Carolyn Davis, a member of the Editorial Board, began writing a journal about Jennifer Anyayo’s experiences as she underwent surgery in the Washington, D.C., area and continues to recuperate in Philadelphia. The diary now encompasses the experiences of Jennifer herself, along with members of her host families in Maryland.

Main characters:

Jennifer Anyayo, a 15-year-old girl from northern Uganda. She is in the United States to get treatment for severe burns she suffered when rebels burned her home during a vicious war in her country.

Abitimo Odongkara, 72, Jennifer's medical guardian and surrogate grandmother. In northern Uganda, Jennifer lives with Odongkara and attends Odongkara's school.

Dr. Craig Dufresne, the Washington DC-area plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has generously offered to help rebuild Jennifer's face.

Tim and Olivia Bartrand, Carolyn Davis' husband and five-year-old daughter.

Cathy Trost and her daughters, 15-year-old Maddie Magnusson and 19-year-old Elizabeth Magnusson. Debby Goldberg and her daughter Madeline. Jennifer has spent the summer staying with these two wonderful families in and near Chevy Chase, Md.

By Cathy Trost

Jennifer came back to Maryland in November to stay with us and the Goldberg family, and she was with us until the day after Christmas.

She learned about Thanksgiving when we gathered together with our family, including Maddie’s grandfather and aunt, for turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. Jennifer helped peel the potatoes, which was no easy task with one hand, but she is amazingly skilled.

In early December, we celebrated Jennifer’s birthday with a fun group of kids who came to our house to watch movies and help Jennifer blow out her birthday cake candles.

Madeline and I brought the cake, and some kids who got to know Jennifer at Maddie and Madeline’s old school came with presents and good wishes. Adriana, one of the teachers who grew very fond of Jennifer, stopped by with birthday greetings, too. Jennifer said this was the first time she ever had a formal birthday party - it is not a custom to celebrate birthdays in Uganda. Afterward, she wrote thank you notes to all who gave her presents.

We went to some holiday movies, and toured the wonderful display of outdoor lights on our local Mormon Temple grounds. Inside the visitor center, Jennifer enjoyed a display of creches from countries around the world, including several from Africa. She also loved the "living" Nativity scene outside. She helped pick out our Christmas tree and decorate it. We strung tinsel in her favorite color – blue – and hung lots of lights. We spent some time buying clothing and presents for her family back in Uganda and sent them with my daughter, Elizabeth, who traveled to Uganda in December with the group, "Invisible Children." Elizabeth was able to meet with Regina, Jennifer’s mother, in Gulu, and tell her news of Jennifer.

Debby and I met Carolyn and Abitimo at the Ronald McDonald House behind Fairfax Inova Hospital on the evening of Dec. 12, where Jennifer spent the night prior to her surgery the next morning. When I picked her up two days later, she was groggy and in a lot of pain.

While we were waiting for the nurse to discharge her, Abitimo, Debby and I talked about the hopes for an end to the civil war in Uganda. Abitimo talked about the Acholi preference for forgiveness over retribution, and we all hoped that Jennifer would go home to a more peaceful life.

It’s always hard to see her after surgery because she gets very quiet and distant dealing with the pain and recovery. We spent all weekend helping her sip liquids through straws, emptying the blood from her drain tube, and swabbing her sore lips with cream. She slept fitfully and had a hard time getting comfortable until Debby was able to take her back to the doctor to have the drain tube removed.

After that, Jennifer bounced back to celebrate Hanukkah with the Goldbergs and Christmas with us. On Christmas Eve, she helped cook dinner at our house and looked at photographs of her mother that Elizabeth brought back from Uganda. We spent time relaxing and listening to music with relatives, and the next morning, Jennifer was an eager participant in the Christmas ritual.

It was hard to see her leave to go back to Philadelphia to get work done on her hand. She feels very much like a part of our family now, and we all miss her strength and bright spirit.

Nov. 16

I recently asked Dr. A. Lee Osterman, professor of hand surgery with the Philadelphia Hand Center and Thomas Jefferson University, to give me more information on how he will be creating for Jennifer what's called a metacarpal hand, which will allow Jennifer to pince items, where now she has no functionality. Here, with thanks to Dr. Osterman, is the email reply I received from him:

"I spent some time with the guardian and Jennifer explaining the options for creating a metacarpal hand. First she does have a thumb metatcarpal. There are two major components to creating some thumb function. The first is to create the web space. This is done by removing the index metacarpal, and occasionally the trapezium. The thumb metacarpal is held away from the hand by pins or external pins for about six weeks.

The second component is resurfacing and providing skin to the web space. Full thickness skin with subcutaneous tissue is best but none available at wrist level. That leaves a vascularized pedicle flap such as radial artery—advantages that can be done at the same time, but is slightly riskier for possibility of flap loss; also Jennifer may not have sufficient vessels. The other method is an attached pedicle flap. The initial attachment is done at time of web creation and the hand then stays attached to trunk for three to four weeks and then divided at second surgery. The latter is the most likely.

In order to make the decision , one test we need is an arteriogram to show us the blood vessels. If we do a flap, we often use two teams.

b>Nov. 10

From Carolyn

You readers are amazing. A while back I wrote a column asking for about $10,000-$12,000 to help pay for the cost of Jennifer's second round of facial reconstruction. The charitable fund at Fairfax Inova Hospital, which covered her first round, didn't have enough left in it for the second. Now it does. Readers sent in nearly $10,000 within six weeks. Jennifer's friends in Maryland also are raising some money. Thanks to all of you have helped Jennifer in so many ways.

Nov. 8

From Carolyn

Dr. Osterman examined Jennifer’s hand today and was pleased with its progress. Jennifer is no longer in pain and I have to say, just straightening out her wrist and hand really improves her whole arm’s appearance. My eyes aren’t drawn to her hand anymore. Abitimo and Jennifer have decided that instead of simply getting a prothetic (and maybe in place of it), Jennifer will undergo another surgery in which Osterman will create what’s known as a metacarpal hand by using at least one of the metacarpal bones to create a thumb. Jennifer will have some pincing action that way and should be able to do a much wider range of activities, including sewing.

Oct. 12

From Carolyn

Abitimo called me today. Jennifer is in a great deal of pain, more than from any of the facial reconstruction operations. That doesn’t surprise me considering everything that Dr. Osterman did. She was sleeping in her room at Abitimo’s house when I went to visit her. I didn’t realize she was sleeping on a box spring on the floor. It turned out that when her son Aaron and his wife Anna moved out, Anna took most of Jennifer’s bed. As soon as we could, Tim and I bought a simple metal bed frame and took an extra futon we had over for Jennifer. That won’t take away the pain, but she’ll at least be more comfortable.

Oct. 10

From Carolyn

The other part of Jennifer’s body that suffered serious burns wounds besides her face was her left hand. It looks burned and as if someone sliced part of it away, resulting in nothing beyond her metacarpals.

