Tears of Hope

Maria’s story continues………………………………………

Then I asked him that supposing my children lived on another property, not this one , would he care for them once I was gone? I am not asking you to to feed them or dress them”, I added,” suffering has made them mature beyond their years. They are able to fend for themselves. But without me, they would need an adult to turn to guide them. Someone they could turn to for help and advice? Would you receive them as children?”
“No” he answered “with property of their own, your children would no longer be children. They would be men. They would be bigheaded and would not listen to my advice. If your children do not respect me now while you are still alive, would they respect me when they are property- owners?” he asked.
That is when I realized that I had to do something to get my children away from my brother’s compound. As I told you before, God is powerful. At St. Francis-Mutolere Hospital there was a muzungu ( white person) working with TASO. Remi was her name and she was from Holland. She knew me as a member of TASO and knew my situation very well. She visited my home several times and became my friend. I told her how my brother had become more hostile after I got some of the property.. I told her my children would not be safe if I died and left them with my brother. They needed to move away from that family. She explained that TASO did not have a lot of money. She advised me to pray. Later she returned to her country.
Maria stopped talking and reaches for the old exercise book from her bundle. She opens the book and picks one of the photos from the book, That is Remi, you can see me standing next to her. Can you see how pretty she is?’ She is the one who photographed my children, she was very kind to my sons.
When she returned to her country, I thought that was the end of our friendship, but she did not forget my sad situation.
“One day I got a message calling me to the TASO office at Mutolere Hospital. I was told that Remi had sent me a present. You see, when Remi returned to her country she collected money from her friends. This money totaled 350,0000 shillings and she had sent it to me to buy a piece of land for my children.
Madam, you can not imagine my happiness. There are good people in this world and Remi is one of them. May God bless her and give her a husband!
“With the money I bought a piece of land, see I have a copy of the agreement. A relative of mine, a doctor at the hospital keeps the original. I trust him. My enemies might pick the agreement when I am sick or unconscious and destroy it.

Last segment- to be continued next time………………………………………………..