Geoffrey

Geoffrey is a kid I have known since 2007, he was I think part of the original basketball crew that would meet up each day and walk with me to the courts. They all had their own personality and Geoffrey was and is a man of few words. He says the word, “Yah” a lot meaning yes, but it has an almost German quality to its pronunciation. I once described him to another Gulu SS teacher, probably Matt Michelin as Geoffrey who says, “Yah.” and he knew instantly who I was talking about. It seems like months ago, but probably only four weeks, I saw Geoffrey at Pece Stadium for the Athletic ( Track and Field) Competition. We chatted for a bit, and we exchanged numbers. He has called me a couple of times, and the one day I just felt awful, and we did not hook up. In a few hours, I am joining my friend, Father Leonsyo and driving to Pajuule. The other 24 teachers all went on safari this morning, so I thought with the hole in the middle of the day, I would go meet Geoffrey. I took a boda boda out to Gulu Central, which is in a place I have never seen and the school is certainly not centrally located. It took me 5 minutes to find Geoffrey, and I had to sign in the visitors’ book and then approach the office, etc. Geoffrey finally walked up to the office, it is a boarding school and it seems like every student in the compound was doing something—washing clothes, impromptu study sessions outside, playing football. Geoffrey kind of mentioned that he wanted to finish his wash, and I sat there as he washed each piece in one bucket, carefully putting into another rinse bucket, and slowly but methodically wringing as much water as he could get out of each piece. He then walked to the middle of the lawn and laid out his wet clothes in the grass. Our conversation was great, but there were long pauses, and of course, there were many Yahs to my longer questions. We talked about he was doing in Senior 5 and I told him how proud of him I was that he had worked so hard to be a student at the “A” level –Advanced Level. Not all students make it past S.4, ordinary level. He told me the story about how he was getting through this school by getting (financial) help from a classmate who was getting extra money, because he was a fast runner. The runner was having his school fees paid for by his parents, and would receive money from the school for his track prowess. He met Geoffrey, just at the beginning of this year, and was impressed that Geoffrey had made it this far to S.5. with good grades. The runner had remembered Geoffrey as a street kid who hung out in town with no family and no support. This is the first time Geoffrey has told me this story. He lost his parents when he was seven, he did not elaborate and I did not ask. He slept for several years with the night commuters when the violence in Gulu was bad. And I am not sure where he slept when he was a student at Gulu SS. He said he did not want to tell people the story, because they would feel sorry for him. So Geoffrey has grown taller since I last met him, by I felt his stature after this story was 10 feet tall. He has always been the even keel with the other kids, always was good at just handling every obstacle with a laugh. I was not aware of how tough this young kid’s life has been. My friend is named Geoffrey and I am so proud to know him. The current school is a boarding school and Geoffrey mentioned how much he likes the school. It is a home I guess. He then, uncharacteristically for him, leaned close, and asked for my advice. I thought like many young people here he was going to be short on school fees and my advice was just going to be a plea for help with some money. There I feel is nothing wrong with asking Americans for money, when it may be your only way to succeed. He carefully explained, that he is thinking about getting a camera, and taking pictures of people for money OR he might get a small place and cut hair. He was not asking for money, just an adult to guide him on his way. His parents have been gone a decade, and his simple request was photographer or barber. What should it be? We talked for awhile, and then Geoffrey asked me if I could help him out with something. Let’s hear it I said. He said he could use a pen for school, and oh maybe some lined paper. “Yah, I can buy you a pen.” We had a long walk to town, and it was a process getting him signed off campus. But we accomplished it and were soon on our way. I smiled at a white man in a car in the middle of our walk. “Could I trolley you into town” he said. Sure, I replied it was hot and still a long walk. I thought by his accent, he was British, but he was from Bulgaria and soon did not understand any of the questions I asked. He dropped us off with a smile and a handshake. Who would have ever thought in 2006, that I would be in a car in Uganda driven by a kind Bulgarian with a driven street kid named Geoffrey. We bought some school supplies in town, in all about $15 worth, I doubled everything that Geoffrey wanted and encouraged him to buy graph book which were not on his mental list. The doubling was simple, I wanted Geoffrey to share with his friend---the runner. Another amazing person here, can you imagine a high school kid helping a classmate with his tuition, because he was impressed by his drive and his journey.