A specialist in Fairfax, Va. looked at Jennifer’s hand and then recommended a top hand surgeon in … Philadelphia! Dr. A. Lee Osterman works with the Philadelphia Hand Center and he is as terrific as the doc in Virginia said. Not only did he offer his talent pro bono, he got Jefferson Health System’s Methodist Hospital to provide all the other equipment and services pro bono. That makes Methodist and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, which is donating routine medical care for Jennifer, as the two local hospitals that stepped up to help Jennifer where others would not.

Today, Osterman straightened her bent wrist and hand. It took hours of surgery for him to move bones, muscles and everything else in her hand. I did not sit in on this procedure, so I don’t have any exact description. But I can only imagine how intricate this surgery must have been and how skilled Osterman must be. Jennifer is blessed to have two extraordinarily skilled surgeons - Dufresne and Osterman - helping her.

Sept. 28

From Carolyn

Today was Jennifer’s first surgery of the second round at Fairfax Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. This time, the plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Craig Dufresne, implanted two of the tissue expanders under her scalp. Last time, he put one there and one under her chest skin. That part of her body remains tender from the burns she suffered seven years ago. That, and her poor nutritional status when she first came to the United States, contributed to the surgical incision on her chest opening and the tissue expander coming out before Dufresne had injected as much saline solution as possible.

Jennifer was much calmer today than she was for either of the two previous inpatient procedures. She smiled easily and was attentive to the docs and nurses. She knew she would get anesthesia to knock her out during the surgery.

As he did before, in addition to inserting the expanders, Dufresne did a few small things that made a big different on Jennifer’s face. He again did some work around her eyes to help her eyelids close.

He also tightened some ligaments (at least I think they were ligaments) around her mouth to loosen skin, especially on her top lip. That should improve both the functioning anf appearance of her mouth.

Unlike last time, Abitimo and I did not have to take Jennifer back to Philadelphia after the hospital released her. She will be staying with the two families in the Chevy Chase, Md. area who have befriended her.

Sept. 16

From Carolyn

Abitimo returned today to Philadelphia after a month of helping one of her daughters who just had a baby. I was glad to get to know Jennifer more deeply, though I wasn’t wild about some of her behavior. I know it’s probably politically incorrect for me to mention any downside to Jennifer. But I learned in 1999 when I was manager of a refugee camp in the Balkans that the romantic Western image of atrocity victims being pure and good just isn’t true. Some of the refugees in my camp were wonderful people trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy for themselves and their children. Others robbed, cheated, fought their fellow refugees.

Jennifer has been through hell. But that doesn’t mean she is a one-dimensional kid who is defined only by her victimhood. She’s a multidimensional young lady who can be sweet and then quickly turn sour. Thank goodness the sourness did not obliterate the sweetness.

Sept. 10

From Carolyn

First, let me say that I've been trying to get Jennifer to write more entries herself. But she has diligently been working on a story she is writing on the laptop a reader bought her, about herself and her friends. She also has been spending a lot of time working on a paint-by-number kit. She concentrates quite intensely when she paints, and, like a big sister, says, "Olivvvvia" to my 5-year-old if Olivia knocks the table while Jennifer is painting.

This afternoon, Jennifer's English tutor, Frances Nunez, picked Jennifer up to bring her to her house for the afternoon. Frances is helping Jennifer to read a biography of Helen Keller, and was thinking of showing her the movie. Frances also has a 15-year-old daughter, so it was another opportunity to get Jennifer around kids her own age, which she really enjoys.

In the evening, Jennifer, Olivia, Olivia's friend Tasneem, and I watched "Akeelah and the Spelling Bee." Good movie. Olivia and Tasneem, who are just learning to read, were giving each other simple spelling words after the movie and acting as though they were in a spelling bee. Great movie.

Sept. 9

From Carolyn

After months of not being able to get in touch with her mother, Jennifer spoke with her by phone early this morning. Arranging a phone call isn't easy. Abitimo, Jennifer's amazing guardian, has a nephew in the town where Jennifer's family lives. We contact him to arrange a time. Then he goes over to the family's house and we call Sam on his cell phone, which he hands over to Jennifer's mother.

Sam wanted Jennifer to call at 8:30 a.m. Uganda time, which is 1:30 a.m. Philly time. I kept asking Jennifer if she wanted us to set an alarm for her in case she fell asleep and she said, "no, no," she would stay up. I woke up at 1 a.m. and went downstairs to check on her, and sure enough, she was wide awake sitting on the couch in our livingroom watching TV and running into the kitchen to check the time.

Finally, 1:30 a.m. came and she got through to Sam's phone on the first try. I don't know Acholi, but she was obviously delighted to talk with her mother. I could hear Jennifer say the names of her siblings and figured she was getting caught up on how they were doing. I went back upstairs before the conversation was over. I don't know how long they spoke for, but Jennifer slept in to about 11:30 this morning.

Sept. 3

From Tim

Jennifer, Olivia and I spent part of Labor Day at Valley Forge National Park while Carolyn caught up on work. The weather was perfect. The better part of the afternoon was spent reading books on blankets and snacking.

After a short stroll in a wooded area, we stopped at the vistor center. Jennifer lingered at the exhibits for quite a while (especially when compared with the 5-year-old-driven pace Olivia and I took), learning about living conditions for General Washington and his troops, relations with native Americans, etc. Jennifer seems to have a long attention span.

She chose a novel from the bookstore. Based on the cover it's about a 19-year old and his friends helping General Washington's army.

Aug. 28

From Carolyn

Jennifer is taking a break this week from the American Friends Service Committee to help paint the All Join Hands: Visions of Peace mural that's part of the Inquirer Editorial Board's series on protecting children from violence. For me, it's nice to see the two strands of the series - protecting kids in our home region and in northern Uganda - intersect this way.

Jennifer enjoyed the painting, which she is doing at the studio of Donald Gensler, the lead artist for our project who works with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. That's not surprising since she really enjoyed going to one of those places where you paint ceramics.

On the way to Don's studio, we passed the mural, which already is going up on the wall of Benjamin Franklin High School at Broad and Spring Garden Streets. She wasn't very interested in the morning, but in the evening, after she had painted some sections, she looked closely as we passed by it again.

She quickly warmed up to the two assistants who work with Don - Charlie and Frances. They showed her the large pieces of thin cloth that the mural is being painted on, and how different shapes are outlined in pencil with numbers in the middle. The numbers correspond to different colors of paint - it's like doing one big paint-by-number kit. Not only was the painting fun, but she got to bring her favorite music CDs and listen to them on the CD player in the studio.

For her last day at the studio, I've arranged to have several girls around her age whom I contacted through a school near me, to paint with her and have lunch afterward. Jennifer always enjoys being around kids, and I figured that all of them doing the painting would be a comfortable way for them to get to know each other.

I have this image in my mind of Jennifer returning to UNIFAT, the school in Uganda she attends that is run by her guardian, Abitimo Odongkara, and helping to paint a mural that reflects children's dreams of peace there. That - and if current negotiations bear peace -would be terrific.

