Margaret Spivey

Small Feet, High Mountain: the Story of Edith Wakumire Margaret Spivey

Publisher Marketing: When Edith was six months old her mother died, leaving her father with five daughters, a disgrace in the eyes of the community. Twelve years later he was murdered. Edith started school when she was nine, paying for her education by gathering bamboo shoots in the forest and growing coffee. An orphan girl in rural Uganda had two options: to be sold into a multiple marriage - or prostitution. Edith prayed, 'Please don't let me be like other girls. And, Lord, if I must marry, let him be a poor man.' Her marriage to David Wakumire has broken many traditions. During Idi Amin's years of terror, Edith did her teacher training in Kampala, while David smuggled bibles into Uganda for Open Doors. Her sister was Amin's secretary. In 1991, after leadership training in Singapore, Edith founded the church-based Uganda Women Concern Ministry. Their volunteers now care for over 11,000 affected by HIV/Aids and sponsor the education of many orphans. In 1998 Kofi Annan presented her with a certificate for her work at the United Nations, New York. Edith now speaks as a world authority on the relationship between Aids, poverty and a woman's place in society. Margaret Spivey has written several books for children. She lived in East Africa for many years and returned to Uganda to learn about Edith's remarkable life. Roz Hime says: This is the story of how one woman, with God's help - and an untraditional marriage - transformed her life and changes the lives of everyone she meets. If you care about women's rights, education, Aids, Africa, compassion and hope, Edith's story is for you. Contributor Bio:  Spivey, Margaret Margaret Spivey's story began in poverty and violence. At eighteen months of age, after the untimely death of her fa-ther at age 27 from alcoholism, she and her two sisters are abandoned by their mother who chooses to go off with an-other man even though it meant relinquishing three of her four children-that was his ultimatum!