In the fall of 2004, child sponsor Linda Richardson left her home outside Edmonton, Alberta to board a plane for Africa. She went to visit her sister Barbara Richardson, who is Political Counsellor, Canadian High Commission, Nairobi, Kenya. There, Linda was closer than she’s ever been to Lweru, Uganda, home of her sponsored child Stephene Senfuma. Though she was in Uganda for only one day, Linda will never forget a minute of it. In her own words, this is Linda’s story:

Why go?

As a sponsor, it’s great to get a photograph and updated information about your sponsored child, but it’s nice to go and see for yourself, make sure the money is being spent wisely; find out more about him, his family and community. And I’d never been to Uganda so just wanted to experience what it was like.

First impressions

It’s beautiful, more humid and tropical than Kenya, more of what I pictured Africa to be. The cities are busy, crowded, lots of struggling people, but there is obviously industry going on. I saw tea fields and lots of manufacturing.

I flew into Entebbe and was met at the airport by Feed The Children Uganda (FTCU) staff. We then drove to Kampala and FTCU headquarters. They happened to have all management staff in for a meeting, so they asked me to come in to meet them all. They asked me for my impressions, which was a bit unexpected, but I was happy to give my input.

The visit

Then we were off to visit Stephene in his community of Lweru. The roads were great until closer to the village, when they became very bumpy and narrow. I’d been on safari in Kenya, so was used to bad roads. We stopped first at Stephene’s school to meet him. He was very shy. From his photos, I imagined he would be taller, more muscular, but he seemed small for his age, which is not unusual I suppose. He does understand quite a bit of English, though doesn’t speak much. We had a whole entourage, so he was a bit intimidated. We toured the school, visited the headmaster and met Stephene’s teacher. I had been to a school in Nairobi slums – and found this one to be better built. I thought it looked sturdy, had a well for fresh water – very functional, but basic.

The staff taught me some expressions in the local language of Luganda. (I’m happy to meet you; Okay; Thank you very much.) That was very helpful. The villagers grinned widely when you said a few little phrases, but then they thought I spoke the language, so would start speaking to me in Luganda, but I had to tell them, No that’s all I know!

Stephene’s home

We visited Stephen’s mother’s house. His mother is a widow with eight children and, when you’re a widow, your children are considered orphans. Stephene is the second eldest. I met his aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins – we had lots of introductions. They kind of kneel down to greet you, which I wasn’t expecting. That’s considered a polite greeting. I went into his house – very basic: mud, clay bricks, dirt floor. His bedroom had dirt floors, with scraps of cloth to sleep on. There was mosquito netting given by Canadian Feed The Children. And a shelf with mementos. There was a separate kitchen outside, a latrine and a bath house with walls, but no roof. They use a communal well for water. The program includes hygiene education, where FTCU staff teach villagers about better sanitation – such as building drying racks to keep dishes away from the dirt. We went to Stephene’s mother’s garden. There is a lot of subsistence farming in the area and, like many families, they grow the crops they eat – beans, cassava, coffee, fruit trees, and vanilla as a cash crop. Stephene had a little rabbit hutch that he tends, using some rabbits to feed the family and selling others.

Gift giving

I’d brought some gifts for Stephene and some supplies for the school, but I felt guilty for not bringing something for the family. Stephene made me a beautiful basket and a straw mat, which I will put on my patio table in the summertime. His mother gave me a beautiful purple and white mat that she had made. Although they have nothing, they offer these gifts. It touched me so much; I was on the verge of tears.

Then they gave me a rooster; they just kind of plopped it in my lap. Well, you can imagine my surprise. This is considered a very extravagant gift. I don’t know where they got it. What does one do? I accepted it with great thanks. Then, after I left, I asked FTCU staff to find another family who could use it. They decided on a family that had a boy who was ill, and the mother didn’t have much, so she could either make soup out of it or sell it. We drove back in an open truck, the rooster was in back, and when we got to Kampala, we got worried that someone might take it. We wanted to get it in the right hands, without it being stolen.

I think over the years that we have sponsored a child it would have been nice to have more direct communication with Stephene and the ability to give him gifts of some sort. However, having been to Lweru and seen what the sponsorship money enables in terms of community development, and understanding the remoteness and difficulty that would be involved in getting letters to and from sponsored children, I can see why Canadian Feed The Children doesn’t want to spend funds each year to support that kind of communication. As a sponsor, I do like to receive updated photos of Stephene and updated reports on his progress, etc. I think that sponsors should be made more aware of Canadian Feed The Children’s policy regarding gifts and letters. Initially, my family – especially my daughters – expected to receive at least one letter each year from Stephene. That is probably a common expectation among sponsors.

Partnership

The FTCU staff were great. We drove back to Kampala and had a typical Uganda meal. They had gone out of their way to make sure I saw as much as possible in a short time. They filled me in on the current issues about the program, which gave me an idea of what Canadian Feed The Children does when partnering with a community – not really direct implementers of the programs, but funding them. I thought that was fine. I just assumed Canadian Feed The Children was delivering programs, but I wasn’t taken aback that Canadian Feed The Children partners with organizations on the ground. They know what their communities need and it’s employment in the country. It makes sense to deliver programs that way. When I was meeting, they talked about where they’re moving, their strategic plan – for more community programs. When you sponsor a child, you sponsor the family and indirectly the village. I understand in that community, there are a number of sponsors, there’s so much being developed within the community and, hopefully, as time goes on, the organization can move out of the community because they would have developed the resources themselves. I think it’s a very smart strategy: Get the resources in the hands of the community and let them run with them.

Lasting impact

I think the trip brought home to me how much needs to be done but how small deeds can really produce great things in the long run. By sponsoring a child, you’re providing them with a better education, health care, food. In extreme poverty, there’s great difficulty in getting employment. The interesting thing that I learned was that the focus on education is very high. I was quite surprised, given that families are so poor and sometimes have to purchase uniforms and, moving on to secondary school, it’s hard to finance for many families. As a sponsor, you’re really focusing on improving the next generation.

Our great thanks to Linda for sharing her story with us, and for her continued support through sponsorship.