The English church service this morning started at 7 am. The Luo service started at 8:30. For purposes of sleep and cultural experience, we decided to take on the Luo service. Young children came up to sit at the front throughout, and the first girl came with a baby tied on her back. She couldn’t have been much older than 8, and I could only wonder where the parents were.
At lunch, the Bishop’s wife suggested we visit one of the child-headed households that Good Samaritan funds had helped support. Five of us crammed into our baby car, and we drove to a “development” on the other side of town. I use the term development for lack of any other word. It was a collection of small huts filled with the kind of dirty children you only see on child sponsorship ads. As we pulled in, kids crowded around us – some half naked, two fully naked, few smiling, most staring. Out of the crowd, the Bishop’s wife and the Mother’s Union worker found two girls from the household we were there to see. They were around 7 and 9, the youngest two of five, and painfully shy. Their parents were victims of HIV/AIDS, and as I thought about their lives and those of their siblings – the oldest was 15 – I was hard pressed to keep the tears from flowing. It will take a long time to get the image of Winifred and Fiona out of my mind.
I came to Africa hoping that my heart would be broken. It has been.
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My heart breaks hearing what these children and others have to endure. Its more than hear say, reading an article or seeing it on the news. Its family we love who are experiencing it first hand. I can't wait to hear what Daddy and I can do to help in some way. Something meaningful and postive, for all that need so much. They already have our prayers and blessings. Get some rest, the Lord has used you in an AWSOME way. The work will continue until it is done, but now you have more help :)
All Our Love,
Mom &Dad
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