How November 30th Became Our Birthday
It was a beautiful morning, on the 30th day of November 1984, when my precious mother brought me into this world. This Day has been so special to me, and each year, I hold special memories of it.
A few years back,while working with TOUCH, I had an opportunity to move around my community with a questionnaire, and the purpose of this was to identify needy and vulnerable children so that TOUCH would help them realize their dreams. Among the questions I asked was, "When were you born?"
Surprisingly, the biggest percentage of these kids did not know when they were born, and had even never had a chance to celebrate their birthdays. This touched my heart, I did not know what to do then. While I continued, I met one young girl, who also did not know her birthday, but asked me to share my birthday with her.
She told me that her mother died before telling her when she was born and that her guardian, (grandmother) did not know. I accepted and she also asked me to be her mother, which I did.
The news of sharing a birthday with me went around, and 30th November became a very big thing. All the kids started coming to me on individual basis that we should share a birthday, and today, each one of us is another year old.
To all my precious little men and women, Happy birthday, I am glad to share this special day with you. I wish you smiles and laughter, Joy and cheers, new happiness that stays through out the year.
- Written by Margaret Bakubi, of TOUCH in Uganda
Margaret works with her sister, Sara Sebyala, to care for children in Kitintale, Uganda. She shares her birthday with more than 80 children this year.
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