Butono: The Difference You Make When You Sponsor a Child

It is ironic that 'Butono' is the Lusoga word for small. This beautiful little girl, Veronica, has the second name 'Butono,' but has the strength and maturity of anything but the small, six-year-old girl that she is. When people say that 'this little girl is so lucky to have you in her life' - I know deep in my heart that exactly the opposite is true. I am so humbled, so grateful to have this six-year-old Ugandan girl in my life - who knew that someone so young could teach you what it truly meant to be strong.

 Butono Veronica and I

It is suspected that Veronica was the product of a rape. Her mother was rumored to be psychologically insane, and her father was an alcoholic who wouldn't admit that he had fathered a child with this "insane" woman. Veronica was abandoned first by her mother; her step-mother then deemed her 'not ours' after a short period; she was immediately passed off to her grandfather who also could not take care of her; and she finally was passed off to her grandfather's sister, a woman who Veronica affectionately refers to as 'Daada,' the Lusoga word for 'Grandma.'

Butono Veronica came into my life last year as I was interning for CARITAS For Children in Uganda. I was doing some work with children with disabilities at the Providence Home in Nkokonjeru, Uganda, when my supervisor introduced me to this sweet little girl -- immediately I fell in love with her because who doesn't fall in love with a little girl who holds your hand after only a minute of knowing you??? My love and compassion for this child grew even more when I learned of her story. Sr. Regina had rescued Veronica from the home that she was in, and she was now raising Butono; she was struggling to find money to send her to school. Immediately on my walk home that day, I prayed that God would provide some means for Veronica to go to school -- lo and behold, the next morning my parents called to say that they had been praying and decided that they wanted to sponsor a child with CARITAS For Children... 'Do you know of anyone, Scott?' ...And so it goes...

Butono with Sr. Regina

Who knew that someone so young could teach you what is truly meant to be strong.

Veronica is just finishing up her first year as a Primary One student at Stella Maris Primary Boarding School in Nkokonjeru, Uganda with the help of my parents. After graduating from UW-Madison, I returned to Uganda, working for CARITAS For Children as the 'Field Coordinator." I have many new roles and responsibilities, which I will talk about in future blog posts, but one of my current roles is to get the stories of children that have benefited from this child sponsorship program. The volunteer photographer, Tina Erdmann, and I decided that Butono was one of these stories that showed the great impact that Child Sponsorship Programs have for children in need. We decided to take a trip to Butono's home with the help of Sr. Regina in order to tell this story. A surprise came in the morning, when Butono showed up to come along on the trip - we thought we were going by ourselves, but my supervisor Joseph brought Veronica along to accompany us the trip to help us tell her story.

Many emotions run through my mind when I think about the visit to Butono's home in Kimuli, Uganda. Butono, being only six years old, unexpectedly was visiting the family who decided not to raise her as a child, without knowing in the morning where she was going. Imagine the confusion this six-year-old girl must have been experiencing... The picture below is Butono being greeted by her step-mother who had previously abandoned her as a baby. Although I did not understand the background story at the time, my stomach instinctively got a funny feeling when I saw the woman running up to her step-daughter laughing and screaming, picking her up and swinging her around. I felt in my heart that something was wrong, but I didn't know what... The picture below the next is Butono with her grandparents and extended family, who also decided not to take care of her as a baby. My first human reaction -- whether good or bad -- was to pay attention to the feeling deep feeling of confusion and sadness in my stomach... And from the way that Butono was responding to her family's greetings with a straight, almost numb face, I began to understand that the situation was not a normal one -- my protection mode turned on, and I didn't know what to do... I didn't know how to protect her from something that I didn't understand, and also couldn't control. I turned to Sr. Regina and asked her what to do -- she said she was going to talk to Butono in the car.

Daada's home where Butono was raised

All photo credit to Tina LeAnn Photography

http://www.tinaleannphotographyblog.com/