Desparation.....

This morning a couple came with a small 6 months old baby. The baby looked small and vulnerable. They came to ask help. I tried to find out what kind of help. They told me the baby needed a heart operation, they showed me all kind of medical papers, it were all examinations from the heart. As we talked, Deborah, our nurse, joined us. Yes the child was in need, but to come for help for an operation... We talked and we could advise them, They will go step by step, they will go back to the doctor here in Soroti, then a referral to the Heart institute. If they have to go for an operation, it is mostly abroad, to India, there are organizations who help people who can not afford that, to get them to India. I felt for the mother, how can she ever think that she can go to India, while she hardly has the transport money to Kampala, to the Heart Institute. I promised her that we will help with the transport to Kampala, she should come for it, when she has the referral letter. It can be so complicated here. They left and I prayed that the child would make it through the whole journey they will have to go!

A moment later a lady came in, to tell us that there was a woman sitting outside with a dead child. We asked her to bring them in. It was a grandmother, her daughter (the mother) and the grandchild. Their story was that the child became sick yesterday and this morning they boarded a taxi to come to the hospital in Soroti. The child has died on the way. They were sitting under the tree, not knowing what to do, they had no money and they tried to call the relatives in the village to send a motorbike to get them, but they couldn't get trough... so they just sat there. The grandmother was carrying the grandchild, the mother was crying and very weak. the child was 1 year and 2 months old, the child looked strong and cared for. But how tragic, to sit outside at the side of the road, with your dead child. My heart just cried inside. Simon, our social worker, went to the road and got a motorcycle taxi, it is not so easy, a taxi van will not let you in with a dead child, and not every motorcycle taxi will want to transport a dead body. But he found one and on the picture you see the grandmother with the child and the mother going home with the motorcycle taxi, it was quite far, we paid the man and we pray that they will be able to get comfort and support at home.

It made me think again, that life is such a gift, we should never take it for granted and be thankful for every day that God gives us. This morning at our morning devotion time in Amecet, we read that Jesus had compassion on the crowd (Mat.9:36) I pray that I have that compassion, sometimes I feel overwhelmed, who am I and what can I do?  I can not help everybody, but I can help somebody!!!