Aug. 24

Tim and I work during the day, so I arranged activities for Jennifer. I tried to make them ones where there would be young people because I know she enjoys being around kids her age. She started today volunteering in the African peacebuilding unit of the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker international relief organization. She is helping to update packets of information on African debt.

Jennifer came home and proclaimed it boring. I had to agree with her (I think her boss there would agree with her), but told her everyone has boring tasks in their jobs, and that she should use this opportunity to learn about being in a workplace, which is a first for her. She called her Maryland friend Maddie last night. I'm glad she has made close friends in the United States whom she'll stay in touch with after she goes home.

Aug. 23

Jennifer came to stay with us today for a few weeks until Abitimo returns to Philadelphia from visiting her daughter and newborn granddaughter. The Goldbergs drove Jennifer in from Maryland, dropped her off to my husband at our house and then stayed in Philly a few days to sightsee. They and the Trost-Magnussons have shown remarkable kindness and hospitality toward Jennifer, and they will be hosting her again for much of the two months or so when Jennifer has weekly sessions with Dr. Dufresne.

Jennifer seemed tired and shy, even though she has been at our house many times before. I can understand that. Just being in the United States is a challenge, let alone staying at different people's houses. After a period of adjustment, Cathy Trost told me, Jennifer relaxes in new surroundings. So tonight we just gave Jennifer some space.

Aug. 16

From Jennifer

Maddie and I went to a swimming pool party. It was awesome. First when we got there it was carrots and chips and I drank a can of Sprite, and we were waiting for other people to come. There were many kids from Maddie's school there. They said, "Hi Jennifer, how are you!"

After that, we changed our clothes and we went into the pool and one boy was kind of like a funny boy, he was really funny that day, and he was splashing water and making things really funny.

Some of Maddie's friends like me a lot and we stayed together. I think I like all of Maddie's friends because they are very nice to me.

I think the party was supposed to finish at 4 p.m., so I told Maddie to call Elizabeth to come later to pick us up because I did not want to go. I like the pool, I am the pool girl. I don't know how to swim very much, I have tried to learn, but I still need to learn more.

I am also working on my Ugandan school books. I finished science and English, and I am starting the math.

Maddie and I have been spending a lot of time together. Maddie says, Jennifer, what do you want to do? I say, it's your choice. Maddie says, No, it's your choice. I will do whatever you want to do. And so we just kind of go and do things together. We go to the book store or to take a walk or to buy some pink lemonade which has vitamin C. I like it. Also I like Sun chips. But mostly I like corn.

Aug. 13

From Jennifer

Tonight Maddie and Mike and I went to a park where they had a movie on a big outdoor screen. We saw a movie called Mr. and Mrs. Smith. We sat on a blanket and it was hot but it was a lot of fun. Elizabeth came with us and she was sleeping on the blanket. She already saw that movie. I like that place. I would like to go there every single day.

Aug. 12

From Jennifer

Today Maddie and her boyfriend, Mike, and her friend Alexandra, and I went with Cathy and Elizabeth to the museum called the National Portrait Gallery.

We saw a lot of pictures of old people on the wall. Some of them were presidents. One looked just like Paul, Cathy's husband. Then we went to lunch and ate hamburgers and lots of French fries. Elizabeth ate a Subway sandwich. When we came back home, we were so tired and we just watched movies.

Aug. 11

From Jennifer

This was my last day of camp at the Washington International School. It was fun because we were making a cake and dancing, and we ate some cheese pizza. We made a cake and decorated it with M & Ms to make it look beautiful. We had to say goodbye to each other so we write on the cake, "Bye Bye."

Before, we had a day where we had to read a newspaper and answer the questions about where the story happened, when it happened, how, and who. You had to choose one story and answer the questions. I wrote it on a piece of paper.

I was sad to leave my friends. I met people from Italy, France, Germany, Mexico, and all over the world. Some of them gave me their email addresses and I will write them.

My teacher Kate came to dinner at Cathy and Paul's house. She is very nice. We had chicken and corn and salad, and Maddie and I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Kate said that she really liked having me in her class. She invited me to come visit her in New York. She is going back to college in New York. I made a card for Kate to thank her for being my teacher.

Aug. 9

From Jennifer

After I finished school today, Maddie and I went to an outdoor place where we saw dancers from West Africa. We danced a lot. They were very good. A lot of people were there.

Aug. 8

From Jennifer

Today, Maddie and Cathy picked me up from school and we went to the train station and took a train ride to Philadelphia. I really liked the train. Maddie and I both fell asleep after we ate lunch. Then Tim picked us up and took us to meet Carolyn. Olivia was there and she is very cute. I like the clothes that Olivia wears. I was happy to see Carolyn and Tim.

We went to see some doctors at a hospital. First we had a shaved ice cone which was really good. Then we met some doctors who asked me a lot of questions. They looked in my eyes and gave me an eye exam.

Maddie waited for me outside with Tim and Olivia. Then we went back to the train station and I ate two cheeseburger Happy Meals at McDonalds. I ate one and then I said, oh this is not enough for me, can I get another one? We listened to some music on the train and went back to Maddie's house.

Aug. 7

From Cathy

We are so happy to have Jennifer back at our house after she spent several weeks with the Goldberg family. She really liked staying there and she said she was really happy that they drove her to school and picked her up and Madeline's friends came over and spent a lot of time with her. It has been wonderful to share Jennifer with other families at Maddie's school, who are very commited to helping her in any way they can.

July 28

A note from Carolyn

We are still trying to pin down Jennifer's further medical treatment for her hand and her face. It looks like Dr. Lee Osterman, a highly regarded Philadelphia hand surgeon, will be treating Jennifer's hand here in Philadelphia. Then, she probably will get a prosthetic from Pillet Hand Prosthetics, whose U.S. office is in New York. We most likely will be using a big chunk of donations readers have sent in to pay for the prosthetic.

Jennifer also will get another round of surgery to treat burn wounds on her face. Those arrangements have not yet been fully made. I'll let you know when there's more information.

July 26

Email to Carolyn from Jennifer, who has been attending an English immersion summer program at Washington International School.

Hi! I wanted to let you know what I've been doing this week and last week. In the morning we are still writing and reading at school. In the afternoon, we go on field trips. Last week I went on a boat ride on the Potomac river. We saw the White House. It was cooler on the water.

This week, we took a bus to Georgetown and ate at a restaurant called Johnny Rockets. I had a cheeseburger and french fries. We took a walk down by the canal in Georgetown. Today, we took the metro to an art gallery called The Phillips Collection. Those are all the new things we did.

On the weekend, Madeline's mom took us to the Maryland Science Center and the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.

July 22

From Debby Goldberg, member of Jennifer's current host family

Madeline asked some of her friends from gymnastics to sleep over on Saturday night. Jennifer and the girls stayed up late and watched movies. Cathy had arranged for Jennifer to call home to Uganda but, because of the time difference, she would have to wake up in the middle of the night to call at the time suggested. It turned out it wasn't a problem because the girls were up late anyway. Jennifer was able to call and talk to her mom and her siblings. It sounded like all was well at home and hopefully she told her mom that she was well cared for here.

