Meeting Florence in Uganda

When I first met Florence, it was during a community visit. Alon wanted us to meet a family that was full of hard workers. Upon arriving to their home, we found the oldest brother and he listed off all his chores that he does in a day for us, the total came out to seventeen activities in one day. But he was not the only hard worker in his family we found a younger brother washing dishes while a younger sister was doing laundry.

From there we walked through some trees to greet the father. He had been in a boda boda (motorcycle) accident which left him without a humerus bone. Despite all that, he still continued to chop matoke bananas down from the tree, the resilience and determination of the people in Uganda is so inspirational.

When we had returned back to their house, I found Florence walking up the path carrying an empty basket on her head, and not too far behind her was her older sister Margaret. They had left that morning at 10:30 to sell bananas on the side of the road and they returned at 6 in evening. Together the girls spend their days selling food so that they can earn a small amount of money for their family.



I think what stood out the most to me was the respect and kindness that Florence had. Immediately after returning she greeted her mother by kneeling and giving her the empty basket. She had spent the whole day away and must have been so tired from the long walk, yet she still managed to greet her mother with the upmost respect. As she greeted me, she did not say anything but once again knelt down, despite all that she has gone through she is so well mannered.

Florence is living with her grandparents at the moment, she calls them mom and dad, and the other kids her siblings but truthfully, she is with her paternal grandparents. Her biological father never attended school, and he met Florence’s mother when he was working in a garden. At just thirteen months old Florence was dropped off at her grandparents malnourished and hardly being able to crawl. Neither one of her parents have returned since then leaving her in the care of her grandparents.

It was on our second visit to the home that I knew for certain she was the child I wanted to sponsor, upon arrival she was found trying to nail a plastic lid to a stick. She told Alon that her younger brother had no toys, so she wanted to make him a car.



Even with all the challenges that she faces, she put her brother before herself, her respect and generosity is what moved me. My heart just melted as we worked together to nail the two pieces together so that her brother could have a toy. I knew that she deserved an education, she has such a big heart that needs to be shared with the world, and she will be able to use that kindness to do wonderful things. 



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