Harriett Wants to be a Sister

Harriett is 11 years old. She's in P. 6 (6th grade). Her brother, Andrew, a friend of Bry'Chell's, brought her over the other day to talk to me because Harriett wants to be a sister when she grows up.

The kid is brilliant. She was at the top of her class in 5th grade. Her ranking dropped a bit because she had to stay home for three weeks during the first term of 6th grade to care for her mother after the last baby was born. After missing three weeks of school she was only the fifth highest in her class.

Unlike many kids here she likes to read and reads well. I gave her one of Bry'Chell's books to read and she sat down and was absorbed in it before I turned around. She is very focused on whatever she does and very serious about being a sister.

This is not to say that she's not a perfectly normal kid. Unlike many of the girls here, she likes to play soccer with Bry'Chell and actually makes Bry'Chell work at defending the goal. It's funny to watch the two of them--Bry'Chell is her very American jeans, t-shirt and gym shoes and Harriett in a bright orange organdy dress and bare feet--running around kicking a soccer ball.

Harriett also is known to disagree with her older brother, not something Bugandan girls do. While she is polite, she knows how to speak her mind even to boys, not a common characteristic in a culture that expects girls to be obedient and subservient (they would say humble).

Kids here--girls and boys--talk freely about being sisters or priests. It's not weird. There are lots of them. Most of them will never have the opportunity because communities cannot afford to take them. Communities, especially communities of sisters, don't have the resources to nurture and educate all the young women who want to be sisters.

However, being a sister is not an easy choice. In some Ugandan cultures (and each tribe has their own culture), a woman is not really considered a woman unless she has child. Becoming a sister means that one's culture may never really recognize the woman as an adult, she is forever seen as a child. Still, there are many sisters and many young woman who really want to be sisters. Their sense of call is stronger than their attachment to that part of their culture.

I've introduced Harriett to Sister Elizabeth and Sister Cecilia. I figure she needs to meet more communities. When I met her she only knew the Little Sisters of St. Francis. They're a large congregation and a fine group of women, but I figured she needs to broaden the scope of her knowledge. Even here, different communities have different personalities and it's a good idea to look around and find a community that fits. The Little Sisters of St. Francis seem to take obedience a bit more literally than some other communities. I can't quite see Harriett fitting in with them. She's a little too feisty.