July 21

From Debby

Jennifer is so busy going on field trips during the week with school, I wasn't sure how she would feel about going out on Friday night. We decided to drive a short distance to Rio in Gaithersburg where there are shops and restaurants and a beautiful lake. I thought there would be live music outdoors but it turned to be the wrong night.

We had fun shopping in Target and I bought Jennifer and Madeline some small items that they both needed. We took a walk near the lake - it was a warm evening so a lot of people were out.

It was getting late and we knew that we would have to wait to get into the restaurants so we went home and had a light dinner.

July 19

From Debby

Jennifer had left some things at Cathy's house, including her computer, so Elizabeth picked Jennifer up at school on Tuesday and she spent the night at Cathy's house.

After school on Wednesday, we took a look at Jennifer's computer and determined that she didn't have her own email address. My husband was able to set her up with one through his business so her friends at school and in Philadelphia can email her directly. She was really happy as I showed her how to enter names in her electronic address book and send and receive email.

July 14

From Debby

After a brief visit back to Philadelphia, Jennifer finally arrived at our house on Friday night. She was introduced to our family and shown around the house. Jennifer really liked the basement which has a ping-pong table, a pinball machine, and a Ms. PacMan game.

We played a quick game of ping-pong, and immediately had a case of the giggles. Soon after that, we showed Jennifer her room so she could unpack her things and settle in. The next day, we all slept pretty late. I had to wake Jennifer up and rush her out the door because we had to take Madeline's brother Ryan to a tennis match. Ryan is 11 years old, and as Jennifer would soon find out, plays a lot of tennis.

On Sunday, I took Jennifer to the grocery store so she could pick out a few things she liked for lunch and dinner. She bought some cabbage and later showed me how to cook it. We had some of Jennifer's friends whom she met at Green Acres school come over for dinner. The girls had a great time dancing to music in the basement afterward.

July 8

Entry as told to Cathy by Jennifer. Jennifer has been attending an English immersion summer program at Washington International School.

I love school because I made a lot of new friends and I love the schoolwork, and also the trips we take every day. In the mornings, we do a little bit of writing and reading, and you have to think about what you read and write an answer. The first one we read was about the president of the United States, Aba something (Abraham Lincoln). We learned that he was a lawyer and then he became president, and that somebody shot him. We learned about that. Then we visited the place where there is a statue of him. We learned about all the U.S. presidents.

In my class are two girls named Donna and Eleanor. (Donna is from Kazakhstan and Eleanor is from Belgium). They are such good girls. At lunch we sit together and we are just talking English together because the teacher asks us to speak very clearly. Kate, my teacher, she is so great. When I read something I don’t understand she will explain it to me. Tristan, who helps at the school, is so much fun. We go into the gym and play basketball or soccer. After we finish working in class, and the teachers give us five minutes to do what we want, we play a game called Hangman. You think of a word, and everybody guesses the letters. I’m good at that game. It’s good because it teaches you how to write the word. The teacher, Kate, she has a game called Scrabble, and you get seven letters and you have to make a word with them. Natasha is the head of the school. She is so good and nice to me.

We take a lot of trips. We went to the Indian museum and the National Cathedral. We went to Chinatown, where we saw the buildings and stores. Me and my teacher, we bought a hamburger. You know I love hamburger. I ate it and walked around. The teacher, she took the children in a store to look around. I bought a T-shirt that was full of colors and had Washington D.C. on it. We went bowling. I had never been bowling before. When I first saw it, I think I was so surprised. My teacher showed me how to hold the ball. You know that ball is big and hard to hold it with one hand, and so I tried to hold it and just tried to throw it and knock down the pins.

The first time, it was not good. I hit only two pins. After that, I tried again, and I hit all the pins! Yeah, I did! And you know what? Me and the other girls, four girls were playing together, and the two boys playing together. Everyone was just clapping, good job, good job! Because I hit all the pins. After that, the ball was going like its going to pass the pin, and it turned around and hit all the balls! So I was jumping and saying 'Oh my God!' and the girls said, 'Good job!' The boys finished playing first and went to get a drink. We finished and we went to get a big drink and after that, we sat down and rested for a little bit, and everybody stand together for a picture. Then we got on the bus and drove around, it was so much fun.

At school when it rained we watched the movie, 'Harry Potter.' Me and Maddie, we saw Harry Potter One. At school we saw Harry Potter Four. That's a sad movie. We also went to a store and made a tile. I painted it with a design.

We learned about the 4th of July. The teacher asked us what we were going to do on the 4th of July. I said we are going to see the fireworks from Cathy's work. You can see the fireworks from the roof. We went with Cathy and Paul and Maddie and Elizabeth and Maddie’s boyfriend Mike. There was lots of food there and a man who made our photographs and put them on buttons.

After that, I went back to school, and the teacher asked what did you do? She said she went to visit her friend and made popcorn with butter and M&Ms. We made that at school one day. That's where she learned how to make it. I say, well, we saw the fireworks, so nice, and she was asking me, what are you eating? I ate a hamburger because I love hamburgers. She said, that's good, what are you drinking? I said I drank two cans of Diet Coke. Everybody loved the button I wore to school. I said those are my friends. She said I can't believe Mike is 14. She said, I think he looks older. I said he is a funny guy and a good dancer. I think Mike is so funny.

Sometimes I talk to my mom in Uganda. One time my sister and my brother and my cousins were there. I said hi to everybody. I was so excited. I miss my mom all day. After I talk to her I am so happy that I feel I am happy inside. When I talked to my mom, I'm just thinking my mom is still around me. I talked to my sister and she say, what's wrong with you asking me so many questions. I don't know how to answer so many questions. My sister said I am just thinking I can see you in the phone! She said she missed me. My sister is not going to school because she has a baby. She wants to go back to school but my Mom tells me 'no way, I am not going to take care of the baby because the baby is too young. Maybe next year or something.

Me and Maddie love music and my favorite station is 99.5. All the time I like to dance, and we turn the music on and we are just dancing. That's my favorite thing. When I go back to Uganda, I will never forget about Maddie. She is funny, and I love Maddie because she makes me laugh, and her boyfriend Mike is so much fun and he is a good dancer and good singer with a good voice. Sometimes Mike comes over and we are just dancing and one time we went to the zoo together, and we saw the pandas and the lions and the elephant.

I saw a snake and ran away because I didn’t like the snake. At home once my grandmother wanted my sister to visit her, and she had to walk past the river, and there was a snake on top of the water, and it bit my sister. I feel bad about that and that's why I don't like snakes. At the zoo we saw the turtle and the fish and we saw a lot of other animals. Maddie and Mike, they bought me a toy penguin. I love that toy. I sleep with it. I am so happy, I want Maddie to be my friend, and I think right now she is like my sister. I learned many things from Maddie. She helps me read the books, and she helps me do my school books, and I like to go out with Maddie, and we take walks together, and sometimes we walk the dog.

