This is my Home

This Is My Home

This is the place that I have returned to at night for shelter, for safety, for rest. This is my protection of malaria, my pillow, my bed, my serene place. This is where bats live in the attic, wasps make their mud homes on the walls, snizards climb on the ceiling, and insects crawl on the floor. This is where I can write, think, cry, imagine, dream, work, plan, sleep. This is my room.

These are the ones I live with. The group I have breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner with. The ones that I turn to for questions, interpretation, cultural assistance, and help. These are the boys that I sit at a table multiple times a day with to brainstorm and determine the best way to better this community. These are the ones I laugh with, dance with, listen to music with, walk with, talk with, and joke around with. These are the ones that cook for me, drive me where I need to go, and keep me company. This is my family.

This is where doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and others spend their days assisting the beautiful people of Kankobe and the surrounding villages. This is where important health education is given, immunizations are administered, IV’s, medication, care, compassion, love are given. This is were people come to be cured from life threatening illnesses which seem so basic to the Western world. This is where tears are shed, questions are answered, and lives saved. This is the Donna Carnevale Medical Centre and soon to be Maternity Ward.

These are the doctors, nurses, employees that have put their heart into this community. These are the people that work 7days a week at a small, rural medical center. These are those who wake up in the middle of the night to a knock on the door from a neighbor in need. These are the ones who care, assist, and help their community both at the medical center and on outreaches. These are the ones sacrificing for the better of those around them. These are the employees of the Donna Carnevale Medical Centre.

This is where I have watched my neighbors wake up with the sun and head to the fields to work grueling hours just to have enough food to eat and enough money to barely get by. This is where the blisters are started, the calluses are made, the backs break, the sweat drips, the plants grow. This is where the most fertile ground lies to feed an entire community and more. This is where the cows and goats graze and the banana trees blow in the wind. This is where some of the most amazing sunsets are found. Here the moon is the brightest, the stars are abundant, and the sun is strong. This is where garbage litters the ground, ant hills are the size of an adolescent elephant, and ant roads more sophisticated than city roads cross the path. This is were rolling, green hills meet an abundant lake. This is where the rain falls daily and music plays weekly. This is the land of my village.

This is the place that the village gets their water. This is the landing site where the fisherman spend from 5pm to 5am on a small wooden boat to fish enough to feed their families. This is where the water is fetched for drinking, cooking, bathing. This is where the parasite Biharzia lives, swimming through your skin, targeting your liver and intestines and affecting many of the children. This is where the children swim, laugh, play, and perform their chores of fetching water and sticks for fire. This is Lake Victoria.

This is the building of education. The secondary school where many children attend to develop their minds. This is where there are 150 students in the freshman class and 15 in the senior class. This is where they cram 80 students into a classroom with 1 teacher to learn about History, Science, English, Math, Geography. This is where I taught career guidance, trying to give these beautiful children hope for a future. This is where I attempted to fight the vicious cycle of rural, village life, battle lack of school fees and inspire to continue education or a passion… Somehow. This is where physical punishment on a student is acceptable and me walking out on the school changed nothing. This is where children are just like at my school, clicks, couples, friends, gossip, teams, and comradery. This is St. Francis Secondary School.

These are the people of this village. The fighters that generation to generation are able to beat the odds. These are the ones that work 7 days a week, 14 hour days just to get by. These are the faces that smile at a “Mzungu”, laugh, hug, and hold hands. These are the bodies that are fighting HIV/AIDS, Malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, worms, parasites, and infection. These are the stomachs that are hungry and the muscles that are tired. These are the supporters and the backbone to the community. These are the mothers, fathers, grandparents, boda-boda drivers, farmers, fisherman, teachers, cooks, leaders, and fighters. These are my neighbors.

These are who make me smile every day. The ones that greet me in the morning and on my walks. Who hold my hand when I am walking alone. These are the producers of the best medicine… Laughter. They make me smile, entertain me, love me, laugh at me, and who I will never allow to leave my heart. These are the children who take care of their siblings at the age of 6, have running noses, skin infections, cook for their family, walk to school alone, work on the weekends, pay their own elementary school fees, play futbol every night, and still, no matter what, smile. These are the ones who walk bare foot down the dirt paths, run naked in the streets, play futbol matches with no shin guards or shoes, and kick around a ball made of plastic wrapped with banana leaves. These are the most beautiful faces, sincere smiles, and yearning looks. These are my heart here. These are the children around me.

This is place that I have come to. The community that I quit my job and left my friends to join. The place that has taught me about the tough life, the simple life, the natural life. This is where I have grown as a person and a friend to myself and those around me. This is the place that I am proud of and will continue to watch develop at its own speed. This is where I have made unforgettable memories, unbreakable friendships, and seen incredible creatures. This is the place that will always hold a piece of my heart. This is Kankobe Village, Uganda, Africa. This is my home.