June 4

From Cathy

Well, everyone was a little tired Sunday. We had breakfast and the girls finished watched a movie before taking Jennifer to the local playground. They had fun on the swings and slides before coming home. Jennifer read her Bible for a long time, and then turned to her People magazine.

Jennifer also spent some time with our oldest daughter, Elizabeth, who is home for the summer from college. Elizabeth is great with kids and a highly-prized babysitter in our neighborhood. The calls poured in the minute she returned home. She would like to spend some time with Jennifer showing her museums and monuments in Washington, and working with her on her English language studies.

I was really nervous about Jennifer meeting one member of our household. Her name is Pip, and she is our crazy 5-year-old rescue dog, a mix of Standard Poodle and something else. Pip would never hurt a fly - but she would lick it to death. She is exuberant on first meetings and I feared Jennifer would be scared. But after a cautious start, they seemed to get along. I will often hear Jennifer shout "Doggie! Doggie!" then break into her high, sweet giggle. She later told us she likes cats better than dogs, but also is a fan of rabbits.

One of Maddie's teachers came for dinner. She teaches a course at Maddie's school called Ethics and Community Service, and had sponsored the discussion on Uganda that Abitimo and Jennifer led at the school last month. It was a warm Sunday in our suburban town square and the streets were crowded with people as I went shopping for the dinner ingredients. Some of them stared openly at Jennifer as we walked down the street, and I tensed for her. But she never let on any nervousness.

My family and our guests sat outside for dinner. It was a lovely evening, but Jennifer seemed tired or stressed. We had grilled salmon, which Jennifer liked, and a cous cous salad, which Jennifer disdained. Sometimes she participated in the conversations but sometimes she buried her head in a magazine. Whenever Maddie left the room, Jennifer followed.

Later, we watched the movie, "Titanic." We hadn't dusted that oldie off in years but Jennifer seemed really interested in the story. She was riveted by the big boat and the love story of Jack and Rose. During the endless scenes of the boat sinking and the passengers panicking, Jennifer would mouth "Oh my God!" and turn to us in what seemed more like delighted excitement than fear. "Where's Rose," she asked worriedly whenever Kate Winslett wasn't on screen. We talked about the actual history of the Titanic disaster afterward.

Later, we looked at pictures of her family on The Inquirer's Website following her story, and she told us about her mother, Regina, whom she deeply misses, and her sisters, brothers, auntie, and cousins. It sounds like a cliché, but her presence in our household is a gift. We really do hope we can continue to be part of her life and visit her in Uganda someday.

June 3

From Cathy

On Saturday, one of the families from Maddie's class invited the 8th graders to their farm in rural Virginia. Maddie had to leave early on a bus, so Jennifer and I slept in and then hit the road for on a warm day for a drive through beautiful countryside. Jennifer filled her red water bottle and made sure to bring her eye drops to keep her eyes comfortable.

In the car, I quickly felt like I was traveling with one of my own teenage daughters as Jennifer assertively pushed the radio controls. I suffered through "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone three times, but we bonded over "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter and Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie." Jennifer knows the words to "Bad Day" and she belted them out as we drove. I laughed to see her shoulders shaking and her head bobbing as she sang: "Cause you had a bad day/ You're taking one down/ You sing a sad song just to turn it around/ You say you don't know/ You tell me don't lie/ You work at a smile and you go for a ride/ You had a bad day."

When we arrived at the party, Jennifer walked into a backyard full of American teenagers pushing each other into a swimming pool, whacking tennis balls, and throwing Frisbees. I told her in the car how much I admired her bravery. Not the kind it takes to survive what she endured in Uganda. I haven't gone there with her yet. But the courage it takes a physically scarred young woman without much command of the language to walk into a crowd of rowdy kids who are relative strangers.

I've got to hand it to these kids, though. They individually came over to welcome her again and admire her braids or nail polish. My daughter came over and hugged her and Jennifer seemed relieved. The two of them really do have a bond. Jennifer seems to visibly relax when she is around and tense up a little when she leaves. When I asked her in the car what she would miss most about America, Jennifer said: "Maddie." Which only goes to show you how shrewd and wonderful she is. Jennifer will miss lots of things, I am sure, and Maddie is only one of them. But she knew the right thing to say to me to touch my heart.

The adults were curious about Jennifer and lamented how little they knew about the situation in Uganda. It's always startling to me that so few Americans, including myself until recently, are aware of the systematic terror that's been inflicted on generations of northern Ugandans. An older boy knew about it from watching a movie about the night commuters. His mother said he had begged to go to a rally for them several weeks earlier, but it was too far from their home. Maybe this generation high school and college students will have an impact on this intolerable situation that we all tolerate.

Jennifer did not join in the organized games of water balloon toss or relay races balancing an egg on a spoon, but she eagerly cheered people on. She is so good at hiding her problems with her missing hand that it didn't dawn on me until later that she could not have easily played those games. She did join in an impromptu dance party a few of us had near the iPod speaker. I busted some very bad moves, but Jennifer, Maddie and some other girls looked like pros.