Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day


A dhow on the Indian Ocean
date unknown

Kaarina Fordham's letter to her father:

Uganda, April 6, 1980

"We have grown more tomatoes and red peppers from our own land. The rains stopped this time, but they will start again fortunately. Here it has been peaceful at school, but in Kampala it is just as unsettled. The Tanzanian soldiers are gone, but they stole so skillfully that they took many things with them. They also shot civilians if they dared oppose them. . . . Sonja and Sari just left to get milk. Sonja learned to ride a bike (I already told you about this battle) and she rides passionately in the yard. The children sang last Sabbath for the YM performance and they put Sari as the leader to conduct one song. It was something to see as the littlest kid stood on a block of wood and conducted the others. People, of course, laughed.

I'm leaving now to see if I can find carrots or tomatoes from the land. The girls came back and both want space to write something. Wishes from us."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mother's Day is a very sad day for us Fordham sisters.

Shana said...

I bet it a sad day. I felt like I got to know your mom some after translating those letters, which by the way I think Kampala is wrong? Is there a Ugandan city with a similar name? Anyway what I mean to say is I felt blessed by working with those letters but I would have much rather been able to meet your mom in person.

American_in_Cairo said...

Lovely post. Thinking of you.

Anonymous said...

I think your mom was good with adverbs.

This was nice.

Anonymous said...

Do you remember the song?

caffeinated said...

Sari,
I loved meeting your mom. I see a lot of resemblance since I've known you for a while. Your mom was a very generous soul. Remember when we ran the Atlanta Half Marathon? (what the hell were we thinking?! Actually it was fun even though I barely made it to the finish line)
I remember that I came down for the weekend and stayed with you all in Atlanta. Your Mom fell over herself making me feel welcome (which I did) I remember her lovely accent, her soft eyes, and her kindness to me.
Just wanted you to know your Mom left a favorable impression.
Love ya Friend.

Kaitlyn Cooke said...

I personally appreciate the time and effort you took into putting it all together. If you are reading this comment, you are lucky enough to go for the best cheap essay writers from our company and free yourself from excessive worries connected with writing! Thank you for providing this information.