Promotion

As I have previously written about here, this past school term was critically important for Henry, the Ugandan boy with whom I have become quite close.  It was the third term (of three) in Secondary Five, the next-to-last-year of school before beginning University studies.  After finishing his “A level” (Secondary One through Four) near the top of his class at Bob Goff’s Restore Leadership Academy in Gulu, Henry enrolled in the top Secondary School in the country for his “O Level” to focus on what amounts to pre-med – they take only Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Math.  In order to be promoted to Secondary Six, Henry and his 280 classmates each needed to earn a cumulative score of ten in the final term, which ended in late November.  Unfortunately, Henry fell just short, along with a sizable portion of the class.  Needless to say, this news was hard to take.

Scrambling for options for Henry proved quite challenging from the United States, and I even contemplated getting back on a plane.  After trading e-mails with the Head Teacher with whom I had become friendly, we scheduled a phone call.  During this call, the Head Teacher agreed to meet with Henry two days later to discuss his future.  Because Henry lives in Hoima — four hours away from the capital city of Kampala where the school is located — this would normally have presented a major challenge.  Providentially, Henry was scheduled to travel back to Kampala that very day for a five-day trip to South Africa we had arranged for him join with several of his classmates.

I spoke with Henry just before his meeting with the Head Teacher and gave him a pep talk.  We agreed I would call him one hour later to learn whether he had been promoted to Secondary Six or whether we would need to quickly explore other options.  After a painfully suspenseful (and prayerful) hour, I dialed Henry’s number.  He immediately answered in a whisper, “we are still talking . . . please call in fifteen minutes.”  More waiting, more praying (with Joline and the kids).  Fifteen minutes and four seconds later, I dialed again.  “I am praising God,” was all I remember.  Henry’s effort and determination had convinced the Head Teacher to promote him to Secondary Six.

The next day, Henry boarded an airplane for the first time in his life.  We talked twice while he was in South Africa, and he had a great time.  His world got bigger as he experienced a glimpse of life in the developed world.  One of the goals of this trip was to establish a track record of Henry leaving Uganda and returning to the country.  This is an important consideration in the US Embassy’s decision about whether or not to grant a visa to Henry down the road.  While we don’t have a trip scheduled yet, we are doing our best to lay the foundation for his eventual visit to the United States.

When Henry returned to Hoima, he learned that Big Jim was causing some trouble in the neighborhood.  As discussed here, Big Jim is the bull my former students and my family purchased for Henry’s family (along with a small herd of cows, a flock of chickens, and a couple pigs) to replace what they lost when Henry, his brother, and father were wrongly imprisoned.  While Big Jim had done his job – he had impregnated four of Henry’s family’s cows and several of the neighbor’s cows – he had also broken several fences and had a penchant for disappearing for days at a time in search of other “gardens” to plant his “seed.”  Finally, enough was enough.  But as a gift that keeps on giving, Big Jim was sacrificed earlier today (Christmas Eve) so Henry’s family could have a Christmas feast and sell the rest of the meat.

In other Uganda news, the next J-FASTER session for juvenile prisoners is scheduled to take place in Kampala in late January, with another one scheduled at a Remand Home in Mbale (East of Kampala) in February.  I may be headed back there in conjunction with these sessions and/or to argue (finally) Henry’s appeal.  I still have no hearing date, but I am growing increasingly confident that it will be heard in the first quarter of 2013.