Elizabeth and I spend a lot of time together, too. Elizabeth is funny. The first time we went to museum at the Natural History museum, we saw the animals. She took me to a concert with Maddie and her friend to see Hilary Duff to sing a song I love. It was so much fun. She drives me every day to school and picks me up. And sometimes she makes me breakfast and lunch, and she I think does everything for me. We have so much fun together. One time we went to the Water Park with Maddie's dad, Paul, and it was so much fun. We sat in the water in the round tubes and the first time Cathy told me, I said, 'I don’t think that's a good idea.' But then I went and I loved it so much I wanted to stay in the water when Maddie and Paul got out.

One day I talked to a girl from Uganda named Evelyn. She comes from Gulu. I think people know her because she was on Oprah. I saw her on Oprah. When we talked on the phone, she was asking me right now what I am thinking. Do I miss my mom? I said, 'yeah, I do.' She says she never talks to her mom on the phone because her mom doesn't have a phone. She wants to go to Uganda to see her mom. We started talking about school, and she just started telling me she has a lot of friends. Right now she is going to school in America. She said hi to Maddie on the phone.

June 22

From Elizabeth

Today my mother and I took Jennifer to see the English Language Immersion camp at the Washington International School. Jennifer will start there next week. It is a beautiful campus and she seemed excited about spending time there. We met with Natasha Bhalla, who is dean of students for the middle school and helps run the camp. She said Jennifer would be one of about 12 students in the program. There will be students there from France, Italy, South America and the Middle East.

The program covers academics in the morning. Students are divided into their levels of ability and then teachers work with them in very small groups. In the afternoons, they will go on field trips. Next week, Jennifer will go to the National Zoo, take a boat ride on the Georgetown waterfront, visit Chinatown, hear a Motown band, and go to the U.S. Postal Museum. The following week they will visit the National Cathedral, the Lincoln Monument, the Native American Museum, and see an IMAX movie.

Natasha was very sensitive to the fact that Jennifer might have some concerns about the camp and how the other children might view her, and she will talk to them first about Jennifer’s experiences and help them understand what she has been through, and how important it is to make her feel comfortable and part of the group.

June 21

From Elizabeth

Today we went to see the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. We saw the exhibit about the solar system, the mammals, aquatic life and the gems and minerals, including the famous Hope diamond. Jennifer had me take many pictures of the different jewels owned by royal families. We also went to the Southwest waterfront in D.C., where we browsed the fish market and Jennifer named it the "stinky fish market." She loved the houseboats and picked out one she would like to live in - but worried about getting sea sick. We also visited the Washington Monument and the White House.

June 18

From Elizabeth

Jennifer was tired today because she spent Saturday with my mother and sister watching World Cup soccer and going to a friend's house for dinner. But she was excited about getting new hair extensions put in and braided. She casually warned me that it would be a long day. Hair braiding can take hours. First, we went to Barbara Nsubuga's house in Silver Spring. She took us to a store to buy the hair, a special kind of "braid spray," and a type of scalp moisturizer. Jennifer picked out a mix of hair colors and decided to intertwine a light coppery brown colored hair with a classic black base. During the entire car ride back from the store, Jennifer admired the hair.

Barbara then drove us to the home of Hadiatou Diallo, who likes to be called Laria. She is a professional braider. When we got there, she instructed Jennifer to sit on the floor and get ready to be there for a while. Jennifer chose to have small braids at about shoulder length.

Fast-forward about two hours. Jennifer was still sitting in the same position, with only about a quarter of her hair braided. She flipped through a few magazines but mostly waited patiently. I fell asleep twice and read a book. About three hours later, her whole head was covered in beautiful braids that reached just below her shoulders. Laria dipped each one in a bucket full of steaming water to meld the ends together. Jennifer got up to look in the mirror and beamed.

"It is so nice!" she said.

She loved it, and after nearly six hours of hair braiding, I agreed it was completely worth it. When we got home she tried out a few different hairstyles in the mirror. Hair up. Hair to the side. But for now she is keeping it down.

June 15

From Cathy

This morning, Jennifer met the pediatrician who has agreed to provide back-up medical care while she is living with us in Maryland. Carolyn made the arrangements with Dr. Marla Roche, who practices with Capitol Medical Group less than a mile from our house. Very convenient if there should be a problem, though Jennifer seems quite healthy. Dr. Roche called herself a true Philly girl. She was raised in Philadelphia and went to medical school there. Roche established an easy rapport with Jennifer, who gave her a big hug when we left.

June 15

From Elizabeth

Jennifer had her hair braided some time ago by Tonya, one of Abitimo's daughters-in-law, and really loved it. But it needed to be redone. One of our Ugandan friends in Maryland helped us find a woman who would undo Jennifer’s braids and wash and prepare her hair for re-braiding. Someone else would do the actual braiding. Today, we drove to Barbara Nsubuga in Silver Spring, MD. She is originally from Uganda.

She spent several hours removing Jennifer’s old braids and applying a relaxant and straightening process. Jennifer refused to eat or drink until every last braid was gone and her hair was completely straight and brushed. It looked great, short and cute. Barbara gave Jennifer a special gift of a bright cloth wrap from Tanzania and some special Ugandan foods, including sesame balls, millet, and peanuts for roasting.

June 14

From Elizabeth

We arrived at the pool where Adriana Murphy, one of Maddie’s teachers, was waiting to give Jennifer her first swimming lesson. Jennifer was very reluctant to get into the pool at first. But she excitedly picked out a blue kickboard because blue is her favorite color. She did exercises like blowing bubbles in the water and learning different strokes. Adriana told Jennifer that she would be quizzed on what she was taught to help her remember the different strokes. By the end of the lesson, Jennifer was happily playing in the water.

June 7

From Cathy

Jennifer attended Maddie's graduation ceremony tonight. She sat with our family and cheered each of the kids as they took to the stage to do special performances - from singing to piano-playing to break-dancing. She knows most of the kids names and called greetings to them, and they called back to her. Jennifer sat patiently listening to the speeches about the importance of studying and learning and community service. Afterward, we went out to eat and took lots of photographs. She swayed to the music in the car on the way home.

June 5

From Cathy

A reporter from Voice of America came to interview Jennifer. An acquaintance of ours who is from Uganda stopped by to meet Jennifer and help translate if needed. The two of them seemed to get along quite well. She told us about some peanut sauces we could make that Jennifer might like, and said she would help us cook some special Ugandan dishes for her soon. The reporter asked Jennifer a lot of questions. Jennifer told her the difference between life in America and Uganda is like "night and day." Jennifer also said she very much misses her family. She hopes to complete school and become a lawyer. She said she would like to learn to write in English so she could write notes of thanks to all the people who have helped her here.

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.

