Becoming Real

What a miracle. Absolutely none of the kids tested positive for HIV! That is amazing considering that many of their parents tested positive.

I keep thinking about how to make the situations that these kids live in real to everyone back home, because I don't think that I had a real understanding or grasp until I came here and experienced it for myself. I remember reading articles about extreme poverty and statistics and being shocked by them, but it was still unreal to me; it didn't affect me personally. Most people are not aware of the extreme poverty that a majority of the rest of the world lives in, and even if they are aware of it maybe it is just another statistic to them. The people that I have encountered here are people that will die namelessly in many circumstances. Their stories are rarely told even though man of them work harder, experience more pain, live each day fuller, face more challenges, sweat more, and endure more than many of us could imagine in a lifetime. I just hope that the stories that I share help to make this all more real and more urgent.

Today at school there was a little girl named Sharon and she had huge cuts on her feet that had become infected and were pussing and swelling. We treated her wounds and cleaned them up but we could not take her to the hospital because the doctor leaves at noon and there is only one doctor, so we will have to wait till tomorrow so I can take her to get injections. Sharon lives with her grandmother. I asked one of the teachers why Sharon's grandmother did not do anything about the wounds. The teachers said that Sharon's grandmother may not have noticed, or she may not have known what to do and since they do not have money to take Sharon to the doctor the grandmother may have just decided to ignore the wounds. If Sharon had not been given the opportunity to come to our school, which is free for the children, unlike the other schools that charge fees, then her wounds may not have ever been treated and only gotten worse. Who knows what effects the wounds would eventually have on her health.

Please pray for Sharon's feet that they will heal and not get even more infected. Pray for how we should keep helping these children and that we could come up with some creative ideas for supporting them.

Also, African children love dancing, so if you haven't danced in a while maybe you should try it, because they seem to think that it is the greatest thing ever and African children smile a lot.

Hopefully I can post pictures of the traditional dances and of the children when I get back in a week so that you can see all the beautiful faces that I get to see every day.

hold strong have faith believe in love