Meet Martin

Martin on the left. Stewart on the right, whom you will meet later. Always, always fascinated with my camera.

Meet Martin. He is our grounds man who comes on the weekend to tend to the yard, clean the paths from weeds, cut the grass – *totally with a machete*, gardens and helps me build flower beds :). He is there as the sun rises on both Saturday and Sunday, already working when by the time I wake up at 8 a.m. He works his whole holiday break. All of this and he is only 17 years old. He is working to pay for his school fees because he has 3 other brothers and sisters who also are in school. School fees cost about $75a year which is prohibitive for many students to attend. His parents are farmers and work hard just to make ends meet.

He decided as a young boy that he wanted to become a doctor. He isn't sure where his dream came from as all of his family lives in a small village and no one has directly influenced him with medicine. "I just always knew," he tells me. This will require him to have 3 more years of school in the village, pass his exams and then move to a bigger city to attend a boarding medical school attached to the hospital. When talking to him about his future and dreams it was evident to me the depth of this boy's soul, or as I aptly call it: he is an old soul. Much wiser than his years and primed to make a true impact for his family and community.

He is soft-spoken, quite and shy to use his English, although it is much better than he lets on. English is taught in school here, but only as "that" subject. This means that the other subjects are taught in the local language, of which there are many in Uganda. Without someone to practice English with, it is the same as any foreign language (despite it being the official language of Uganda) and harder to learn well. I, therefore, notice right off when someone has very good English and lives out here in the village. It is different than city life where more English is spoken. To me, it shows they have worked hard and studied for many years. Martin is one of them. 

Meet Martin. He is a pretty cool kid, or rather adult -- as most 17 year olds here are married with kids. He is an exception. 

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