Good-Byes

So before I write about the heart wrenching good-byes I have to write about the funniest yet most flattering thing that has happened to me. Like I said earlier, they all refer to us as their daughters here. They are always telling us how much they love us and our parents for raisising us this way but we are their daughters too, Ponny says this most of all. Ponny has been talking about for some time that it is necessary when he has his next children that he names them after his daughters (us). We always laughed it off until one day he came up to us and sat down to show us a text he sent his wife. (side note Ponny has two younger children with his former wife, who he sent this text to). This is what it read, “I have added some names into my children. This is how it iz, Kenie Lubega Alexandra and Angela Alicia Bukenya This should start now.” Alicia and I couldn't’ stop laughing with him but he was very serious and it was the sweetest thing. When she called him he told her that she is to inform the school immediately to make it as formal and permanent as he could. I guess he talked to the kids and he said they liked them which is good. I just don’t know how I would take that if I was 10 and 6. They’ve only met us once and now all of a sudden they have these peoples name in theirs…. I have a child named after me in Uganda….
On Thursday the clinic had a little lunch party for us to say good-bye. Joseph the doctor had to go into the city that day and wouldn’t be there to say good-bye on Friday like originally planned. He was pretty upset about it. They don’t really show all that much emotion here but he mentioned it several times that he was upset he wasn’t going to be here Friday and he was really going to miss us. He even dressed up in his purple African outfit. They prepared the foods that we like (which is pretty limited here). The whole staff including the “cook lady” (the woman who makes everyones meals at the clinic), “mat lady” (the woman who sits around making mats giving out juice), and all the kids sat around and we all ate lunch. Afterwards they gave us certificates saying that we were certified in volunteerings HIV counceling and testing. And also gave us hand made pottery. It was the nicest thing. It was very hard to hold back tears. We all took pictures together outside of the clinic before Joseph had to leave. You could tell he was sad and wanted to get out of there, probably to avoid our blubbering. So we said good-bye to Joseph and made him give us a couple hugs. I don’t know if it was watching him walk away in his little outfit with suitcase in hand, or if it was just knowing that was the last time we would see him, or the because it was the first person we had to say good-bye to, but as soon as we saw him walking down the dirt road to the taxi’s we both lost it. I of course jumped right up and was like ok I’m out, I didn’t want to start balling in front of everyone just yet. I had to get out of the clinic and just say good-bye to everyone the next day as planned.
Friday we did our walk for the last time, lounged around and got ourselves prepared to say goodbye to the rest of the staff. We brought our presents, which were only shirts, the only thing we had to give, and our notes. It was pretty hard to say good-bye to everyone. Edith one of the nurses seemed to be the most upset so avoided making eye contact because I knew I would loose it. Again they all gave us unexpected gifts. Edith gave us a mirror so every time we look in it we think of her, Faith gave us this woven bowl they use to make juices, Lovince gave us this dried out gourd they use for glasses and decorated it, Peter gave us bracelets and stuff to put in our pottery, Betty wasn’t there and was still sick, mat lady gave us another woven basket, and cook lady came running to our house to give us a ring that said love (she doesn’t speak much English so all she could say when he handed it was I love you with a huge smile and gave us a hug and ran away again). We gave our presents to Janet and Jenn the two girls that take care of us and the lady that owns the house. The lady that owns the house Sarah gave us wine glasses with a sweet note, Janet, Jenn and Sarah gave us some hand made mats, and Janet’s father wrote us the nicest letter ever and gave us beautiful hand made pottery with our names painted on them. I didn’t expect to get any of this stuff. It made it so much harder because they all wanted to make it clear how much we meant to them. I hope they could tell through our letters an gifts how much they meant to us as well. It was very hard driving away and saying good bye to everyone. Kassanda really did become our home. We could walk down the street and have people wave and call out to us by name. We really felt like we belonged there. I will miss everyone so much and can’t wait til I can go back and see all of them again. We formed our own little Ugandan family while we were there. I loved it.
5 days until I am home. My feelings are little up and down about it all. At times I am so excited to come home I could jump out of my skin but then there are times where I am just so sad that I have to leave this place and these people. It’s harder because I really don’t know when or if I will ever get to see all of them again. Right now all that is left for the trip is traveling through Rakai.