Post-Mortem Report

Unfortunately, I spoke too soon.  In my prior post a few weeks ago, I explained Uganda’s lamentable history of “land grabbing” in the immediate wake of the death of the male leader of a family.  Too often, and too successfully, relatives of the deceased forcefully (and forcibly) eject the grieving widow and her children from her land and “reclaim” the property for the family of the deceased father.  Because Henry had been named the new family “heir” (head of the family), I had assumed that the father’s relatives had decided to behave themselves.  I was wrong.

At the second extended family meeting following the burial of Henry’s father, Henry’s aunt (father’s sister) announced that she had something to tell the entire group.  She declared that immediately prior to Henry’s father purchasing the land upon which Henry has lived his entire life, she had loaned him the money for the purchase and that he was holding the land for her.  The land is now hers, she proclaimed.  Needless to say, this was quite a shock to all in attendance.  In response to questioning, she claimed to have proof, but refused to say what it was.

The next day, Henry consulted with the Local Council Chairman (roughly equivalent to the mayor) and with a lawyer.  Unsurprisingly, the land title is not recorded anywhere, so the aunt will likely try to record the land in her name.  Fortunately, the Chairman has now been alerted to these shenanigans and has promised he won’t let that happen.  He has been Chairman for more than thirty years and has no recollection of anything like Henry’s aunt is claiming.  Fortunately, a friend of mine is the field office director of International Justice Mission’s Kampala office, and they focus exclusively on combating this type of land grabbing.  He was able to send me a manual setting forth the step-by-step instructions for securing the land, and I was able to get that to Henry.  The first step is to secure a death certificate for Henry’s father, so Henry set out for Kampala to meet with the doctors at the hospital where his father died.

A couple days later, Henry returned with the death certificate in his hand, but more importantly, he returned with an abiding peace in his heart.  While at the hospital, he learned that a post-mortem examination of his father was performed in conjunction with the training of medical students at the Makerere medical school – his father had been designated as a test patient for study by the students.  That post-mortem revealed that Henry’s father had advanced liver cancer and had tumors throughout his bile duct and massive internal bleeding.  This, of course, means that there was nothing that could have been done to save his father and that surgery would have been futile – the doctor told Henry as much in person.  This came as such a relief to Henry (and me) as we are now able to stop the second guessing about whether we should have done something differently.

When Henry told me this last week, he said the fact that the hoped-for surgery never happened “was a blessing from God.  My father did not have to go through the painful operation, but was able to die in peace.”

A few days later, we began another post-mortem, of sorts.  In mid-March, Uganda released the national examination results we have been waiting for since Henry took the exam in November.  These results will determine Henry’s educational future, or lack thereof.  In order to understand and appreciate what the scores mean, a bit of background is necessary.

In Uganda, kids begin school at the age of five or six in what is called Nursery School.  They then complete Primary One through Primary Eight, after which they take a national exam to see if they qualify for Secondary school.  Those who do qualify enroll in what is called O Level, which is Secondary One through Secondary Four.  After Secondary Four, they take another national exam to see which ones of those qualify for what is called A Level.  This national exam consists of ten subjects and is taken over the course of two weeks.  The results of these tests are segregated out by subject.  The best possible score on each subject is 1 and the worst is 10.  The aggregate score is determined by adding up the scores on the best eight subjects, so the best aggregate score is an 8 – one point on each of eight subjects.  A Level consists of Secondary Five and Six where students select three main subjects and one subsidiary subject to study.

Entry into A Level is highly competitive and students apply based upon the subjects they want to study, based upon the career they want to enter.  To have a chance of being admitted to medical school, students must select Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, along with Subsidiary Mathematics.  This “PCB” is the most competitive program in the country.  Following completion of A Level, students take yet another national exam on the four subjects they studied in A Level.  That exam is scored on a twenty-point scale, with 20 being the highest possible score.  The highest possible score on the main subjects is six, with the lowest being a zero.  Two additional points can be earned – one on the subsidiary subject and one on a general paper.  In order to be eligible to apply for admission to a university, students must score at least a 2 in at least two of the main subjects.  Admission to university can be achieved through either a government scholarship or through private admission (full pay).

In November of 2011, Henry scored an aggregate 18 on his O Level national exam, which included scores of a 1 (highest possible score) in Chemistry, a 2 in Physics, and a 5 in Biology.  These solid scores (and lots of prayer) got him admitted to the top A Level science Secondary school in Uganda.  In November of 2013, Henry took his A Level national exam.  Two weeks ago today, he received his results.  He earned the maximum 1 point each on the General Paper and Subsidiary Mathematics portions.  In Chemistry, he earned 5 of 6 possible, and on Physics and Biology, he earned 4 of 6.  His total score, then, was 15 of 20.  We were elated.

Of the 114,000 total test takers, only 54% earned at least a 2 in at least two subjects, only 29% earned a 2 in all three subjects, and the vast majority of the test takers avoided the sciences – the most difficult subjects.  In Physics and Biology, less than half the takers even scored a 2 in those subjects, and in Chemistry, only five percent of the takers earned a perfect 6.  While we don’t know exactly where Henry ranks in the aggregate among those who took the requisite Physics, Chemistry, and Biology for medical school, we do know that Henry will be in the running to be considered for private admission to Makerere Medical School, the top in the country.  We have learned that he will not qualify for one of the fifty government sponsored admissions, but my parents have committed to paying for Henry’s medical school if he is admitted.  Applications for the remaining fifty private admission spots will begin in early May.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated as this process unfolds.

The night before we learned of these results, I had the opportunity to guest lecture in a Crime and Punishment class at Long Beach State taught by my friend Sienna Hopkins.  Two years ago, Dr. Hopkins was babysitting for my sister (with whom she is quite close), and she happened to notice on my sister’s desk an early draft of the manuscript Henry and I have been working on in an effort to tell our story.  On a whim, she started reading it.  When my sister returned home, Sienna asked if she could continue reading it at home.  Now two years later, Sienna asked if she could distribute five of the chapters to her students to read, and then have me come to class to talk about our story and fill in the blanks between the chapters.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and Henry awoke quite early (4:30 a.m.) so he could join the class discussion via Skype for a few minutes.  A good (and occasionally emotional) time was had by all.

In other happy news, one of my former students who has been following the plight of Henry and Joseph surprised me last month by insisting on paying for Joseph’s A Level (Secondary Five and Six) school fees over the next two years.  What a blessing for Henry and Joseph’s family!