July 22, 2009 | Pulitzer Center
Donate NowMary Wiltenburg, for the Pulitzer Center
Neema's friend from Mkugwa camp, 16-year-old Sarra Sango, says it makes sense to her.
Why did Neema do it? In Tanzania, I spent a lot of time trying to understand more – emotionally and culturally – about the decision Bill Clinton's sister made as a young teen to run away and leave her family.
Neema says she regrets the choice to flee the camp after her rape by two older boys – as do her parents. In Mtabila camp, old friends Jean-Paul Rukundo and his wife were sympathetic, but as parents of eight children, they said they couldn't support her decision. Friends Eva Sango and her husband, whom I met in Kanembwa camp awaiting their resettlement overseas, saw the whole thing as a tragedy. But no, the parents of five agreed, Neema shouldn't have run away.
Not until near the end of my visit to Kanembwa, when I stole a cool moment on the floor of Eva's mud-brick house, did I hear another story.