I asked Jennifer if she wanted to leave. Carolyn had told me that she is really good at telling you when she's had enough of something. We'd been there for hours and I thought she might be getting tired or overwhelmed. But she very firmly told me she wanted to stay. She seemed content simply to be surrounded by kids her age.

After driving home, we stopped at the grocery store because I wanted her to pick out food she liked. She settled on apples, nixed my idea of strawberries or blueberries, but loaded up on watermelon. She got cheese for sandwiches, and very politely asked if it would be too much money to buy some cans of lemonade. We closed out with a carton of vanilla ice cream, and she seemed delighted when I offered to buy the People magazine she was scouring in the check-out line.

That night, two of Maddie's girlfriends came for a sleepover. Everyone got in their pajamas and flopped on couches to watch movies. The girls' giggles rippled through the house until they went to sleep.

June 2

From Cathy

We've been excited about the possibility of Jennifer staying with our family for awhile, and finally got the chance to make it happen Friday when she joined us for a few days in Maryland. My daughter, Maddie, has lots of end-of-year school events so we invited Jennifer to be part of them.

First up was a "Family Fiesta" night at Maddie's school Friday night. Jennifer wore her blue-flowered skirt from Uganda and carried a hot-pink purse that matched the hot-pink polish on her toenails. She looked elegant with her new, braided hair extensions, but I was worried about possible reactions from some of the parents and children who hadn't met her. All was fine. Kiara and Madeline were the first to run up and hug her. They are the girls who, along with Maddie, raised money for Jennifer's fund at their triple birthday party last December. Instead of gifts, they asked for donations. Lots of other kids flocked to see her, too, though they eventually scattered to do whatever it is 8th graders do, I think Jennifer felt welcome.

June 1

For the month of June, Jennifer will be staying with Cathy Trost and her family in Chevy Chase, MD - the same town in which Dr. Dufresne has his office! I know Cathy from a journalism seminar. I told her about how I was trying to bring Jennifer over to the United States for surgery. When her daughter Maddie - who is the same age as Jennifer - learned about Jennifer, she wanted to help. Cathy and Maddie have gone to Dufresne's office when Jennifer had an appointment and came to the Ronald McDonald House in Fairfax, Va., the night before her last surgery.

It became clear that night that Jennifer and Maddie had formed a friendship. (See March 7 entry.) So it seemed natural to take Cathy up on her generous offer to host Jennifer. Maddie and Jennifer have been going to a number of activities because Maddie is graduating from her school.

May 19

Jennifer joined my family at my cousins who live in Wynnewood for Sabbath dinner. I've been wanting her to meet Rachel and Shoshana, who at 13 are only two years younger than Jennifer. As usual, she was shy at first. As I may have mentioned before, she always takes time in new situations to size up things.

My cousins have a great basement that has a ping-pong table and a foosball game. We tried ping-pong. She put down the paddle when she had to serve the ball. With only one hand, she immediately gave up on holding the paddle and launching the ball. I tried showing her how to do both with one hand, but she wasn't interested.

Foosball was an entirely different matter. She loved it. She easily mastered wielding two lines of players with one hand - and she got good at it quickly. When she scored her first goal, she ran around the room, cheering and holding her hands in the air. That set a precedent for my cousins when they scored goals.

She ate a couple of pieces of chicken at dinner. I finally got her to drink some water. I was afraid she wasn't drinking enough H20. But I asked Abitimo the next day and she said Jennifer was doing well with water. If she undergoes another round of surgery, she'll need to eat and drink well so the procedures go as smoothly as possible. I might have learned Jennifer's favorite food: She had four scoops of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

I was quite touched when Jennifer game me a mother's day gift, a small book of authors' quotes on mothers. She's a good kid.

May 12

Jennifer was in Uganda tonight. Actually, a piece of Uganda came to her - and I don't think I have seen her that happy since she has come to the United States.

She, Abitimo, I and my family went to the Children of Uganda concert tonight that was part of the Penn Presents series at the Univeristy of Pennsylvania. It is a group of children, from 6 on up, who became orphans when their parents died of AIDS. The group is supported by a Philly-based foundation that raises money from the concerts to send these kids and others to school in and around the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

Jennifer practically gasped when several of the youngsters, boys and girls, began the show by leaping onto the semi-darkened stage, dancing and drumming. There is something incredibly powerful about African drumming. It gets deep into your bones and brain. Jennifer was mesmerized by the dancing, the singing, the music-making.

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.

April 16

"I am very angry because my uncle died," Jennifer told me today in a soft voice over the telephone. It was the older brother of her father. Her father, recall, was killed by rebels the same day they trapped Jennifer in her hut and set it on fire.

Jennifer's uncle did not die in the war. He had moved from the town of Kitgum, where the rest of Jennifer's family lives, to a neighboring district outside of the fighting, to escape the violence.

The circumstances of his death reached Jennifer in an e-mail: The uncle had gone into the bush to cut wood, which later would be burned and made into charcoal. He was killed by common thugs. It didn't seem to matter to Jennifer whether his death came at the hands of run-of-the-mill criminals or the rebels she knew too well: His death left Jennifer's family without a grown male figure.

"Now we don't have anyone in the family to look out for us," Jennifer said.

When Jennifer got the news, she went to Abitimo's room and cried. The tears must have been not only for a loved one lost, but for being so far away from her relatives when that loved one was lost. This absence during a family crisis was surely a first for Jennifer. As good as it is for Jennifer to get medical treatment here, it will be a lovely day for her when she can return to her family in Uganda.

April 9

Jennifer and Abitimo dropped by my house today with Sam, his wife and their baby, Sam. Big Sam is one of Abitimo's sons and she, along with Jennifer, will be staying with them for a while in their Delaware home. They stopped by briefly to pick up a computer case for Jennifer's new laptop and anti-virus software that my smart husband insisted on getting before Jennifer tries to connect to the Internet. They left quickly to get baby Sam back home before dinner.

April 8

The weather this morning was lousy. Cold. Rainy. Just enough wind to remind you of the cold and the rain should you happen to forget it for a moment. Still, plenty of people showed up for the Walk Against Hunger.

A reader, Elaine Garfinkle, teamed up with Project HOME to raise money, not only for hunger and homelessness in our own backyard, but to help a group of kids in northern Uganda known as night commuters. These are children who live in the war zone there, who try to avoid rebels abducting them by walking miles each night from their rural homes to sleep in the relative safety of more populous towns.

Garfinkle also has partnered with Abitimo to try to establish a night commuter shelter on the grounds of Abitimo's school in the town of Gulu. Abitimo and Jennifer showed up to do the mini-walk of two miles. Jennifer did not seem to mind the weather, though her stoicism might have been hiding her soggy discomfort.

