Allan's Story

The little girls name is Allen; she is about nine years old, and lived with an Aunt on other end of our Island.

Peace our oldest girl, told me how she used to go with her Mother to Allen’s Aunt, so that they could buy sacks of Cassava (an edible root), which the Aunt grew. Peace and her Mother would then carry the sacks back to our end of the Island to sell in the Village for profit. Peace told me that they would sometimes arrive at the Aunt’s place before 6 am, to find Allen digging in the fields.

Peace said how Allen would be made to work all day, if she slacked, her Aunt would beat her mercilessly, with a thick, bone-breaking stick. Peace had witnessed this and I remember her looking down at the floor and shaking her head as she told me how terrible it was. Children don’t get used to beatings, you always live in fear of the next one.

Most adults in Uganda are struggling to find their family’s next meal so they don’t want another mouth to feed, especially if it’s a child under ten, as at that age the food it will consume, is worth more than the work it can do. Allen was about nine, I found out later that she was an unloved liability, and she knew it.

When I first met Allen I was with my good friend Eddie Kasibante who now lives in Bedford, Eddie belongs to the same tribe as the people here on the Island.

One day Eddie and I were down on the other end of the Island, Queen Mary owns this half of the Island and we were looking at sites for future homes. As Eddie and I were talking I saw an old lady walking towards us with a little girl beside her, this lady introduced herself to Eddie and told him that the child was an orphan, and asked Eddie if we could we take her.

Allen must have been told to stand still because, as Eddie and the lady were talking they moved slightly away, but Allen remained standing alone on the grass next to the seashore. I was walking about trying to catch this little girls eye so I could smile at her and let her know that I was friendly, but she was a so shy that she could not even bring herself to look at me. Anyway, I took her photo; it’s the one printed on the first page. I didn’t know what Eddie and the old lady were saying, but I could see there was now some kind of problem; a younger woman (who I now think must have been Allen’s Aunt) had come over to join them.

After a while Eddie came back to me and said how he had stopped the old lady from going to meet the younger woman because he was suspicious that she would brief the young one in order to get their stories straight, anyway Eddie thought something wasn’t quite right. I then remembered how we had always said, if we were not absolutely sure about a child’s circumstances, we must leave them.

There are so many children who need help, and this rule is especially important for girls as it is possible for parents to get you to take a child (to relieve their own poverty), only to claim her back when she reaches her teens, for the bride price. I then realized we were in that position right now, and as I did I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

During those minutes of waiting I had watched this obedient, scared little child standing alone in dirty rags, and I could see that whether she was an orphan or not, she showed all the signs of neglect, and now she had overheard the only people she had ever known, trying, unsuccessfully, to give her away to people who were no more than strangers. I knew then, more than ever before, how it was in my power to completely change the life of a little child.

How wonderful it would be for her to have lots of new brothers and sisters, orphans who had known neglect themselves, to have them welcome her into a lovely home with the promises of safety and love. To be fed properly, to be given fresh clothes, to have a blanket of her very own, to wake up in a soft bed, with the excitement of being able to go to school. Instead of this I remember thinking, I am going to have to leave you darling, I am going to have to leave you. So with a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach, I turned away, and left.

Soon afterwards I returned to England, and went back on Nigel Gayler’s local radio show for an update, (BBC Three Counties Radio) and he happened to ask me, “What was the hardest thing you had to do on the Island?” So I thought for a moment, and then told him the story about Allen.

As I was talking to Nigel I mentioned the photo I had taken, the one that’s on the front page, and realized how there was no reason at all why I couldn’t return to Allen’s village on my next trip, show the photo to the locals, and start to ask about her afresh. So when I returned this is exactly what we did, off we went, a couple of our workers and about nine children in our best boat. So we braved the Pirates, (we have a problem,) the Crocodile’s, (don’t put your hand over the side,) and Cannibals, (fortunately they don’t like white flesh, so I am OK.) And off we speed in our lovely fiberglass canoe called Gisela down to the other end of our Island, to the place where I had first met Allen.

To my great relief the villagers saw Allen’s photo and all confirmed that she was definitely an orphan, we had somehow previously been confused. They said that they knew Allen’s Parents, who had died some time ago and that she now lived about a mile away in the Jungle with an Aunt who was sick with AIDS, and who mistreated her. They then told a tiny girl called Miriam to be our guide, here she is below.

So off we all trotted through the forest, with thousands of giant spiders hanging above our heads.

When we arrived at the Aunts mud hut, the children knocked and knocked, but there was no reply, so I decided we should wait for a while, because we had come so far.

