01-20-10

We are on our way to another ADP and World Vision office to see and hear about their work. My brain is becoming so full I’m starting to have a hard time processing everything. It is very, very hot with no breeze. After leaving extremely cold Kansas, I was truly looking forward to the heat but I think I will welcome the cold when we get home.

Yesterday was again moving and…well, honestly I have no more words to describe. I’m running out of anything original. Mind boggling, sad, triumphant…I don’t know, it’s all in the mix. We visited a home that WV calls an OVC home. Orphan or Vulnerable Child. It means these people are in serious trouble, in more need than most. That in itself was hard to imagine that there would be someone in more need than what we’d already seen. We were greeted by the Mama. The Grandmother who was raising four boys. Their mother had died, not confirmed but probably from AIDS. The son-in-law was mentally unstable. This 70 something year old women was on her own. She was frail and thin, with an infection evident on her arm and very little eyesight. Yet she spent hours every day preparing the families one meal. She worked the sorghum fields, helped build the huts and worked in the garden. The boys were very, very small for their age. The oldest, at 18, was not much bigger than my 13-year-old. I would have never guessed his age. The mama’s biggest request was to keep the boys in school. To get them educated so their lives would be different. The problem is, even though WV helped with school fees, if the boys all went to school, who was to walk the mile to get water? Who was going to help in the field? Who was going to gather food to eat? She is in a desperate situation with little hope in sight outside of intervention. A community care person who volunteers with World Vision regularly visits the family and watches out for them, doing everything he can. Part of me wants to say, DO MORE! Yet, as hard as it is to grasp, there are hundreds upon hundreds of families just like them. They are not alone. Their story is repeated across the country. Situations even more desperate. Sometimes I can’t take it. They are trying to get the boys sponsored to help meet this insurmountable need.

We moved on eventually to another family. This was a family with chickens, pigs and cows. They were happy and healthier. The daddy was an active part of the family with uncles and brothers to help. A child was sponsored in the family and you could see the difference. We brought gifts from her sponsored family. Her family returned the honor with a chicken for us. J A live, big, white squawking chicken! We piled into the car when we were done, chicken and all and returned to the first home, miles away. I can’t even put into words what happened next. We approached the Mama, still sitting on her mat in front of her hut. The boys were off doing chores. We gathered around her and handed her the chicken. She smiled sort of awkwardly and held the chicken as we took pictures. Then she tried to give it back. Finally, the interpreter stepped in and explained to her that the chicken was HERS! It was a gift. She held that chicken close and a smile exploded on her face. She put her hand to her cheek and laughed and said something in glee. We waited while her words were interpreted.

"I will eat it!" She exclaimed. We all clapped and laughed and had to jump back into the Land Rovers and drive away. But we all left feeling a little better, like we had, at least for one day, made life a little easier for that small family.