Hisa Evelyn and caretaker

Hisa Evelyn and her sister lives with the chairman of NEDEA and his wife, who together have given a safe home to students from NEDEA in many years.Volunteer Maria Helena Hestetun from Norway tells us about her visit at the house of one of NEDEAs caretakers.

Pineapple as the symbol of a good life

It is a rainy day in Nakawuka. Our hair and clothes are soaked. By the time the rain stops, we reach a house covered by white painting, made of cement. Outside there is a pregnant goat standing by the peelings of matoke. A man in blue shirt and black pants welcomes us. His wife is standing beside him and is matching him with a clear blue dress and headband. Both are smiling and it is impossible to not recognize the kindness.

We are entering the living room and the man does a gesture with his hand showing that we can sit down in the sofas. They are decorated with zebra stripes, a wedding gift from some days before. The kids enter the room one by one; four girls and one boy. Each of them smiling shyly. They are looking curious and we greet them, before the wife in the family serves us pineapple, prepared on a big plate with plenty of forks. The man asks the kids to wash their hands before praying and enjoying the juicy pineapple.

With the taste of sweet pineapple in my mouth, the friendliness and vibes around me, I quickly understand that this is not a normal family. Some of the kids are about the same age and they all look very different. Two girls are the exception. They look almost the same with the same kind of eyes. They are sparkling. Their heads are heart shaped and their smiles are looking uncanny. If it was not for the difference in height, you could tell them to be twins.

The girls have a brutal history with parents who did not manage to take care of them. The caretaker is open and tells the story about a father that abuses marihuana. Their father did not know what was right and wrong any more, his drug problems made him unable to manage the responsibility of taking care of his two girls.. Most of the time he was high, aggressive and became a threat to the girls. The mother passed away before managing to escape with the two girls.

Someone had to step in to rescue them from the life they were living. In a town not far from Nakawuka there is a lady hearing the story about the kids. She is selling fruits and vegetables on the market, and she is rescuing them from this miserable life. She cares and feels a responsibility for the two beautiful girls. Her salaries at the market are low and her working hours long, so she is contacting her brother. Luckily her brother has the capacity to help them. He brings them to his home, giving them clothes and food.

Without any aid from the government the couple takes care of these five kids, none of them their own. They share the little they have and make a living for the children. His eyes are filled with emotion when he is talking about them, while he is talking about the wish of helping even more children. With more space they would have done so. But for now the capacity is limited.

I can sense the warmth in this family; their hearts are so big and with room for children in difficult situations. I look one more time on the surroundings and I recognize pictures of the king and the queen, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and Sylvia Nagginda on the walls. If there were more people on this earth with the spirit as them the world would have reached a higher level.

Thanks to NEDEAs and the chairman these children will get an education. In the future they will have the possibilities to achieve what they want and do what they believe in. All with open doors.

The children are still eating pineapples when I look at them one last time. The feeling I have is indescribable, but I know it is a good mix. I am feeling happy – the memory of their parents by blood will perhaps never be gone, but they will learn to trust and to love. They will know that there is someone who cares.