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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 23 1994 - 13 =~ Experience hit Betty Sheehey's heart Volunteers at African orphanage By Jeff Mitchell WwW + Port Perry Star HILE THE majority of us look forward to our vacations as times to lie on the beach or loaf at home, Betty Sheehey of Port Perry travels to remotest Africa, spending her days working with poor and homeless children. Ms Sheehey, 39, has just returned from her second trip this year to Uganda, where she volunteered as a worker in an orphanage that serves as a school and temporary home to 200 kids. Her return trip in July followed an initial journey there in February, when she ent with members of her Mississauga church to minister to the local school children. While in Uganda, Ms Sheehey travelled to Kitgum, a town of about 20,000 near the border with Sudan, where she met Australian Irene Gleason, organizer of the orphanage. The experience was striking, Ms Sheehey says now. "I guess you might say it really hit my heart," she said. After a week in Uganda Ms Sheehey trav- elled on with her colleagues to Kenya, and #1 eventually back to Canada. § But the General Motors worker knew she would return to Uganda, to work with the children she had become, in a short time, so attached to. : "I really fell in love with Uganda, and the people," said Ms Sheehey. "There's such a need there." "I just really felt I should go back to 1 Uganda." A TRIP TO Uganda is not to be taken lightly. It's a primitive, dangerous and disease- infested part of the world, where warring rebels and government troops rule their respective roosts through terror and intimidation. There is a high risk of malaria and other ¥ diseases, requiring numerous shots and ! boosters before departure. And once inside {the country, travel was dif- ficult and hazardous. ku ## _ Upon arrival in the . lk i country, Ms Sheehey had | the choice of a bumpy and | perilous ride in a small | plane, or 12 hours by bus | through rebel-held 8 She opted for the plane ride, having heard | numerous accounts of people being robbed, @ kidnapped, and even killed in remote areas. i "You really had to do a lot of thinking and | praying about your moves there," she said. She describes Uganda as a land of poten- tial that has been stilted by constant war; it's a country that's choking itself. "It has suffered greatly from the wars," said Ms Sheehey. "A lot of the buildings have Betty Sheehey fell in love with Uganda and Its children. never been rebuilt." "In a lot of ways it's a very primitive area; picture yourself in biblical times." The long history of violence and suppression has left a beaten population, who are afraid even now -- with notorious dictator Idi Amin gone -- to speak out against authorities. And while there is much rich agricultural land, those living in the countryside do not farm the land to its potential. "I don't know if it's because they've given up hope, but they can't seem to get it into their heads that there's a lot more there than they realize," said Ms Sheehey. Au OF THESE factors, which are breaking the back of Uganda, trickle down to the children. ~N "They've lost parents through wars, AIDS, and diseases like NEI ER- Talo B1e=1a ole ls A 2 i mest ate - PA Betty Sheehey with some of the orphans in a remote Uganda orphanage. An overwhelming number of them wander the villages and town, homeless and without families. Ms Sheehey said that in the Kitgum area served by Ms Gleason's orphanage, the numbers are staggering. "There's 6,000 orphans in the area," she said. "She's only schooling and feeding 200 right now." | | "They've lost their parents through wars; they've lost them through AIDS. They've lost them through other diseases like malaria, and starving." Kitgum is a town of around 20,000 people. Another 100,000 live in a sprawling refugee camp nearby. ct : The compound itself is a permanent home to just a few of the 200 children who are there daily. The rest come in the morning and spend the day at study and work- ing the small plantation where they grow their own crops. A typical day begins with the staff and children ris- ing around 7 a.m. for a bowl of porridge, then gather- ing in a traditional hut nearby for a half-hour of prayer. From 8 to 4:30 the children are in school and the fields, half spending the morning in classes while their friends are outside, then switching places for the afternoon. | After breakfast there is a noon-time meal. "For a lot of them, this is it," said Ms Sheehey. "When they go home, there's noth- ing. That's their food for the day." In the four-room school house the children are taught English, math, printing and some geography. And although the orphanage is funded by an Australian overseas care organiza- tion and a U.S. ministry, the work that's carried on there occurs without the bless- ing of Ugandan officials. "If the government officials found out (the children) are living there, Irene would be in trouble," said Ms Sheehey. "They just don't seem to want outsiders to take care of their people." UT DESPITE the government's hostility, the danger and disease, and the heartbreaking circumstances of so many of the people, Ms Sheehey remains con- vinced of her responsibility to take an active role in the development of Uganda, and its children. "They need teaching," she said. "If they can learn a little bit more, I think they could overcome... this poverty consciousness." : "I've always appreciated what I've got," she added. 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