Crying on the inside and outside

 

By the end of the morning yesterday, I was crying on the inside and the outside. The events of the morning followed a week when the plight of many folks here was brought home to me.  One of the Chimwemwe Ladies had come to me saying that her husband had beat her and kicked her out of the house.  She was leaving with 4 of her 7 children, including the baby and the 2 year old twins.  I knew that their marriage was in trouble, but knowing the difficulties this woman is and will be facing brought sorrow to my heart.

 

Then yesterday I was called to the local Okada Community School.  The little girl, Matilda, who we had helped when she became crippled with spinal TB, had burned her leg very badly.  I took Julie, our volunteer from CO with me.  We went to her house and found her sitting in the dark, wrapped only in a thin blanket.  She was shaking and her leg looked awful.  We ended up taking her to Dr. Mutali's office, where she received medicine and instructions for her mother on how to take care of the wound.

 

While at the school, however, Julie also tended to a sore on a little girl's leg.  As about 40 children were gathered round watching, they brought another child, a boy who had a sore on his leg.  This sore was very bad, from the knee to the ankle. 

 

By noon my tears were for Matilda and the lack of care and love she has received, for the children who don't have the most basic medical care, for the schools here where large groups of children meet in classrooms with 2-3 books per class, and for the women who live with men who drink in excess and beat them while at the same time having girl friends in neighboring towns.  My tears grow as I think of my own culture where children can go to the doctor at the first sign of infection, where school districts think nothing of discarding beautiful textbooks and children take for granted that they will each have their own book and workbook, and where women have no idea how blessed and privileged they are.

 

Even in the midst of economic difficulties many are facing right now, they are still rich in the eyes of millions in this world.