Goodbye Steve

At about 11:00 today we said a sad goodbye to Steve as he travels back to San Diego for one day, then off to Haiti for a week. This goodbye wasn't near as sad as the one that happened later in the evening. A young girl named Scovia came by the apartment and I told her that Steve had gone back today. She immediately dropped her head and started crying. I did my best to comfort her, but to no avail. You see, most of the older kids had been at another school today participating in a sports competition and weren't around when Steve left the school, meaning they didn't get a formal goodbye. Formal goodbyes are very important here.

It's interesting. In my observation of this culture, many people are detached from each other emotionally. Often times there is so much loss that it is easier to not attach to someone in the first place. If you don't attach, you don't hurt when that person leaves or dies. When you do attach, the together times are so much better, but the away times are so much more painful. Many children here don't allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to attach to someone. And if by chance they do, they are not practiced enough in dealing with emotional loss that the pain seems unbearable.

Scovia has a huge heart. She is very attached to her own biological dad, whom she sees only once a year. Steve is kind of a stand in for that dad when he travels here (and quite possibly, so are some of the other "dad" like figures that stay in this apartment). She has allowed herself to love us and we have only multiplied that love a million times. Her hurt was real and deep.

Steve, you are loved all around the world and back again. We will be missing you while we finish out our trip here.

From Uganda with a tearful child full of love,

Ali