No words
The past two days we have been out in the villages doing OVC (orphan vulnerable children) and HBC (home based care visits). An Orphan Community Trusts is a project that addresses the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children and the people who care for them who are suffering under the burden of poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic (https://adelphe.worldhope.net/). World Hope distributes food, provides palliative care for critically ill community members, and are taught livelihood skills in order to better provide for themselves and the vulnerable children and orphans within the community. There is a caregiver who travels to each home, once, maybe even two times a day, to check on the family and make sure they are getting everything they need. The amazing thing about the caregivers is that they are ALL VOLUNTEERS. One thing that I have learned about the people of Zambia since being here is the unfailing love they have for one another. Most all of the HIV/AIDS and poverty programs that I have encountered since being here rely entirely on full-time volunteer work. This is not the volunteer work that we “sacrificially” take the time to do back home. This is not an hour or two at the local food bank. This is walking miles upon miles everyday to visit a stranger, this is traveling unimaginably damaged roads for hours to care for someone you’ve never met, this is sitting down with a ten year old explaining to them that they have contracted HIV, this is love in action, this is Jesus in the flesh, and it is the most heartbreaking and inspiring thing I have ever witnessed.
I could tell you about the family with three daughters who were only able to have one meal a day. I could tell you about the family with nine children whose only farm cow dieded and the trouble they encounter finding clothing for all the kids. I could tell you about a wife and daughter whose father was confined to bed with HIV and how she had to do all of the farming, housework and meals alone. I could tell you about Stanley and how he had to choose to use the one mosquito net he had for his pregnant wife or his three children. I could tell you about the well where they drew their water, a three foot hole in the ground with water that looked like dirty milk, bugs and debris floating on the surface. I could tell you these things, but nothing I say could capture the pain and deep suffering that was evident in their weathered faces. No words can describe the face of a woman who doesn’t know how she will feed her children. No words can describe the face of a man who feels like he has failed his family. No words can describe the guilt you feel when you get back into your vehicle, drink a bottle of water, and go back home for lunch…
xox
Haley
