We went for a day fieldwork, Andrew (who was driving), Pius (the new social worker) and me. We left around 9.30 in the morning. We were going to 3 different villages. We first stopped by the Probation Office in Soroti, one of the representatives of the office was going with us. We also had a 12 year old girl, Margret, with us (left in the the picture), we were going to bring her back home, but the problem was that she was not sure where her home was.....
We first drove to Amuria, we were going to talk with a man who brought a baby to Amecet. He found the baby on his veranda, but there were so many loopholes, that was one of the reasons we had someone from the Probation office with us. We needed answers about this child..
The roads are very bumpy, dry and dusty. It is not really nice to drive to the village at this time.. When we arrived in Amuria, we found out that the man we were going to meet wasn't there. He was sick and was in a far away village, we would not be able to reach it today. That was a pity, but we have to postpone it to another visit...
The next village was the village where Margret came from. Margret was only one week with us. She was brought by the police, she is 12 years old and had been working in a home in Soroti. She had to clean, cook, do the laundry and look after 4 children. She was beaten regular and one night she decided to ran away. But someone grabbed her and defiled her. she ended up in the police station. The man who grabbed her is in the cells, but she didn't know anymore where the house was where she was working. After medical investigation the police brought her to Amecet. We know that after some time, they will talk and share. We heard that she is already 3 years in Soroti, she wanted to go home, to her family, whom she hasn't seen all this time. I think she is a sweet girl who had suffered and we needed to find her family....
We stopped at the police post in her area and with the little bit of information we knew from which site she came. A lady was brought in and when she saw the girl, she knew her and she was willing to go with us and two police officers in the car to drive to her home.
This was a VERY bumpy ride, over small bicycle pads, but we came at her home and Margret got all excited when she recognized the huts and people. A mat was laid down to sit on and chairs were brought from the homes which were nearby.
The police officer started to ask many questions to the mother, how did Margret ended up in Soroti and why did she not go to school and why was she never visited to check if she was alright, how much was she paid...
The whole story is still strange and not right. But we did our mission: Margret was safe back with her people. She was very happy and I think her mother was also happy. The police will now have to work out the rest and find the family in Soroti where she worked.
When we walked back to the car, Margret walked with me, she thanked me and she cried. At the end she gave me a kiss and I know she was very thankful that she is back with her family. I am thankful that we could minister to her and to be the safe place where she could stay after all that had happened to her...
The last mission we had that day was to visit a boy who was with us in Amecet last year. We had heard that there were problems with his health and we thought it would be in the same village as Margret. But the lady who was looking after the boy was transferred to another post, in another village...... So that was driving again.... we brought first the two police officers back to their post and then we went after Rogers, again over bumpy roads.. the lady who looked after Rogers works with the Police, so we just drove to the police post in the village they had told us.
We found him directly and when he saw the car, he came happy to greet us.. We talked with the lady and heard that Rogers has regularly attacks where he becomes very swollen and she was concerned about him.
He was now very okay and there were no problems, but because it was one year ago that he had a same attack during the time that he was in Amecet. I felt better to let him examine again by the pediatrician who saw him that time as well. We agreed that they would come to Soroti the next day and that we would meet in Amecet.
We went back to Soroti, where arrived at 5.15 pm in Amecet. A long day, a tiresome day, but we did accomplished some things. We were more than 7 hours on the road, but it was all worth the effort.
The next day Rogers and his Tata (he calls the lady grandmother) arrived in Soroti and I went with them for a scan and a X-ray. Today we met again and we went to the pediatrician to see what he thinks from him. he had to do some more blood and urine tests, but the doctor thinks it has something to do with the kidneys. He got medication and in one month they have to come back for review. I just dropped them off at the bus station where they will take a bus back to their village. While I was waiting with them in the doctors office, I got a phone call from a neighboring district : there were 2 weeks old twin baby's, abandoned. The police had brought them to the doctor to check, but could we help?????
Who says that life is boring???????
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What a day. Lucky you are too help them Els.