It’s 4:30 AM on the next to last night in Gulu. I’ve been awake since 1:30 – the pre-leaving middle of the night “what-ifs” have jolted me awake. Last night I dreamed I was at the airport and not one, but two groups of little Ugandan school kids had taken all the seats available on the plane. Obviously some anxiety about making the flight – since kids enroute to and from school have been known to eliminate any possibility of getting on the bus….
Saturday, my LABE friends gave me a lovely going away party. What a sweet grou of people who have become family. There was even a cake, with Thank You Nancy” written in pink icing. For the cutting of the cake, every person had a hand on the knife to signify that we are all together. Traditionally, locals have eaten with their hands and often from a common bowl. The belief is that if you are sharing a meal in this way adversaries become friends and everyone is firmly bound together. I am touched that they went to such lengths to keep our bond strong. I of course cried and was completely unable to tell them all the things I’d like to have said. It’s rare that I am without words…
I was completely unprepared for how thrilling and emotional it would be to see the ring-of-fire. Apparently I was not alone in these feelings because spontaneous cheering erupted everywhere. What a gift to be in one of the three best places in the world to witness this moment. While Packwach – an hour east of here was promoted to be the best (and therefore attract 41 astronomers from around the world, not to mention the Jolie/Pitt tribe, it was clouded over! so turns out staying put in Gulu was the best move as the cloud that obscured the show moved away just in time to see the full eclipse!
All manner of last minute semi-calamities have arisen with people who know I’m leaving. One lovely young man who has been sponsored for the last year in vocational school by three separate volunteers and folks from the States asked for help finding a doctor who could take care of a ear-ache. I knew where that one was going – so forked over funds for the doctor’s visit and you’d have thought I’d saved his life. He called to say the treatment was a miracle and he could now take his exams.
Then Peter reported a horrid toothache, which—after spending hours determining who could take him to the one dentist in town—resulted in the discovery of two large cavities requiring 80,000 shillings to “cement.” I’m feeling a bit taken advantage of – since at least these did not simply arrive over night, but somehow didn’t become an emergency until my leaving became a reality. It feels opportunistic – and am still not sure how to handle that one – since it was not my intention to fund medical, etc. – and I don’t have the funds. I plan on putting the network to work and will fund part of it, but they will need to supply the rest. Somehow he had work done earlier and that happened without my support.
Time to go home. This is part of the dilemma in sponsoring someone for school – it’s never “just” school. You are seen to be the fixer of all things and the energy required to continually set and re-set boundaries without being obnoxious about it is herculean.