She greets me every morning with a huge smile and hug, patiently teaches me about Ugandan culture and thanks me for asking her to kill a cockroach in our bathroom because I’m too big of a wuss to do it myself. Her name is Joyce and she works tirelessly to keep the Sole Hope guest house clean. Today Joyce told me that her sister and brother-in-law are traveling down to Jinja from her hometown, Paidha, in the north to visit her. “Oh that’s so exciting!” I exclaimed. “How long has it been since you’ve seen your sister?” “Five years” Joyce responded.
Joseph Kony used Joyce’s hometown as the headquarters for his Lord’s Resistance Army in the early 2000s. Fifteen years ago, Joyce and her husband made an extremely dangerous and brave decision to escape Kony’s reign by moving to Jinja. Her younger brother was captured by the LRA and she hasn’t heard from him in twelve years. Her mother and remaining six siblings were unable to escape Paidha for various reasons.
My conversation with Joyce today was one of the most humbling I’ve had in a while. Her life is so full of pain, loss and suffering that I can barely even begin to comprehend, yet she has the brightest smile and most optimistic attitude every single day. Today’s challenge is nothing novel, in fact I’m sure we’ve all heard it countless times (thanks John Mayer), but somehow we still seem to forget: say what you need to say. Tell the people you love that you love them instead of assuming they know. Make sure they know that you are grateful you get to spend time with them more frequently than once every five years.
Joseph Kony used Joyce’s hometown as the headquarters for his Lord’s Resistance Army in the early 2000s. Fifteen years ago, Joyce and her husband made an extremely dangerous and brave decision to escape Kony’s reign by moving to Jinja. Her younger brother was captured by the LRA and she hasn’t heard from him in twelve years. Her mother and remaining six siblings were unable to escape Paidha for various reasons.
My conversation with Joyce today was one of the most humbling I’ve had in a while. Her life is so full of pain, loss and suffering that I can barely even begin to comprehend, yet she has the brightest smile and most optimistic attitude every single day. Today’s challenge is nothing novel, in fact I’m sure we’ve all heard it countless times (thanks John Mayer), but somehow we still seem to forget: say what you need to say. Tell the people you love that you love them instead of assuming they know. Make sure they know that you are grateful you get to spend time with them more frequently than once every five years.
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