So last week we traveled to Kampala, the capital, so we could pick up some supplies and meet up with some friends. While I did a lot of running around and getting stuff done I've gotta say the best part of the trip was the few short conversations i was able to have with the street children.
Since the Karimojong are a very poor people and Kampala is the biggest city in Uganda, many Karimojong end up on the streets of Kampala. They end up there in a number of ways and the worst of those ways is by human trafficking. People buy the kids from their parents or kidnap them off the streets in Karimoja then take them to Kampala and have them beg on the streets just so that the person controlling the child can make the money. Also many women and children just come of their own accord to try and make a living in Kampala and end up begging on the streets. I didn't write this blog to dive into these issues but if someone has questions they can let me know and we can talk.
So once the Karimojong end up on the streets they're highly despised. The rest of Ugandans are pretty cruel and can be oppressive of the Karimojong. All this to say these kids and women end up begging on the crowded streets of Kampala where nobody speaks their language or cares anything about them.
We've been studying the language of the Karimojong now for about 4 and a half months. It's an oral language and quite difficult for me. So I feel like I barely know anything. Me and Kerri were however able to carry on small conversations with the people living on the street in their own language. And it was spectacular. Their faces would turn from that of a downcast begger to this bright, excited woman or child.
So this is a long story to get to a small point. I don't have any huge spiritual or philosophical truths to lay on you. I just want to share my excitement. This is just a confirmation that to reach a people, while you may not be able to become completely like them, you must meet them where they are. Those kids were so stinkin excited to talk to us in their language that it just makes me want to become fluent in their language and then just go hang out on the streets with them letting them know that somebody loves them.
-andrew
