I mentioned in an earlier post that every woman at Kagando consented to our picture taking except one.  The one woman who didn’t want anything to do with me was a tiny older woman we will call Rita. 

The logistics officer at Kagando saw Rita and mentioned to Frank that he remembered her from when he was a child.  This man, in his mid 40’s, grew up in Rita’s village and had always known her as the woman who smelled bad.  Now in her 60’s, Rita has spent her entire life as an outcast, scorned by society.  Imagine the pain that such circumstance would engender.

When I first approached Rita to ask to photograph her, she shooed me away with a scowl and the wave of a hand.  For such small physical stature, she had an incredible fierceness to her.  As she witnessed all the fun that we were having with the video, Rita began to change her mind about the pictures.  In one instance she beckoned me over, presumable to take her photo, but given our initial exchange, I would need a little more than the wave of a hand. 

Rita later caught me at the hospital store, which is a small shed that sells essentials and cold soda.  As I stood there drinking a Krest, Rita leaned up against the counter and stared at me.  I smiled at her and she pointed at the shelf of goods saying something I didn't understand.  I looked inquisitively at the woman working the store and she picked up a small bag of sugar.

“Oh, you want some sugar?” I asked Rita.  She nodded in a quick and economic but almost curt fashion.  I paid the lady, who handed me the bag of sugar which I then handed to Rita.  She snatched it out of my hands and ran down the hill.  A bit confused, I looked at the lady working the store who shrugged at me.

When I went down the hill later that afternoon, Rita came flying up to me and grabbed my arm.  She started motioning for me to take a picture of her, but then made it clear she wanted a picture with me. 

Only looking at the pictures after the fact did I realize just how small Rita stood.  Her ferocity and the way she carried herself kept me from ever noticing that she was so tiny.  Just goes to show that stature is not just physical.