Touched, By an Angel

Down a dirt road, around the mango trees, hidden from tourists and most outsiders there is a little village of Matate, Uganda. This village has two small ‘dukas’ (shops) that sell the basic necessities for life. Population is probably around 50. My supervisor and I have been doing some outreaches to this incredible little town and yesterday we helped put on a day of music dance and drama to encourage people to get tested for HIV/AIDS. The day was rather long and as we moved into our 3rd hour of drama, yes 3rd hour, I was fading fast. Of course there is no power in Matate so microphones were out of the question. What I could hear, I only understood about half, it was all in Luganda. Out of nowhere a little baby of about 2 crawled up into my lap. This surprised me as most small children are too afraid of “muzungus” to come close enough to touch.

For the next two hours she sat with me and we clapped, played and danced together. From asking the people sitting around me, I found out that her name is Angel and she had recently been abandoned by her parents. Dropped off at this village without so much as a shirt on her back. I was completely blown away, how could anyone dump this little bundle of joy on the side of the road? She was the most friendly, happy baby I have ever met, and I instantly fell in love with her. When the event was over, we of course had to leave. My heart sank knowing that I would have to leave Angel as much as I wanted to take her with, our orphanage only accepts children who are 4 or above. I had to shut the door of our vehicle on her and through the window, I could hear her screaming and crying. I had to bite my lip to keep from weeping. As we drove off, I saw two older women go to comfort the baby and I was once again filled with hope. I realized that I should not feel so bad for this little Angel, for she would be taken care off. The village would raise her as their own. They would provide love and food for her. Even though they have very little food or clothing themselves, I knew they would share what they had with her. So instead of driving away depressed, I was happy but also questioning many things. It makes me think, would the same happen in America where we have so much to give? Hmmm……