There was a dead mouse in my suitcase last week. At least it only took a day to work out where and what the smell was from. It died in my clothes. I reacted with a bit of a yell when I found it and a few loud "ew's". The guys who where home at the time wondered what was going on. I left my clothes strewn across my bedroom floor and dragged the suitcase outside, tipped the mouse out, left it outside all day, brought it back inside, wiped it out and left it airing while I'm away in Kampala, DR Congo and a few other places for two weeks.
It was icky. And kind of disappointing seeing as there is a cat in the house. So I spent half a day washing 'moused' clothes that were otherwise clean.
But to put that in perspective.
Last week as I was driving to the office I went past a small, empty roadside stall. Little more than a few eucalypt poles and a piece of iron sheeting. Jane's stall.
I would guess that Jane is in her early thirties. She has five children. Her stall is empty because she has no money to buy produce to sell on the stall and she has been sick. She has not really been around much at home with her children.
Jenny, her eldest at around 17 or 18 with a baby who is somewhere between eight and twelve months old, came to see us in the office this week because there was no food in the house and her sister was sick.
Jenny, lives at home with two other siblings, Jill, 9, and Jack, 4. Another sister, Josie, 13, is at boarding school. The last sister Justine, 15, is married.
Both Jill and Josie are HIV positive, as is Jane. So they are prone to sickness, especially when they are not eating.
Justine is married to a much older man and is not his only wife. She went with him a couple of years ago and some of the people here who are looking out for the family tried to get the man charged with rape. But life at home is tough and he had promised the world so she has ended up back with him and no one seems to be able to do anything about it.
Josie is the only one in the family at school. She is sponsored and is in boarding school because her home life is not stable and if she is in school, she is guaranteed to get the food she needs to support the ARV (anti retro viral) treatment she is on.
Jill is not so lucky and continues to struggle with her health.
Jack should have started school by now but if he started soon he would not miss out on much.
Jane has had a hard life but had received much encouragement, care, support and help to turn it around, however it now seems that she back sleeping with guys so that they will support her.
What HOPE do these kids have?
What do I do in response to this family?
When I hold their situation up against a dead mouse in my suitcase it doesn’t even compare.
As a Christian, I believe our only hope is in having a relationship with Jesus Christ and that this is the anchor point for our souls, that we have a hope in a life that is beyond this one. But hope for this world of food and education? While salvation is free, food and education are expensive.
If you are waiting for me to answer these questions, I can't. If you have the answer please let me know.
Cheers
Be blessed
bron
Just to let you know – names, ages and some facts are approximate to protect the identity of the family.
Next week I do not think you will hear from me as I will be in DR Congo. It will depend on the quality and quantity of the internet connection. We’ll see. If not, I’ll catch you the following Wednesday.
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