After about quarter of an hour our William tried the latch on the door and found it open, so in crept Florence, Peace, Gertrude, Mary the Cannibal, and little Ada; gently calling for Allen as they knew she might be hiding, she was, they found her under some old sacks, absolutely terrified.

The girls spoke to her tenderly, and told her why we had come, I could heard Florence say to her, “We are orphans also, and we would like to look after you”, (Ugandan English is quaintly different), then Florence gave Allen one of the new bracelets that her dear Mummy Vonnie in England had sent her, and so they coaxed little Allen out.

The photo’s above were taken a few moments afterwards, Peace, on the left is wearing the headscarf, Ronnie’s doing the victory sign sideways, Willy, our young Livestock Manager, has his hand on Allen’s head, and Florence our head girl is next to him. The next shot shows Allen wearing her new bracelet. The child is smiling but she may have been suffering with Malaria, anyway she was trembling badly and although she was trying to smile she was full of fear.

We found Allen’s Aunt a little way off, but she was not pleased to see us at all, I now think she may have been the young woman on the beach, but I still don’t really know. So I said to the Aunt, through the children, how we now knew that Allen was an orphan, and that if she would like us to take her, we would be pleased to do so. This is actually what I thought the Aunt wanted, but to my surprise she refused, and when we realized she was serious we had to say goodbye to Allen, so we all went back home, confused and disappointed.

A few days later I was sitting at home talking to Auntie Alice; one of our workers, when I saw a what I thought was a child’s head peeping out from behind a large boulder in the distance, I said “Auntie, look!” there’s someone hiding behind that rock, so off I ran to see who it was.

To my absolute delight I could see the creature was little Allen! but my face dropped, something was wrong, she was kneeling behind the rock in terror, her hands were clasped together as if in prayer, crying out, “Please don’t beat me Daddy, please don’t beat me, Dear Daddy forgive me, dear Daddy please forgive me, dear Daddy, please don’t beat me”.

My eyes filled with tears, and I thought my heart would break, I didn’t even know she could speak English and these were the first words she ever spoke to me. How could this little girl think I could possibly do such a thing, I then realized, the child was very familiar with beatings. So I knelt down with her and gently put my hand on her shoulder and told her softly that I would never do such a thing and that I thought she was a very good girl who I already loved and that I was going to make sure she was very safe, and that everything was now going to be OK.

I found out later that this poor little girl had been sent away from those who didn’t  want her; to people she feared would beat her, driven by the need of food and shelter. I make a real effort to be especially kind to children when they first come to our home; I make big fuss of them because I know they are all frightened, and will never forget what happens to them on that day.

As I brought Allen back to where I had been sitting I excitedly called to Auntie “Look who’s here Auntie, its little Allen the girl I wanted so badly and couldn’t get” and then I sat her down close to me in the shade, on a wooden bench by our big table. I then told Allen how I was so very pleased I was that she had come, because I was terribly disappointed when we had to leave her behind, and how I had been thinking of her ever since.

Then she told me (through Auntie Alice) that her Grandma, (who I think must have been the old Lady on the beach), had persuaded the cruel Auntie to let her go, so she was sent off and had made her own way miles through the Jungle to find us.I was looking around to see if there was a little gift for her, there is nothing like a present to these children, one of those MacDonald’s soft toys is a marvelous thing to them.

Anyway I couldn’t see a toy right then, but I saw that we had some cartons of UHT milk on the table, so I asked Allen if she would like a glass; she smiled, and said “yes” in English, so I poured her a really big one. I have never seen a child appreciate a drink of milk so much; she couldn’t keep her eyes off it and was now carefully cradling it in both hands, and taking tiny sips.

When I saw this I said to Uncle Eric, our General Manager “ask her when she last had milk Uncle”. After a brief conversation with Allen, so he was sure she understood the question she replied in a whisper, it had been about three years ago.  Then about 12 of our infant children started to come home from school for dinner, (they do half days) most of them knew about our disappointment about getting Allen so when they spotted her sitting there, they ran over to welcome her. I am so proud of them when they do this because they are remembering to do exactly what I taught them.

When I got the first two children, Agnes and Susan, on Christmas Eve 1999, I told them, “you are just two little girls in the middle of Africa, and there is not much you can do to help. In fact there are only a couple of things I can think of, firstly it’s a good thing for you to pray for the welfare of the kind people in the West who are helping you, because God hears and answers the prayers of little children. They understood, and they pray for you constantly. And secondly, give all the new children a really warm welcome when they first come, and then teach them to do the same”. The result is that children like Allen are overwhelmed when they arrive.

