A little girl has come to us- she is about 6- we have named her Hadassah- meaning Ester or Star. She was found as an infant under a bush after an attack by the Lord's Resistance Army in the north of Uganda. The old lady who found her waited for hours thinking her parents would come searching for her. As night fell the old lady saw noone and took herself and the child to a 'displaced persons camp', where the only hope is to get food from foreign aid and people don't even own a blanket. She lived there for the last four years, no school, no spare clothes, no toys- until the old lady could no longer take care of her and sent for her daughter to come and take her to the City of Kampala.

We visited the daughter and she had nothing and was barely making it with her own child. So we took Hadassah in. She speaks no English, Lugandan or Swahilli so we communicate in sign language. At first she was really afraid of me as I was the first white person she had seen, but today I crossed my eyes and she laughed and trusted me to lift her up so she could climb and play.

(A week later)...My last day today and as usual I hug all the children when I arrive and ask how they are. Hadassah stands to one side waiting, I call her over and hug her and ask how she is and suddenly the words come out of her mouth, "I am fine."- my eyes fill with tears. My sweet, sweet girl, you will be fine, I promise you.

Christine Atcheson

June 2006