Visitors came soon after Jennifer, Abitimo, her son Aaron and his wife Ana checked in at the Ronald McDonald House on the campus of Fairfax Inova Hospital.

Cathy Trost and her daughter Maddie have taken a special interest in Jennifer. Maddie is one of the three Maryland teens who shunned birthday presents at a joint party in favor of raising money for Jennifer's care in the United States. Their total contribution was $1,000.

Trost, whom I had met earlier through a journalism program, and Maddie live within shouting distance of Dufresne’s office in Chevy Chase, Md. They have gone to his office to visit Jennifer on some of the days she goes to Chevy Chase for an appointment.

Tuesday night, Trost and Maddie first went to the la Madeleine cafe and picked up a feast that included one of Jennifer’s favorite meals, something called a chicken friand.

At the Ronald McDonald House, Jennifer was initially nervous. When Jennifer is agitated, she begins to rock her body or cross and un-cross her legs. She also turns her head away from people. But it wasn’t long before Jennifer was eating and chatting and laughing with Maddie, who also is 15.

When the meal was done, Maddie and Jennifer went into a room with lots of toys and began playing raucously. I see a friendship blooming.

March 5

I took Jennifer to the movies today. It was the first time ever that she had been in a movie theater. We went to see "Eight Below," a film based on a true story about a team of sled dogs owned by U.S. researchers in Antarctica. When a ferocious storm hits and the researchers, including the sled team's handler, must leave, the dogs are left to fend for themselves as the handler tries to get back to rescue them.

She was nervous as we walked down the hallway at the cineplex. She seemed to lose that fear immediately as she led me to seats that were five rows away from the screen. When the movie showed the magnificent Antarctic terrain and the sound engulfed her, Jennifer smiled broadly, looked over at me, and nodded in satisfaction.

She seemed to understand most of the movie - her English is getting better by the day. She was happy, along with the rest of the audience, when the handler returned to find most of the dogs had survived months alone. It seemed appropriate that on this Academy Awards day, the movies made a new fan. Next up for our movie-going, we decided, will be the new Tim Allen movie in which he turns into a dog.

Feb. 28

A poignant conversation occurred in the car on the way back from her last weekly appointment with Dr. Dufresne before next week's big surgery. A reminder is needed for this anecdote: Joseph Kony is the head of the rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, that caused her injuries and killed her father during an attack on their home. Kony is a child's nightmare in northern Uganda.

My husband had driving duty this time to take Jennifer from where she is staying in Philadelphia to Dufresne's office in Chevy Chase, Md. They were passing Baltimore in a large Buick Sedan, which was a departure from the minivans we had been renting. My husband, Tim, asked Jennifer whether she liked the sedan or big cars better. She quickly answered "sedan." Tim joked that she probably liked the sedan better because that's what the president rides around in.

"Okay, Anyayo," Tim said. Everyone laughed at Jennifer's new status. "Now that you're president what kind of laws will you make?" Jennifer thought for a couple of minutes and said: 'I will ask all of the countries to get rid of Kony.'"

Feb. 22

Jennifer was in Chevy Chase, Md., again for one of her last weekly appointments. Dr. Dufresne again injected saline solution in the tissue expander implanted under her scalp. For the past several appointments, Dufresne has only worked on her head because the incision in her chest opened up and both expanders came out prematurely.

The poor healing of the incision, like the tenderness of her burn scars, could be caused by the poor diet she had when she was in the displaced persons camp in Uganda. Jennifer also has been slow to embrace American food. Dufresne's nurse gave Odongkara vitamins and told her that Jennifer needed to eat more proteins and complex carbs.

Dufresne said he thought the chest expanders had produced enough new skin to do considerable reconstruction work on Jennifer's face. This whole journey - from a camp in remote Uganda where I found Jennifer to surgery and medical treatment in the United States - has been all about faith and perseverence. Both will come in handy when Jennifer undergoes a second surgery next month.

Feb. 21