My African Family

      There are so many memories that I will keep close to my heart from our trip.  One of the most memorable is working with and getting to know the social welfare officer from the Gulu Main Prison, Jolly, and her family.  I interned at PACTA, which is an alcohol awareness organization, and they provided an alcohol treatment program in the prison.  As a social work major myself, there are not words to describe how meaningful it was to me to get to interact with a social worker in Uganda.  I think we bonded right away due to the fact that she is and I will be a social worker. I found out through our conversations that she had not been paid her salary in two months from the government because they ‘did not have enough funds’ to pay her.  This put huge monetary stress on her.  She not only has a son of her own, but has adopted two girls that were orphaned during the war.  I would have never have known this by her actions.  She went to work everyday, worked through lunch, and ran errands for her clients after hours.    

Jolly has a huge passion for her job and takes it very seriously.  She also has a great love for people, especially her clients.  She took me under her wing and treated me like family.  Stephanie and I were invited to her house for dinner one afternoon.  We traveled with her after work to the market to buy dinner.  Buying dinner included purchasing the chicken we were going to cook!  She and her son, Timothy, guided us through the process of slaughtering, plucking, and cooking the chicken.  Timothy, who is three, actually did the killing.  I “chickened out” at the last moment!  We also prepared vegetables, rice, and other Ugandan dishes.  The entire process took about five hours and tasted delicious.  I ate two plates, which was the most I had eaten at one sitting since I had arrived in Africa.  

  Not only did I gain knowledge from her, but was shown how a friendship can be formed in a short amount of time, and can last a lifetime.  Jolly and Timothy attended the farewell party Thursday night and she showed me how to do some Ugandan dancing!  Timothy fell asleep early, so Stephanie and I took turns holding him.  Jolly later told me how grateful she was for an invitation to the event and how much fun she had.  It was a chance for her to relax and have fun.  I will always cherish our memories and one day will return to Gulu!