Debora and Baby Ester Go Home
August 3, 2009
We left facing what, in hindsight, seems like very low odds. We were pretty sure we knew the village where her family was from, but according to what little Debora remembered and had been told, just about everybody was dead. But it had become clear that Debora and her daughther needed to go. Their three months with us enabled Debora to plump Ester up a whole lot and bond well with her. She is a loving mother. But the fact remains that we are an orphanage and not a home for unwed teen moms. Debora and all agreed that she needed to reconcile her past with her future.
Wednesday morning Debora, George, baby Ester and I left at dawn. I white- knuckled my way through my first major bus trip since our accident in 2007. Watching elephants, giraffes, zebra and baboons on the way was a nice consolation. Twelve hours later, by great luck, we were greeted by Isaak, the second best taxi driver in all of Tanzania (next to William of course). His rate to the village was fair, but high ($60). The alternative however, was hours crammed in a van driving through clouds of very fine, lung crushing orange dust. The next morning we were on the road again. We stopped and asked questions at a beautiful tea plantation on the way. Already the names Debora remembered were familiar to people. The trail was hot. We arrived and had to wait for the village elders to finish their meeting under the tree. That was about 3 hours. This village was so small and I couldn’t help but wonder what the pressing issues were. Finally, we were graciously received. Someone knew the brother- in- law of Debora’s grandmother. He was called in. He was quite a character, and assured us that Debora’s grandmother was very much alive. We were introduced to siblings of Debora’s grandmother, all of whom where so happy to see her and thanked us profusely for returning one of their own.
The next day Debora’s grandmother arrived from a bigger town several hours south. She hugged us and sang and we all sat and had a big family meeting about Debora’s past and future. When Debora was small the family was extremely poor. When Debora’s father died, her grandmother had a very hard time caring for her and other grandchildren. Nobody remembers exactly, but Debora was about 10 when she ran away. She was told years later in Dar that her grandmother had died. For years, Deb’s grandmother was known for making local liquor out of grain. Now she seems to be doing well and is a member of local government. We were given gifts by the family for bringing Debora and Ester home- a beautiful handwoven mat and basket and some food, and a live chicken. They wanted to give us guinea pigs, but I had to draw the line. Sadly, the camera ran out of battery so there are no photos of Debora’s grandmother. Grandmother, Debora and baby Ester left for town, but Debora knows that she and Ester are welcome with her village family as well.
