“My dream in the future is to be a dentist in Canada.” — Maias Wesam
Summary
Maias is a 12-year-old refugee in Uganda, who dreams of becoming a dentist in Canada while coping with harsh realities of her current life.
Forced to flee Sudan, her family now resides near a bar in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement. Her mother, a former engineer now battling health issues, inspires Maias.
Hunger and crowded schooling pose challenges, yet Feed The Hungry’s meals fuel her education and ambitions. Despite her circumstances, Maias remains hopeful, believing in a better future and inspired by memories of her past life.
Maias’s story
In the heat and dust of the Ugandan refugee settlement, 12-year-old Maias is dreaming of snow.
Forced out of her home in Sudan at gunpoint, she fled for her life with her mother and sister. They left behind everything of the life they had built – their home, their car, all their possessions, their neighbours and all their friends at school.
Now, as she walks through the noisy, crowded streets of Kiryandongo refugee settlement, she dreams of pristine white fields and the chill of a Western winter on her skin.
“I’d like to become a dentist in Canada,” she says. “The weather, the people there… the nature of the place. I would like to play in the snow.”
Her daydreams take her half a world away from her humble surroundings. Her little family lives in a flimsy home behind a public bar. It’s close to the hospital in case her mother needs to see a doctor – she has an ongoing heart problem – but it comes with risks.
“Sleeping at night is a problem… [drinkers] make a lot of noise,” says Maias. “Shouting, making problems. They’re even trying to come to break into our house. A lot of problems.”
Problems at home, and problems at school. It’s very difficult to concentrate in class because of the hunger that gnaws at her stomach. She does her best to forget her troubles and concentrate on the lessons. But it’s not easy.
Her mother’s health is on her mind. Once a well-respected and well-paid engineer, her mother lost everything when they fled the war. She is doing her best to provide for her daughters.
“My mum really cares about us and loves us, but she has some issues. She has a heart problem and also asthma. But she was an engineer in Sudan, so she knows mathematics very well. She used to teach me,” Maias says proudly.
As Maias wanders to class for another morning, she listens to her older sister’s chatter and wonders if she will have something to eat for lunch. Her stomach hurts.
Fortunately, Feed The Hungry is on the ground, providing hot, nutritious meals for the children at school. Maias waits in line with her friends to have her plate filled.
“I think it’s a very important thing, because some kids can’t afford food,” says Maias, as she eats. “So they eat at school. I have a friend who was suffering… when they started giving food to us at school, she started coming to class!”
The meal helps her to stay focused in the afternoon. She knows that she will have to study hard if she is to fulfil her dream of becoming a dentist. But as she copies down notes, she is still dreaming of Canada and the better life she will one day lead.
Even as she remembers the past, she is holding onto hope for the future.
“My sister and I sometimes talk about the life we lived, the school at home,” says Maias.
“We had everything good… but now I tell myself, ‘God will make everything better. No condition is permanent.’”
