Henry and Hero Update

As usual, I spoke with Henry on Wednesday morning.  He is now back at home in Hoima, Uganda with his family, after having finished the final term of his S4 year (“O” Level) and after having completed the national exams, which consist of about a dozen subjects taken over the course of three weeks.  Henry scored well on the practice exam, and hopes to focus on the sciences for his “A” Level education.  The results of these exams are scheduled to be released in February.  After the results come out, then there is a mad scramble to apply for admission to “A” Level schools where students focus on a smaller number of subjects for the their S5 and S6 years.

I am pleased that we will be in Uganda when the results come out so that we can assist in his efforts to get admitted to a strong school.  Selfishly, we hope he is admitted to a school in Kampala so he will be nearby, but the schools in Kampala tend to be the strongest anyway.

In the meanwhile, Henry is working for his parents’ envelope business during the day, folding and gluing plain paper into the shape of envelopes for use by the local pharmacy.  When I spoke with him on Wednesday, his family was all gathered around the phone trying their best to understand my mzungu English.  Not so much.  He was in good spirits and repeatedly reminded me how surprised he was that I had come for his graduation.  I had told him I wouldn’t be able to attend, so I guess it is a good thing that he is surprised that I was lying to him.  I also talked to him about the price of cows in Uganda, since his family had been forced to sell their small herd of cows (seven or eight) when Henry, his brother, and his father had been arrested and then were confined to jail for two years (prior to being exonerated).  He told me that the price depended upon the gender and size, but that they were approximately 1 million shillings each, which is just under $400 using the current conversion rate.

I also had a chance to catch up with Bob Goff yesterday, who was back at Pepperdine to teach his final Non-Profit Law class and to speak at an undergraduate gathering.  He was running on “pop tarts and coffee,” having stopped through DC with Hero and Darla on their way back from Uganda.  Hero absolutely loved the Oval Office and had his picture taken while sitting in Obama’s chair.  Too bad the President was out of town that day, or Hero could have sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas.  From DC, they traveled to Los Angeles, and spent Tuesday at Disneyland.  All of it started to catch up with Hero who got a bit emotional, but he caught a second wind after he spoke with his mother on the phone.

Bob dropped Hero off with the family with whom he will be living for the next six months while the surgeries are taking place, the first of which is scheduled shortly after Thanksgiving.  I really wish I could post a picture of him and tell you his real name – he is so innocent and precious.  He is also a hugger and considers no one to be a stranger.  It is simply heartbreaking to know what happened to him, but heartwarming to know that Cedars Sinai is stepping up to the plate and doing its best to make him whole again.

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