The Jajas

Uganda jajas (grandmothers) were the backbone of the family during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 80's.  These women bore children, raised them and saw them die leaving behind numerous grandchildren for them to take care of.  Now they are in their 80's, their grandchildren have become adults with children of their own.  We were priviledged to meet two jajas and, in their presence, we were walking on holy ground.  The first jaja we met on Saturday when we went out to visit the Send a Piglet Home recipients.  This particular beneficiary was one of the first to receive a piglet when we started the program in 2008.  Since then she has graduated from St. Denis and now the profits from the piggery business have been used to start a poultry keeping business.  The funds from the original pig continue to benefit the family as more children are able to pay for school fees.  The story that this jaja told broke our hearts and filled us with tears.  As we were visiting, she started to tell us about the nine children she gave birth to, raised into adulthood, and celebrated with them on their wedding day only to see them die, one after the other, from AIDS.  Seven of her children died leaving behind too many grandchildren to count.  She took us to the family burial plot behind the house were we saw the graves.  There she broke down in tears and so did we. 

We asked her to pray for Peter Srsich, a young man in Colorado who is going through chemo for lymphoma.  After a teary farewell, we left this sacred ground.

The other jaja we met was Justine's grandmother.  Justine is in charge of the Hands of Hope Scholarships.  On Sunday, we went to visit Justine's mother and we met her sisters and numerous nephews and nieces.  On the way back we stopped to meet her jaja.  Again, this elderly lady had lived through two wars and the AIDS epidemic.  She is now 85 years old.  When we arrived, she was walking behind her house with her broken rosary in her hand.  She was so happy to see Justine and immediately started telling her that "Mother Mary had brought us there."  She also told Justine that she had been looking in the bushes around the house for her rosary that must have fallen off her neck.  She said she heard Mother Mary tell her, "Come closer, come closer, there are visitors coming."  As she headed back towards the house, she looked down and the rosary was at her feet right at the moment that we arrived.  The jaja blessed us and prayed for us.  She is a holy woman and it was a priviledge to meet her.