christmas pageant for the children to perform later that week. Benon and I quickly drafted a basic summary of Christ’s birth in the corner of the classroom as the children finished decorated their letters.

I first shared the story as Benon translated my English version into Luganda. Then we assigned roles to the children. As we practiced the scenes, I loved watching the reactions of the classroom. The little Mary and Joseph couple was absolutely darling. Mary was probably eight years old and Joseph about nine. As an older boy, Ima, narrated the story Mary and Joseph acted out the parts. The little girl acting as Mary would shyly, yet playfully cover her face, as she was embarrassed by having to walk beside and shake hands with her husband, Joseph. When it came time for Mary to be pregnant, the teacher rolled up a small blanket of yarn and stuffed it into her shirt. The whole classroom erupted with laughter and Mary shyly hid her face again, giggling throughout the whole scene.

It was an adorable sight to see the children gently passing around the wadded up blanket, as they all sang a Christmas song to baby Jesus to conclude. After a few run-throughs in specific scenes, the skit was deemed ready for Friday and Beth closed our time there with a prayer.

Katalemwa is a wonderful organization that so lovingly serves and cares for East Africa’s disabled children and I am blessed to have had opportunities to be a part of its community. I hope to be able to visit there a few more times before I leave.