Verity meets Dennis in Uganda
When Verity Atkinson from Christchurch visited her sponsored child Dennis in Uganda she was overawed by the welcome and charmed by the wee boy she sponsors.
A decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro took Verity and her husband Craig to Uganda and the experience of a lifetime.
They had decided on the ambitious climb to celebrate Craig’s fiftieth birthday. By a happy coincidence, the highest mountain in Africa is close to Uganda where Verity’s sponsored child Dennis lives.
“I had always wanted to visit Dennis who I had sponsored for five years,” says Verity. “This was the perfect opportunity.”
Once in Uganda, Verity and Craig were collected by ChildFund Uganda staff and given a briefing on what to expect and how ChildFund operates in Uganda.
“We met with David who manages the project area Dennis lives in. He’s a really good caring guy. He showed us the strategic plan including their goals focused on vocational training, HIV education, and immunisation. ChildFund’s key goal is to encourage communities towards to self-sufficiency,” says Verity.
From ChildFund’s project office they were taken to the school which is often the centre of rural communities. Everyone turned out to welcome the sponsors from New Zealand, the first sponsors to ever visit this community.
“There were 500 pupils all standing there in the hot sun with the teachers lined up on the veranda and seats in the middle for us. With the speeches and children’s beautiful singing and dancing, we felt like the king and queen,” says Verity.
Finally it was time to meet Dennis and his family. Eleven-year-old Dennis is about the size of a 7-year-old, says Verity.
“We had been told that Dennis and his family may be quite reserved, and appear quite cool. But Dennis ran right up to us and gave us a big hug.
“From his photos Dennis looked like a serious wee chap, but when we saw him properly for the first time he was smiling. He has a lovely clear open face and big eyes.”
Dennis lives with his father and stepmother as his own mother died giving birth to her youngest child.
“Dennis’s dad raises animals and buys and sells second hand clothing, but it’s very much a hand to mouth existence,” says Verity.
The Atkinsons had brought clothes for Dennis and his little sister but prior to leaving New Zealand they had also sent funds for the pre-school.
“The pre-school needed equipment and resources. So I sold Calilly bulbs and raised US$430. When I arrived I was shown the slides, bikes and other resources that had been bought - all carefully receipted and itemised,” says Verity.
The couple were shown around the primary school which has four classrooms for 500 children. The walls were bare in all the classrooms except for the older children’s classroom where HIV prevention posters adorned the walls.
“There were no books. They were however very proud of their desks and the recently installed clean water tank. They had also built toilet blocks,” says Verity.
“They gave us a tour of the rest of the project area, and showed us the gum trees they are growing to sell for timber. They are growing fruit and vegetables as a community to feed themselves and to sell.
“It was very evident to us that the money goes where it’s needed.”
The visit finished with an exchange of gifts. Verity and Craig received a woven mat and basket, but they almost got more than they bargained for.
“No one there had seen an actual live sponsor before and the family really wanted to express their gratitude. They had wanted to give us a live chicken as a gift but ChildFund staff had talked them out of it,” says Verity.
Seeing Dennis was a once in a life time experience for Verity, and her visit was clearly very special for Dennis.
“Dennis wasn’t fazed by all the attention but our visit had built his self confidence up - he’d be like king of the village for at least a month after our visit.”
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