A few weekends after returning to Dembi Dollo from the Gambella eye camp, I journeyed with the girls who live with the Daughters of Charity back to Samaro. The four girls who were there for the summer- Anane, Senna, Ayantu, and Letu- had all either lost their parents or left homes where their parents either neglected or abused them. We ventured first to the district of Anka, which Sister Evelyn had dubbed "the end of the world," since it contained a wide, elevated plateau from which one could see Samaro, Addo (location of the podo clinic), and other towns even further out. From there, we headed down the steep drop-off past the plateau, down to the road which led to Samaro.
Alex, the Irish permaculturist, had long since left the million dollar fields, but Sister Kaffa still oversaw the kindergarten, animal life, and plant life in Samaro. We stopped by the chicken coop and picked some mangoes, but sadly missed out on visiting the young calf, which had recently died due to lack of milk. At the day's end, we slowly trudged our way back up the mountain to the sisters' compound despite six year old Letu's worries that we might not have enough energy to make it. We returned rejuvenated and revitalized from the agrarian paradise we had had the opportunity to enjoy.
Letu with her "umbrella"
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