Remembering Joyce (the founder of the Learning Centre)

We arrived at the centre in the pouring rain. A small child brought us an umbrella and we were taken into the centre one at a time while our luggage was carried in by children. Immediately we were greeted with hugs and smiles by Mr. Sekabembe, a member of the Learning Centre’s local committee. Thankfully, the rain stopped before long and we were taken right away next door to the Nsubuga family home.

It is a simple brick house surrounded by lush vegetation (we noticed some cherry tomatoes growing nearby). Out of the house came Katherine, Joyce’s sister. It was shocking how much like Joyce she is! They share the same smile and the same stature (very short!). She slipped on her shoes and took us a few meters into the backyard, past some pigs and piglets, to a clearing where there is a collection of graves. There we were shown the place where Joyce was laid to rest after her body was returned to Uganda. It is simple concrete, with the top not yet decorated.

It was impossible not to weep at the experience of it all. Every day we discuss how much we missed Joyce. She would have been so proud to show us her country and the centre. As someone here remarked, it is a sad mystery as to why she died so soon.

I was asked to say a prayer at the graveside, which I somehow managed through my tears. It was an impossibly beautiful moment there with the hot sun on our backs and the memory of Joyce all around us.