Sarah was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and lived in bush for 3 years. After she escaped she lived at a convent with Sister Margaret (I don't know much about this period). Sister Margaret brought Sarah along with 10 other girls to the St. John Paul Social Justice and Peace Leadership Camp in Jinja organized by Laura Frederick. Sarah felt the desire to share her story of abduction with her peers at the camp even though she had previously experienced animosity from other students due to being abducted. Through her courage she gained a network of friends at the camp and learned social skills such as conflict resolution, teamwork and problem solving. She also pulled on the heart of Laura.
Laura knew about Ocer, a Jesuit Secondary School in Gulu, targeting students who had to abandon studies due to the war/abduction. She felt that Sarah fit the profile well and arranged a scholarship for her to attend the school in 2009. Sarah attended the school and did well (she is very intelligent, which I discerned from our first conversation). Sarah went home for the holidays in May and returned to school pregnant. She finished with P7 (6th grade equivalent) in December 2010.
Sarah was only 7.5 months along when she developed preeclampsia and went into labor. Emmanuel was born 44 days premature at St. Mary's Lacor Hospital at a weight of 1.46 kilograms (3.2 pounds). She did have a sick auntie at the hospital at the time, so she had someone to go to at times but was primarily on her own. She was released from the hospital with Emmanuel a month later when he only weighed 1.5 kgs. Father Tony, the director of Ocer, brought her to St. Monica's in an attempt to find her a safe, stable living arrangement.
St. Monica's protocol is that a baby must be 9 months before the mom and baby can stay here so that the mom can attend classes and the baby can spend the day at the St. Monica Daycare, but they had no where to turn. Sr. Rosemary welcomed them generously.
I was sitting on the couch in the sitting room when Sr. Rosemary came up to tell me we had a new visitor and Sarah and Emmanuel came around the corner. My eyes lit up and my heart warmed instantly. Sarah and I talked for a while that afternoon and quickly developed a close relationship.
Emmanuel is now 2 months and weights 2.07 kgs (4.5 lbs). I went with Sarah and Emmanuel back to Lacor Hospital last week for a check-up. We were so pleased to find that he had gained enough weight for his first inoculation, BCG. We will go back in a month for a second review and round of vaccines.
In just the past week, Emmanuel has really filled out a bit. His cheeks are more round and his arms are a little more than twigs. It’s a wonderful sight. And he is always smiling…unless he is eating, which is often, thankfully.
Sarah is doing a great job as a mother and now that the other moms and babies have arrived at St. Monica's, she is learning through observation and her new friendships with the more experienced mothers.
Now, it is our mission to find her a source of income while she is tending to Emmanuel full time and cannot continue with classes this year. I have become aware of her special talent of weaving. One day I noticed a small basket with white and pink ribbon decorating it. I asked her about it and she said that is what she does during the day when Emmanuel is sleeping. I am thoroughly impressed. This week I am going to the market to find her new ribbon in a variety of fabrics and colors so that she can use her creativity to produce as many baskets, table place mats, coasters, wall decorations, etc. that she can before I come back to the US. I will bring all that I can back to sell and then return the money to her via Pros for Africa.
Sarah has also had 2 years of tailoring education, so we are finding her a sewing machine that she can have in her room to work on during the days as well. I have found a few books on sewing skirts with a variety of simple patterns that I think we can master. Hopefully, I will also be bringing home some skirts to sell.
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