Have you ever heard the song “We fall down, but we get up” by Donnie McClurkin? Maybe not, but if you were born before the 90’s or have a taste for rhythm and blues, then I am sure you have heard “I will get there” by Boyz II Men. These two songs came alive for me this weekend on a trip with 2 of my co-fellows and 2 lovely German friends. It is strange how puzzles are formed, but this is a story of my co-fellow.
Her first blog, titled “Moving to Uganda with the Worst Ever Luck,” could easily sound like the story of a lady awash with misfortune. I am not going to tell her story; her role as a journalist surely means she is better able to tell it than I ever could. To highlight her blog, she goes about how she fell and sprained her ankle while dashing to a session in training at Yale; that is true. Then before she even got on a plane to Uganda, all her visa documents were lost. She does talk about how she got sick a couple of times, and that too is true. She did have a hard time settling in and finding her groove the first month and I definitely can attest to that. She did fall again while in Bundibugyo during a Save the Children-ACODEV event; true story. Then she goes on to tell about how lighting struck her while in the park. Mmhhhhhh, okay maybe, but since I have seen the sheer power of thunder, let alone lightening, I doubt it. All these things happened to her in 4 months, so there’s no contest – it is a story of misfortune.
This is however to tell the other side of the story she seems to miss. When she injured her foot at Yale, few actually know that she did come to several sessions thereafter with a cane; this is also known as adapting. She willingly limped through the whole training and never quit. Just over a month after she was allegedly struck by lighting, she was in the game park again. Yes, in the very game park where she was apparently struck. Only this time she was there in the night, in a big cat-infested area (I saw 2 leopards that day for the record and 2 others saw a lioness with 2 cubs same night) with hyenas and wild dogs on the loose. Call her crazy but I know something about her now I didn’t know 4 months ago.
Last weekend after our Famous Chicken Friday (to be told another time), we hit the road to Fort Portal. It’s a lovely town within the Rwenzori Mountains, or rather it foots for a hike at the Muhoma Falls. After a 30km road trip on a dust road from Fort Portal, we hit the Crater Lake region. It was nice to actually see the Crater Lake pictured on the back of the Uganda-20,000-Shilling note. Like every proper hike, it was intense. Only having fallen and hurt her ankle less than a week earlier, she was up for the hike. Like the co-fellow I usually am, I helped her down the steep hike by letting her lean on me. Sadly with almost 10 to 15 meters hiking to go, she could not take the stress on her foot any further; she quit. I could not push her to change her mind since it was the steepest part of the hike and not having a medical background, I didn’t want to risk it. So down we went without her unfortunately, to these beautiful waterfalls.
Amazingly picturesque, I just ran down towards them, got into my swimwear, and started to climb the side of the falls. But alas, when I looked back 10 minutes later, there she was. Laughing away at how she made it; alone through the steepest part of the climb. So when I got back down to take the famous “power shower,” a shower in these powerful falls, the whole story of how she came down unraveled. She made it down. Okay, she almost made it in one piece, or at least in peace, but for the deception of the mangrove and the waterway in the jungle that would not let her make it without a fall. She is better placed to describe the fall, but for me, this is the story of Amber Sandhu. She never gives up. She will keep going and she always gets there somehow; although with a couple of falls along the way. Against all odds she has persisted and held on. This is a story and life of resilience.
Go girl, we have your back. A toast to a great year; a toast to a lifetime of experiences.