Meet Peter

A few blogs ago I mentioned that I am helping a young man go back to school.  What started as an acquaintance on the street has turned into a pulling at the heart strings as I learn more about Peter and his story.  So I’d like to introduce you to this young man who has such a drive to go to school, improve his life and be a role model to others with the same plight.

I meet a lot of people on the street and we have brief casual conversations that consist mostly of greetings or “no, I’m sorry I don’t have any money to give you.”    With Peter, this became a dialog about what he was trying to do to get the 100 or so street kids in Gulu off the street, fed, back into school or at the least back with families.   It wasn’t until later that I realized Peter had also been a street kid, getting random help from random people, working at odd jobs and getting a meal when he could.  Yet Peter never asked for money or even implied that he was in need himself. It was only obliquely that I learned he was trying to get back into school.  The focus was always on "his" street kids.  He never mentioned that all of the money he had saved for school had been stolen (story to follow). That came to me quite by accident from another woman who was in Peter's life when it happened.

Fast forward to my deciding to help Peter get into Gulu Public Primary School (Grades 1 - 7) where he will have shelter and food as well as education.  Peter’s been on the street for a few years and has developed a level of autonomy that’s doesn’t fit too well in a school where you have to ask permission to go to the latrine!  Yet, he’s wants to do well  and is following all the rules.  So far - so good, and his teachers are noticing.

Last Sunday was Parent’s Day at the school – and I guess as his sponsor, I’m the closest thing Peter has to a parent, so I went, signed in as a "parent," was given his test results and stayed to visit.  I learned more about his history and had a fascinating conversation as Peter asked me about things he'd heard about the United States.  Sooo interesting to learn what Ugandans have heard and how it's been interpreted in the context of life in Uganda, half-truths and all. 

 The more I learn about Peter, the more amazed I am at how this young man has managed to hold on to such a single vision and motivation to be educated.  For the first few years of his life, Peter and his nine siblings were raised in a village on the outskirts of Gulu.   Evidently the mother left the picture early on and his father was left to raise the kids alone.  They struggled for food and all of the children were expected to work in the fields or otherwise contribute to family livelihood.  Peter made it to  P3 before it became evident that his father would not/could not continue to send him to school and it became a source of chronic conflict and later abuse from his older siblings.  So he went to live with another family after physical violence erupted as he became the  referee to keep his older brother from stealing food from the Peter's younger siblings.   The new "family" got him through another year of school, but that living arrangement fell apart as well.  (Nearly every family I meet here has at least a few extra kids living with them or has sent their kids to live with someone who is better equipped to handle them.  The nuclear family is nonexistant here for the most part.)

Once again, Peter realized if he were to have any chance of going to school, he’d have to fend for himself this time on the street and so he has – making his way through P6 with odds and ends of jobs and  “support.”  One of those “supporters” was a minister in Kampala who had the kids sleep and work on his compound, paying them the equivalent of about $40 per month out of which they would have to pay for food, medical expenses and a telephone to be at his beck and call when he needed them.   But no school….   The pastor enticed them with offers of “if you learn to drive, I’ll buy you a car”  but the pay wasn’t enough to get the training and there was no “time off.”  Again, Peter realized he had to do this on his own as the disparity between the way this man treated those under his care, and his claim of being a “man of god’ became more obvious and more disheartening.   (It's no wonder Peter became suspicious when the Church of Latter Day Saints - Mormons are prominent in Gulu - offered to pay his school fees IF he would join their church and agree to do their preaching their way and prepare to leave the country for a few years.)

Back in Gulu again, he found a bit of support from a reputable faith based organization here.  I met a Canadian woman there who knew Peter’s story and told, "Peter has had true miracles in his life,” and proceeded to tell me the story of his school money being stolen.  Seems Peter worked at digging a latrine for this organization all one school term, staying out so he could save his earnings to pay for the next term.  He put his money in the bank, an unusual thing for ANY Ugandan, much less a street kid.  On the day he went to withdraw his funds to pay for school, he discovered his account had been cleaned out by his landlady no less: filmed at the ATM.  Under the recommendation of the banker, Peter went to report the situation to the police and HE was thrown in jail, as the police assumed it HAD to be the street kid who was stealing.  After three days the banker followed a hunch and went to the police, only to find Peter in the slammer.   The fact that the banker tracked down the landlady’s crime AND followed up on Peter’s situation with the police could certainly qualify as miracle’s here in Uganda.    The money of course was gone, so there went another lost term of school. Still - Peter persists and is not an angry young man. 

Anyway, when Parent’s Day came along – unknown to me until the last minute – I had already made plans involving the library and a group of volunteers all scheduled to work.  In trying to explain to Peter that I might not make it, he stopped me and took my hand in both of his, looked into my eyes and said, “Don’t worry – all that you’ve done for me tells me you love me.”   Oh lordy – I have no words for this. 

So of course, I made it a point to get to Parent's Day and spent a little time chatting with Peter, took some treats only to discover other kids are “disturbing” his locker.  translate that “stealing” from his locker (no lock).  I've now supplied a lock...

So this is Peter’s story.  He’s working hard, has an incredible spirit and an ability to forgive that continues to inspire me.  His story is unusual only in that he continues to get up and try again, remains positive and committed against all odds, to living a life that matters.