People who had heard her life story went up to Jennifer and introduced themselves. Jennifer takes her celebrity in stride, in large part because Abitimo is determined not to let Jennifer get spoiled here in America. I admire that about Abitimo. She knows and values her Acholi culture. While she wants Jennifer to take advantage of opportunities in the United States, she does not want her to lose the qualities deemed important back home: humility, gratitude and hard work among them. As I watch this dynamic play out, it strikes me how U.S. culture so often glorifies the opposite qualities: hubris and an unappreciativeness that too often leads to a sense of privilege. What a better place our communities would be if the finer qualities won out more often.

April 5

I spoke to Abitimo on the phone yesterday. She said Jennifer loves working on the computer. That's very nice news.

April 2

Abitimo and Jennifer soon will be going to Delaware to stay with Abitimo's son Sam, his wife and their baby for an extended visit. Jennifer's tutors cannot make it out there weekly. Also, Abitimo wants to work with Jennifer to make sure the 15-year-old is on track to advance to the next grade at school in Uganda.

We thought it would be useful to get Jennifer a laptop computer, especially since she could take it back with her to Uganda. I swapped e-mails with a couple of computer stores in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, to see which brand would be easiest to fix if it broke. The answer, in case you move to Uganda: Toshiba. That's what we got.

A reader named Sue Fernandez, who read Jennifer's story and met her once, phoned me a couple of times to offer help. When I called and told her about the plan to get Jennifer a laptop, she and her husband enthusiastically agreed to pay for it, software and a case. I am continually amazed by people's generosity and compassion - not pity - toward Jennifer.

This afternoon, my patient, engineer husband Tim gave Abitimo and a sleepy Jennifer a lesson on computer basics. They tried out the educational software we had gotten. Abitimo favored one on phonics and reading.

After dinner, I asked Jennifer to tell me something about each of her four siblings.

"Kalokwerka [her 5-year-old brother] is humble. Sharon Achan [about 3]is cocky, so sometimes she bothers Kalokwerka," Jennifer said as a big smile spread across her face.

"My mother sometimes steps in," Jennifer says.

At those moments, the clever Sharon waits to see who will get the blame. Almost says, their mother says, "'Kalokwerka, leave her alone.'" Jennifer said.

Jennifer explained that while their mother talks with Kalokwerka, Jennifer takes Sharon aside and talks with her. These two youngest siblings are afraid of Jennifer's oldest sister, 17-year-old Alice Laker. "She is stern," Jennifer said.

Her other sibling is 5-year-old brother Okeny. "If a boy hits him, he'll want to hit back," Jennifer said.

Then, there is Jennifer's mother. It is clear that Jennifer misses her dearly, that their relationship is both strong and tender. Jennifer thinks about what she likes most about her mom. Finally she says: "I like to sleep on my mom's lap."

As the hour approaches 9 p.m., Abitimo and Jennifer head back to the house in Germantown to get a good night's sleep.

March 30

Jennifer went to a meeting tonight of Girl Scout Troop 663, accompanied by Abitimo, my 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, and me at the Finley Recreation Center in the Germantown area. The primary goal: Introduce Jennifer to some kids her age.

She hasn’t had many chances to build a circle of friends since she came to the United States. Because she is a 15-year-old at a second grade academic level, and because of her frequent trips to the Wasington DC area for medical treatment, we decided on individual tutoring for Jennifer. Those sessions take place at Abitimo’s house, where Jennifer is staying. Girl Scouts seemed an obvious social outlet.

Although she wanted to go, Jennifer seemed shy at tonight’s meeting, which was held in a hot, upstairs room that magnified the noise made by Troop 663 and a second troop of younger girls. Abitimo sat beside Jennifer interpreting what troop leader Sylvia Goldsmith and parent assistant Dominique Bonds were saying about a forthcoming camping jamboree.

A treat came next. Instead of chips and juice as a snack, the girls made smoothies. Jennifer and my daughter watched as Bonds’ 15-year-old daughter Samantha Scott put ice, strawberries, bananas, ice cream and other ingredients into a blender. My daughter, not keen on loud and sudden noises, ran away when the blender started. But she ran back afterward and pronounced the smoothie, “mmmm.” Jennifer did not want to taste the pink-colored beverage. I’m guessing not many drinks in Uganda are pink.

At times, as she sat in her blue jeans, short-sleeved top and new prescription glasses, Jennifer fit right in with the girls around her. But it also was apparent that she was sizing up the situation, as usual. Jennifer must have figured out what she thought: She’d like to go back to Girl Scouts sometime soon.

March 21

My wonderful husband Tim once again drove Jennifer to an appointment with Dufresne in Chevy Chase. Dufresne continues to be pleased with how Jennifer’s is healing from the surgery. He takes out remaining stitches and staples. Even though the staples are a common medical supply, even though they cause less damage to Jennifer’s hair follicles than do stitches, I still have trouble looking at them and not thinking that someone swiped them from a desk drawer.

Dufresne decided to give Jennifer six weeks to heal, then he will decide what to do next. He might repeat the entire tissue-expanding process so he can expand tissue from her scalp to further lower her hairline, and use expanded tissue from her chest to keep rebuilding her lower face.

I cannot begin to express how much I admire and trust Dufresne. He is a skilled surgeon, a gentle man, and a compassionate soul. He is doing all he can for a girl who has had few breaks in her life. So many folks in the Philadelphia region and metro DC have helped Jennifer.

God surely is smiling down on this 15-year-old.

March 16

Jennifer has been throwing up. Could be any number of bugs going around, could be an illness she had in Uganda just before coming to the United States, or a reaction to medications sh was taking post-surgery.

Abitimo and Ana took her to see her pediatrician, Dr. Alexis Lieberman, at Einstein Medical Center, which is donating routine health care and emergency for Jennifer.

One thing is clear: The vomiting has left Jennifer dehydrated. Dr. Lieberman hooked her up to an IV and put her in the emergency room to be observed for a few hours. A blood test shows nothing wrong and so Jennifer and the Odongkaras go home. That night and the next day, Jennifer is ecstatic at feeling better and, understandably, not being in a hospital.

March 14

Jennifer went to Maryland to have Dr. Dufresne examine her and begin taking out stitches. He was very pleased with what he was able to do and how Jennifer is healing from last week’s surgery. Dufresne said he would decide about further treatment after giving Jennifer a month to heal and gain strength.

He also will be talking with the hand specialist, Dr. C. Michael Reing, who looked at Jennifer when she was in the hospital. Together, they will decide what they can do. The treatment could be in Philadelphia, which has excellent hand specialists.

March 10

After two days in the hospital, Jennifer was sore but seemed to be bouncing back from the surgery. The compression bandage around her head made her face look like a framed portrait. Unlike the first surgery, the bandage was taken off before she is released from the hospital.

Another thing happened before she left. Dr. C. Michael Reing, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, came in at Dufresne’s request to examine the stump that is Jennifer’s left hand. The fire seemed to fuse the fingers together, plus it looks as though part of the palm has been amputated.

Reing had good news: He thinks her hand can be helped. Anything the docs can do will no doubt please Jennifer immensely. She seems more embarrassed by her hand injury than by the wounds on her face.