Some up until that day have only known loneliness, hunger, cold nights, bereavement, fear, and hard work. Now everyone around them loves them, they must have some worth as now they are the centre of attention!  Here are some of the things our children do and say. Firstly our children habitually kneel when greeting all visitors, including children of their own age. I did not teach them this; it’s their custom, the people in Uganda are very polite. (Apart from our neighbors the Cannibals, who have some very bad manners).They usually greet you by saying in English “You are most welcome”. Anyway, when we get a new child I chose an existing child to be a special friend to them.

All of our children have all been trained to make sure that the new intake has all they need; a toothbrush, toothpaste, blanket etc etc, and that they should make sure that they have been given worming tablets, ringworm crème, and are told how they should ask Auntie for Malaria tablets, a soon as they feel feverish.

A few times I have overheard the child I have just put in charge whisper something like this, “I shall look after you, Daddy says I’m to be your special friend, we will get you some fresh clothes from Auntie, and you will sleep in a bed next to me tonight, we have foam mattresses!” and off I have seen these little groups go with their arms around each other, all talking excitedly with the new child in the middle. The new child’s eyes often go back to me, I have wondered if they think they are in a dream to wonderful to be true and that I am going to disappear.

Allen is timid in the extreme; she is always smiling, but her eyes sometimes go wide and wild when you look at her for more than a moment, you have to look away for her sake as she is close to to terror. I know she loves it when you smile at her, but her shyness still prevents her from meeting your eyes for more than a second, she will look at you, then down, and straight back up again as if your eyes are magnets, backwards and forwards, maybe 50 times a minute.

Now I have found her a lovely new Mummy in England, a beautiful kind woman from Jubilee Fellowship, called Leslie Packman. Mummy Leslie writes her lovely “little girl” letters, when I read the first one it actually made me cry, (I am aged 57 and three quarters) and Leslie has sent her new clothes, a photo of herself, and a cuddly toy. I asked our head girl, Florence to read Mummy Leslies letter to her, so she sat Allen down on a bed, and I sat opposite so I could see them properly.  Allen was comfortable, looking smart in her new clothes, and hugging her new cuddly toy.

Florence began by reading each paragraph out loud in English so I could make sure she had got it right, and then she repeated it in Lugandan to Allen. I may never ever see anything so sweet again, a letter for Allen, addressed to her, a letter of her very own.

As my Florence read it out I could see Leslies words of tenderness going into this little girl’s ears, Allen was soaking it in, I saw her eyes, her unconscious reactions, her smiles, and her whispered, “yes” just at the moment when the letter said to be a good girl. She, a previously valueless child, realizing, because of the clothes, the cuddly toy and especially the letter, that the unbelievable has happened, she is now loved.

She has thirty brothers and sisters, and a beautiful new Mummy too. Allen is in a primary class at school, which finishes at dinnertime. After her jobs are done, she often wants to be near me, I expect I represent security. Sometimes when I am working I think, “Where is my little Allen? Where’s my little Ada?” Then I look around, and there they are standing behind me looking up and smiling. I enjoy trying to be a Father to these children, knowing that having a good Daddy helps you better understand the Fatherhood of God, which is so important for all of us. 

I have a dear old 92 year old Dad myself who has helped me so much, I love my own sons too, Tim, Joe, and Jim (now in their twenties/thirties), and I couldn’t be happier than to have them, and all of the new African children around me. But the latest news is, that the small girls have taught this little Allen to do something that it nearly gives me a heart attack. In the evenings when I am sitting down comfortably in our big mud hut, they get her to creep up behind me and whisper in my ear “I love you Daddy”

This has an electrifying effect on me (which I exaggerate a bit for their sake), I jump up and dance around, and they all squeal and giggle, then I sit down, and they do it again, and again and again. Why do those words hold so much power? Love is surely the most powerful force. I spend almost one fifth of my time here in Uganda, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of AIDS orphans.

Has this story touched you? Do you agree that it’s best to try and do something, rather than nothing, even though the problem seems overwhelming?

Regular giving is one of the best ways to help, would you be prepared to make a Standing Order in the children’s favour so we can assist more of these orphans and their dying Mothers?

Our Bankers are Lloyds TSB Account name. Lake Victoria Children’s Home’s. 

Acc no 2579715.  Sort code 30-94-08. Donations should be sent to our UK Office whose address is on the front page.

At the moment, (2005), we have no grants and it’s really only friends who are helping so we need you to join us.

You will be thanked properly, and put on our mailing list.

May God bless you all. Chris Boxall. (Daddy Chree).

Dec 2006. Update.

Allen is very well and one of our most popular and helpful girls, the photo above was taken recently.