Your Dream Inspires: Bulenga to Bhubaneswar : Ceserano

The children are sweet and polite. They wear worn down uniforms or t-shirts and their shoes are riddled with holes. They blend in with the other children at Faith Children’s School. They are orphans like most of the students here yet they are facing different circumstances altogether. In addition to the challenges all of the children at Faith face this family of four children lives alone.

Ceserano is 12 years old and as the eldest of four. She took over the role of mother two years ago following her mother’s death from AIDS. She feeds and takes care of her siblings Reponse, 10, Queen, 7, and King, 4. An auntie who has six children of her own brings food most nights. Unfortunately, following the death of their mother, they were sent to their ancestral village to live with a Grandmother. In Uganda, every child must pay school fees and often the most vulnerable and poor cannot attend school, furthering the cycle of poverty. In the Village, Ceserano and her siblings did not attend school for months. Faith Children’s Foundation’s director helped bring them back to Bulenga, a small town outside Kampala. He tried to secure housing for them with a relative, but he could not find an adult who had the means to support four children. Now, they live in a small room with dirt floors and no electricity without an adult to take care of them.

I cannot imagine the weight of responsibility Ceserano feels and the how the uncertainty of her future bears down on her. She told me how difficult it is to rely on others for everything. How she is at the mercy of neighbors for food, clothes, and shelter. Right now, they are three months behind on the rent for their small room. It is only $10 a month and they again face the uncertainty of not knowing what their future holds. I went to visit her home twice and each time she stood tall and greeted me, welcoming me to her home. Her strength is inspiring.

I will never forget the day she was elected head girl by her peers. Her name was announced and she smiled so wide as she addressed the school. I will never forget giving Queen a sticker after handing in her homework. She chose a big sticker of Cinderella in her ball gown and I didn't realize how much it meant until I went to her house hours later and she still had it on, perfectly in place. I will never forget when Reponse showed me his shoes for the first time. There was no bottom it had been worn down completely. He could have been walking barefoot for the amount of protection his shoes provided. I will never forget King coming to school and giving me a giant hug and greeting me good morning.

During my month teaching children came and went. Sometimes no one knew where they had gone for a few weeks, sometimes a teacher would tell me in a despondent tone that they had gone to the village, and sometimes children came back to class after missing months and were extremely far behind. Ceserano and her siblings are back at school and their incredible journey continues. Ceserano will always hold a place in my heart and I will never forget her quiet yet unfaltering courage and determination to make the most of her situation and do the best for her siblings.

I heard many stories while in Uganda and I quickly realized that every single person has an incredible story to tell. Students, teachers, market workers; they all have a story. In the next few blog posts I will try my best to share some of their stories.

All the best,

Rachael