The concert's premise was a musical tour of Uganda. So Abitimo and Jennifer were especially pleased when it was northern Uganda's turn and they recognized the dances and songs being performed. Abitimo kept leaning over to my husband and whispering the name of a song before it was announced. When it ended and the emcee gave the song's name - what Abitimo had said - she turned to Tim with an "I told you so" nod of her head.

At one point in the show, very muscular, bare-chested young men were drumming and I asked Jennifer if she wanted to pick out a boyfriend. She howled, "Carolyyyyyyyyyn," and then gave out a squeal of laughter that must have lasted 30 seconds.

At the end of the show, the performers mingled with the audience in the lobby of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Abitimo was talking to one young man about the school he attended in Kampala and how her school in Gulu had beaten it in a national competition. That Abitimo. Anyhow, the boy looked over at Jennifer and said, "nice."

I can't begin to imagine how good that praise must have made Jennifer feel, even though she was too shy to say anything in return. She is very pleased with the results of the surgery so far. The new extensions that Tonya recently put in her hair make her look from the back like any American teen.

But Jennifer, as wise as she is strong, must know that she still bears the obvious wounds of the fire that seared her skin. I cannot bring myself to ask her, but she must be know, if only because of the stares she sometimes gets, like from the young boy at a TJMaxx who came upon Jennifer in an aisle, stopped, stared, and called to his mother to look. His mother took her son aside and told him to mind his own business. But Jennifer must have noticed that moment. Moments when she recalls how her life was changed from normal. So getting that "nice" from a handsome young Ugandan must have been wonderful. Just wonderful to feel normal.

May 7

Abitimo tells me Jennifer, she, Sam, Tonya and baby Sam went to the beach, but it was too cold, too windy. Jennifer said she didn't even stick her toes into the water.

Jennifer is continuing to study English, though she remains very shy about using it. I have been trying to get her to talk to me more. Abitimo said Jennifer is embarrassed by her broken English (though it has improved dramatically since she's come here), but doesn't want to talk in her native Acholi language through Abitimo - because she thinks she should be using English!

While she is in the United States, Abitimo and I am hoping that it is not only Jennifer's outward appearance that gets care. I would like her to go home with self-confidence. She has been to a Girl Scout meeting and I hope she goes to more. Uganda's equivalent is Girl Guides. It would be great if Jennifer returned to Abitimo's school in northern Uganda, where she attends classes, and was able to help start a Girl Guide troop there.

No other appointments with Dr. Dufresne have been made yet, though we expect them to be scheduled soon.

May 5

Jennifer and Abitimo are back in Delaware with Abitimo's son Sam, his wife Tonya, and their baby, little Sam. Abitimo has been spending the days writing down her memoirs. Jennifer, who still gets tutoring when she is in Philadelphia, was working on reading and writing when I called to ask how they were doing. Tonya also has been helping Jennifer with her English. It has improved greatly since she has come to the United States, but Jennifer remains quite shy about using it. Abitimo, Jennifer and Sam's family are going to the beach for the weekend. Here's hoping for sunny skies and warm temperatures.

May 1

After six weeks of healing, Jennifer, Abitimo and Tim piled in a car and made the nearly three hour drive again from Philadelphia to Chevy Chase, MD. for an appointment with Dr. Dufresne.

Before the appointment, they went to the school of a friend Jennifer has made in Chevy Chase, a girl the same age as her named Maddie. I know Maddie's mother, Cathy Trost, from a journalism fellowship on children and families that she organized. Since I had a work obligation this day, Tim took my Power Point presentation on northern Uganda and gave it to the class. Abitimo did most of the speaking about northern Uganda. Jennifer spoke when one of the students asked her who her favorite contestant was on American Idol, which may be her favorite American TV show. It was a female singer that had already been booted off the show.

Jennifer is generally shy in large groups. But she does very well in smaller, intimate settings, where she talks and laughs and even does a few dance steps.

Dr. Dufresne was very pleased with the healing that has occurred over the last six weeks, since he performed surgery on her face and chest. He asked Jennifer what she wanted to see done. She'd like to have the hairline lowered more, so it is down further, covering some discolored skin, and even all across her forehead. Dufresne will again implant a tissue expander under her scalp and create more skin to improve her hairline still more.

He also wants to do more to preserve what remains of Jennifer's eyesight. He probably will implant some tissue expanders closer to her jawline and use what's created to loosen her skin on her cheeks and move it closer to the exposed parts around her eyes. He also will do some more work to rebuild Jennifer's nose, which the fire largely burned away. But the scarring from the last operation will make it difficult to work on her nose.

Lastly, there is Jennifer's left hand. It was burned by the fire, but then, it seems to me, someone sliced off part of it. I don't know if it was a doctor attempting to help with a partial amputation or if that injury was caused by something else entirely. I'll try to find out. Dufresne has consulted with Dr. C. Michael Reing, a hand specialist who examined Jennifer at Fairfax Inova Hospital during her last stay there. Jennifer may get an outpatient operation to loosen up her wrist, and then get a prosthetic to give her arm some mobility. That will please Jennifer. While she can't hide her face, and so is used to having people look at it, she does keep her hand out of sight from people.

All this is tremendous. The generosity, skill and graciousness that Dufresne, his staff and everyone at Fairfax hospital are showing Jennifer is heroic, wondrous, an affirmation that there is great good in people to balance out the bad. But what made Jennifer happiest on this trip was having her left ear pierced. During the first surgery, Dufresne took a knob of skin off the back of that ear. The ear had to heal. This was the first surgical procedure, if you want to call an ear piercing surgery, that Jennifer was eager to get done. She didn't even mind that the only starter earring Dufresne's office had was gold, while the one in her right ear was silver. She simply was thrilled to have both ears pierced again.