Warrior Women

The strangest things happened to me when I met a Ugandan woman for the first time. I blushed and I fumbled my words and spilled my tea and did not know how to sit correctly or control my stares out of respect because I was SO in awe of their beauty. They rendered me speechless and I had butterflies. Often I sat with them in silence, feeling an entire conversation occurring between us by their presence alone. They were wrapped in bright  fabrics and had the most depth I've ever witness in a pair of eyes. They were captivating and I yearned to discover what was hiding behind them. I felt like a young child, not like a woman. I knew I had so, so much to learn from them.

In Uganda, mothers are angels. There is simply not another word for it. They are true angels. They raise babies, who were once promised so much by their fathers, alone. They care for their nieces and nephews when family members pass away. They take in neighbors' children. They welcome orphans. They skip meals so the children can eat. They work in the fields all day while breastfeeding simultaneously. They sew wallets and weave baskets trying to raise money for one of their children to go to school. They give and give and give and love all day long and sleep at night exhausted, curled up on one mattress with all of their tiny bodies. What mother doesn't do the same thing at night? Lying their heads down at night in Austin or Paris or Shanghai or Boise or Kiev? All of us wishing on our children's futures.

 

These women dance. They laugh. They sing and gossip and holler and tell stories and hug one another and tickle children and wipe the noses of little ones and scream when they see a spider. They dine with friends and host visitors in their homes and confide in best friends and peel potatoes. They wear beautiful colors, they tell jokes, they dream about the future, and reminisce on old memories. They have a fiery and jovial spirit that was created to rejoice even in the hardest of seasons.

They are who I aspire to be. They are my role models. My celebrities. The highest of the high in my eyes. I wish to have just a piece of their wisdom. To see and understand the world through their eyes and their hearts for just a moment. Women who grabbed my hands to hold them before they knew my name. Women who ran their fingers through my hair and sang songs to me and giggled at the goofy way I did things. The kindest, the most gentle women with the softest touch who have an inside which roars louder than a lion.