Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
Chapter cover: Hero Margaret at her tukul. Alere Refugee Camp, Uganda
Header: Margaret holds Maggie Iles
This book is filled with the term hero.
It’s a medallion-like word reserved for angels and brave men and women.
How do you define a hero?
That’s why Margaret is a hero.
Margaret lost both of her parents in South Sudan’s war. A member of the Kuku Bari tribe, she became the guardian of her younger siblings. In UN jargon, she became leader of a child-headed household.
A brother lost his life and his children became hers. Others joined under the umbrella of her strength and courage.
There are now eight dependents living with and around her at Alere Refugee Camp.
She takes care of all of them but it doesn’t end there. She cooks simple meals and sells them at a low cost to the neighborhood children.
That’s how Margaret came to know the girl with the bad limp. She related how she watched the girl struggle up the hill to school. The girl had a club foot and left earlier than the others to make it to school on time. In the afternoon, she limped past long after the others had sprinted down the hill.
Little did the girl know that Margaret would be the catalyst in a miracle that repaired her foot and changed her life.
The girl was named Adeit and her story is next.
Margaret at her tukul (hut) in Alere Camp near Adjumani, Uganda
