Elizabeth

Tonight my heart is in Uganda. I received devastating news this week and I have been thinking about how to share the story with you for several days. It is gravely upsetting and in need of furtive prayer.

My dear friend Masaka has lost her daughter. Masaka lives in Kishanje and became a very close friend of mine while we were constructing Ariyo's house. She is the only woman in Kishanje who works alongside men on projects such as these. They respect her as an equal, in fact, love her friendship and skill. She is most popular in the community because she brews kashera, a sour grain porridge that's equivalently as alcoholic as a Bud Light. I visited Masaka's home several times to purchase kashera for the laborers and each visit she stuff me to the brim with potatoes and beans.

Masaka's story has been tugging on my heart all week. Her name is not Masaka. It is a sweetly given nickname given to her to honor where she comes from, a place called Masaka. Her given name is Judith. She came to Kishanje after the death of her husband, bringing along her only daughter Elizabeth to start a new life. Dedicated to caring for her new community, Masaka became the guardian for four Juna Amagara orphans who attend New Times school. The bittersweet fact that her own daughter was still waiting for a spot in the program to receive an education makes my heart ache. She worked alongside me each day, building Ariyo's home and watching all the other children thrive from the support of JAM--new uniforms, shoes, mattresses, soap, warm meals, sponsorship letters and gifts and visitors. After each day of hard work, she returned home to her own home in desperate need of repairs. Watched Elizabeth waiting and asking for the opportunity to attend school with the other children.

It is a little bit taboo to ask Bakiga people for information about a person's death so it has made it difficult for me to respectfully find out what happened to Elizabeth. From what I have gathered through emails with friends, Elizabeth died from a kitchen accident involving boiling water. She was six years old.

Please pray for this wonderful woman who is now grieving in the very worst way imaginable. 

Life is so very fragile and delicate. RIP Elizabeth.