Thanks to construction and lots of traffic during the evening rush hour, it was a slow drive back to Philadelphia. We all, but Jennifer most of all, were tired by the time we got home.

March 8

For details on the surgery, read the column linked from this page.

March 7

Surprisingly, considering we left Philadelphia at about 5 p.m., it was an easy drive to Fairfax, Va. in advance of Jennifer’s second operation. We decided to leave tonight, even though the surgery is tomorrow at 1 p.m., to make the morning more relaxed.

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

Jennifer had a checkup today with Dr. Alexis Lieberman from Einstein Medical Center. It sounded like it was an extremely thorough examination, according to Abitimo's description. Jennifer had her hearing tested and took the simple vision test of reading off an eye chart. We will try to get Jennifer a fuller vision exam with an eye doctor.

It's unclear how many childhood disease immunizations Jennifer has gotten in her life. You may think the answer would be none for a youngster growing up in a remote part of an impoverished country. You would probably be wrong. The Ugandan government and nongovernmental organizations make a point of vaccinating children to protect them from the worst diseases. Still, since we are unsure of what shots Jennifer has gotten and when, she was given six immunizations today.

Feb. 17

Bloomingdale's at Willow Grove Park Mall has given Jennifer a wonderful gift: At the store's expense, she can pick out any outfit free of charge. Today was selection day. Jennifer rode up the escalator with Ana to the second floor dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a multicolored jacket. Sarah Begandy, public relations manager of the store, greeted her warmly. We then began looking around the teen department for clothes.

The plan was to get Jennifer some washable, summer-light clothing she could take back to Uganda. Jennifer was most interested in getting a skirt. Cross-cultural note: Fifteen-year-olds everywhere seem to have the same taste in clothing - tight, short, revealing. Ugandan culture would shudder at skirt lengths above the knee or other immodest clothing. After trying on skirts and shirts and pants, Jennifer settled on two, mid-calf-length black skirts and a pair of Capri blue jeans.

After she had made her selections, Inquirer photographer Michael Wirtz asked Jennifer, with Aaron interpreting, to pose in her new clothes alongside some mannequins. Jennifer has been watching too much American television: She moved around like a super model as Michael clicked away.

Feb. 12

It had been snowing since yesterday in this winter's first blizzard. It also was Jennifer's first time ever seeing piles of snow, so my husband and I went over to the Odongkaras' to visit. When we got there, Jennifer was out with Aaron and Ana brushing off their car. Ana and I threw snowballs at Jennifer, who laughed and flung some snow toward us. She laughed even harder when I walked to the center of their front yard, to untouched snow, and fell backward to show Jennifer how to make a snow angel. You know, I don't remember falling into the snow - and getting up out of it - being so hard to do when I was a kid.

After a while, we went inside. The adults talked as Jennifer sat on the sofa watching television. Eventually she stretched out, and Ana brought over a blanket and placed it on the young girl. Jennifer pulled it over her head and fell asleep.

Feb. 9

Jennifer had a dental exam today. Her teeth, said Dr. Bruce Singer, a Jenkintown dentist, are close to perfect. He, like so many others, is donating his services for Jennifer. It just goes to show all the damage done to American kids' teeth by the heaps of sugar in their diet.

Feb. 8

Jennifer, Abitimo and I picked up our rental car and headed to Chevy Chase, Md., for another appointment with Dr. Dufresne. We are about midway through eight weekly appointments during which Dufresne injects saline solution into the tissue expanders he implanted under her scalp and her chest skin.

Jennifer was not comfortable with the procedure. It works like this: Dr. Dufresne finds the small, metal circle, called a port, which is under her skin. Attached to the port is a thin tube that leads to the expander. There are two ways to find the port, either by feeling it, or by using a magnet to detect the metal circle. The magnet method is not working very well, but Dufresne is flawless in finding the port the other way.

As he injected the needle, Abitimo gently stroked Jennifer's left arm. I was on the other side of her chair. I gave her my hand, which she held and crushed when the needle pierced her skin. After a few minutes, Dufresne decided he had injected enough saline solution, and the procedure was over for this week.

After we left the doctor's office, we made what has become a regular stop at a restaurant called la Madeleine. Jennifer got a chicken pie she's grown fond of, and Abitimo picked up an entrée for dinner. We headed back to the highway for the two-and-a-half hour drive to Philadelphia.

Jan. 26

Jennifer's days at home with the Odongkaras are filled with ordinary activities for an American teen on a trip away from home: sleeping late, eating, visiting friends.

Jan. 22

Jennifer was with us again for the day. This time, we took her to one of those places where you paint pottery. When Tim picked Jennifer up from the Odongkara home, he asked Abitimo to explain to her how this activity worked. At the store, she picked out a goblet to paint and chose only three colors - green, black and brown - out of the many available. She carefully painted precise bands of different colors on the goblet. As she worked, she kept her Eagles cap low over her forehead. I think it was to hide the large stitches in her scalp from the initial surgery when tissue expanders were implanted under her skin.

Jan. 12

Jennifer had her first operation, in which Dr. Craig Dufresne and his team at Fairfax Hospital, INOVA Health Systems, in Fairfax, Va., inserted one tissue expander under her scalp, and two in her chest. Click here for a detailed description of the surgery.

Jan. 10

Davida Berger, a Jenkintown restaurant owner who has helped make arrangements for Jennifer, brought two of her chefs, Annemarie Silva and Chip Williams, over to my house today to give Jennifer a cooking class. What an amazing evening. The menu included tilapia, meatloaf and basmati rice with peppers. Dessert was cake and cookies. It was fun to see Jennifer doing so well at cooking. It made me appreciate one of the finest attributes of the United States. We are lucky to live in a country whose many opportunities can help children realize their potential.

Not only did Jennifer help, she showed a flair for cooking. She was born to drizzle sauce on a dish. Abitimo and her son, Aaron, came, as did Caren Moskowitz, who works in the development department of the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. Einstein has generously agreed to provide, pro bono, routine health care for Jennifer.

My tiny kitchen and dining room were packed with people who were chatting, laughing and eating. Everyone had a terrific time - including Jennifer.

Jan. 2, 2006

My husband, Tim, my 4-year-old, Olivia, and I spent most of the day with Jennifer. First we went to Drexel, where my husband is a graduate student, and waited for him to finish some work. I was showing Jennifer how to use a computer. We visited Web sites on Uganda and on her. She didn't like seeing photos of herself, but she smiled broadly when she saw pictures from articles published in May in The Inquirer about the school she attends in Gulu, Uganda.

It was raining when we got to the Philadelphia Zoo, and most of the animals were not on display. We all were disappointed. Tim and I had really played up seeing elephants and giraffes, lions and tigers and zebras. The zebras were the only animals that were out, and when Jennifer saw one, she gasped and giggled in delight. Even though all of these animals roam freely in parts of her homeland, Jennifer had never seen a zebra before.

Dec. 24, 2005

Jennifer and Abitimo Odongkara arrived on a British Airways flight from northern Uganda, via London.