２学期開始、約１カ月経ちました！ One month into the second term!

　１学期に続き今回もJoyceが、雨期の赤土の泥流、泥濘に手を焼き足を取られながらもBodaBodaや乗り合いタクシー(Mini Bus)で、UG全国土の半分ほどの広い地域を東奔西走し、Ktg県内の4地域に加え、他の9県に、四散してしまった子供たちを訪ね、校納金支払いを済ませ、写真を撮ってきてくれました。
　Following on her travels during the first term, Joyce once again traveled over a wide area by boda boda and minibus. This time she covered nearly half of Uganda, slipping and sliding through rivers of red mud in the rainy season. In addition to four parts of the Kitgum District, she visited nine other districts to see children who are now scattered over a wide area. She paid their school expenses and took photos. 

      今学期から通学を再開できた2名(Anywar Joel, Aryemo Sunday）を加え、計20名を支援中です!! しかしながら、手掛かりがなくたどり着けない子が2名(Aketowanga Beatrice,  Aweko Babra), さらに、祖母や年少の子供たちのため、日雇いなどして、食費などを稼がなければならない2名(Ajok Scovia, Opoka Brian)もいます。日本などなら、夜間学校とかもあるのですが、何か手が無いものかと思案するばかり…もしお知恵があれば、お知らせください。
              Including two children, Anywar Joel and Aryemo Sunday, who resumed attending school this term, the library is supporting a total of 20 children. We have no information on Aketowanga Beatrice and Aweko Babra, so they could not be found. Ajok Scovia and Opoka Brian are working by day to support their grandmothers or younger children. In Japan or many other countries, they would be able to attend night or correspondence school. We are trying to think of a way for them to return to school. If anyone has a suggestion, please let us know.

　中でも一番心が痛むのは、『Amoi Robinaが結婚した！』という話。彼女が初めて図書館に来たのは、2019年の3学期頃、既に12，3歳でした。実父が亡くなった後、彼女や妹たちを連れて再婚した母に連れられて、Lira県からKtgに来て、図書館のことを知り、『勉強がしたい』と通ってくるようになり、学校にはほとんど行ったことがないので、1，2年生位の小さい子たちに交じって図書館寺子屋のメンバーに。通常なら、1年位、最短でも6か月位は様子を見て、就学支援をするかどうか判断するのですが、まじめでひたむきな態度に、『彼女には時間が無い、待たせるのはかわいそう…』と、2020年2月1学期から2年生として就学支援を始めました。2年生用の椅子に大きな身体を小さくして、恥ずかし気に座り、でも、変わらぬ真摯な通学、学習ぶりでした。  
――なのに、1カ月もたたないうちに、コロナで学校閉鎖。KTGにいる理由がないからと、彼女たち姉妹は、Lira県の亡父の親類に戻され、そして、結婚…。コロナがなければ、あのままずっとKtgで実の母と暮らし学校も続けていられただろうに…とかわいそうでなりません。ただ、彼女が望んだのでないかも、強いられたのかも知れないけど、相手がよい人で、彼女が幸せであればと祈るばかりです。　ＵＧに戻ったら、一度はLira に尋ねてみたいと思っています。  
   The story that saddened us the most was that of Amoi Robina, who has married. She first came to the library around the third term in 2019 when she was 12 or 13. After her father died, her mother remarried and brought her and her sisters from the Lira District to Kitgum. After she learned of the library, Amoi Robina began coming, saying she wanted to learn. She had very little education, so she studied with the small children at first- or second-grade level. Ordinarily, children are observed for six months to a year before a decision is made as to whether the library would support them go to school. But Amoi Robina was a serious student and devoted to her studies. Because of her age, we felt that she had little time and it was a shame to make her wait. So in February 2020 she entered school as a second grader with the library’s support. She squeezed her much larger body into a small second-grader’s chair. Though she was embarrassed, she attended regularly and studied diligently.
  But within one month or so the school was closed on account of the coronavirus. As there was then no reason to stay in Kitgum, she and her sisters were sent back to the Lira District to live with relatives of her deceased father. …Then she was married. If not for the pandemic, she would likely have stayed in Kitgum with her mother and continued to study. It’s very unfortunate. It may not have been what she wanted, and she may have been married against her will. We just hope her husband is a good person and she is happy. When we get back to Uganda, we’d like to visit her in Lira.