The completion of the school

Blessing of the school

As a young girl I followed a 3 years training for those who were then called the mentally deficient or the feeble minded. Later, I became a hospital nurse.  

However I stayed faithful to my “first love” and started, at this time unusual, to travel with these people. I did everything: winter sports, trips near and far with small groups and also with groups of 36. I learned that the strength of this group is the enjoyment of everyday small things. That proves their worth. Because of an age limit of 70 years I stopped last year. And I found another place.

Investigating in the villages

Here in Uganda, I found it strange that I rarely came across handicapped people. On investigating the villages, my suspicions were confirmed. There are many here too, and I have a list of 150 mentally handicapped children around Ococia. I think there are many overall Uganda, not only here nearby. I looked around to see what is done for this ignored group. Certainly, there is little to find. It is a taboo and the children are neglected.

We, Alfred and I, have decided to do something for this group and we have built a small school to show that activities and training help these children to develop further.

The school has been given the name Ekeunos in Ateso (“rise up”) based on hope and will be painted in the colours of the rainbow. (the colours of hope)

We made a festival for the opening of the school and invited all the handicapped children in the area and their families to celebrate with us. This also helps to break the taboo linked to the handicapped. We started with a mass for the group with the theme “He knows all of you by name.” This is written in the palms of the hands of God. Fortunately, Hans the brother of Alfred is a missionary and he came from Karamoja to 

Tears are always coming ......

celebrate a special mass for these handicapped people. At the end of the mass, there followed blessings. At this point, tears are always coming into my eyes...I don’t know why. Maybe because to see so much vulnerability and so much strength at the same time. Afterwards, there was a procession to the school for blessings over there.

In the end, we organized a lunch for about 300 people. We prepared 100 kg of rice and  60 kg of meat. We all sat under the mango tree and there was more than enough for everyone. Also soft drinks were not missing, as everybody likes them.

Then staff of the health center had prepared entertainment, music, dance and drama. People here are very strong, do everything themselves and they are very creative. There was a  whole program lasting until the end of the afternoon after which I think everyone went home blessed and with a full stomach.

Everyone went home with a full stomach

For Alfred and me, it is now time to plan the start of the school. This is not as simple as it seems because there are not many examples to be found in Uganda yet. However, we think we have found a basis and hope to receive our first students in February. There is no point in beginning earlier because soon, the Christmas holidays will start. Here this is a time to spend with your family who sometimes live widely spread and daily life becomes very quiet.

Finally