The dragon who came to lunch

We've been home for a week.  The first few days involved sleep, readjusting to the cold, and writing reports and yes, log frames! In my notebook some writing is barely legible, letters moving up and down the page telling a story of rough tracks, potholes, sharp breaking and speed bumps. I tried to capture everything - people's stories, comments and chat, sermons and speeches, observations... It helps me remember the reality of a visit to Uganda. Some pages have food stains, or smears from tears, smudges of dust, dirt and sweat. But nothing captured the heartache and pain of the people with disability (PWD) at Abeko.

I can't get away from the stories, words leap out from the pages of my notebook, amplified by photographs and memories. The drive to Abeko - almost an hour of rough dust road through endless flat scrubland. The final yards up a narrow path with high bushes and cassava fields on either side. People sheltering from the stifling heat, apart from children looking after cows, or fetching water, some balancing heavy jerry cans bigger than their heads.  

People came to shake our hands as we stepped down from our vehicle, then led us through a low entrance into a mud and wattle building.  Stripped tree branches bent upwards, providing supporting poles for the grass-thatched roof to prevent it sagging.  A large mat was seating for the women and children, the men sat on benches, visitors were given chairs. I sat on the floor with the women, resting my back on the mud wall.

We were there to meet the newly formed Disability Support Group (DSG), and to support them in prioritising the needs of their members.  We divided the group into 2, and gave every single person a chance to speak.  They were each asked to described their biggest problem.  A few days later we went back and summarised the findings, giving the group opportunity to discuss the issues and ways to tackle them.  There are some people I can’t forget. People who walked miles in the heat, or came straight from hospital, delighted that finally they had a voice that would be heard.

Can you imagine having a disability - physical/ sensory/ intellectual – with virtually no free medication, medical consultation or mobility aids, where government schools rarely have adaptations for children with mobility difficulties, or special needs teachers, and no sign language teachers or facilities for blind children? Can you imagine the damage caused to your skin and joints if you can’t walk, don’t have a wheelchair/crutches, and move on your backside on rough hard ground? Oh, and if it rains you haven’t a hope as the ground turns into flooded mud.  The main source of livelihood is agriculture...

I should let them speak for themselves:

-        Children with disabilities need help to feed and bathe and need extra clothing and bedding. If we’re caring for them, we can’t work – so we don’t have money for the things they need. Most children sleep on poor bedding and have a lots of infections and skin sores. If there isn’t enough food, its always the PWD who eats last or has none. 

-        We have no rights – people take our land, our possessions, abuse us, mock us, reject us.

-        My child went to school; he was very bright. Then he was burnt and his face is disfigured and he lost his hand. No-one will greet him and shake his hand. No-one wants to sit next to him and everyone calls him names. He refuses to go to school now.

-        Men don’t want to care for a disabled child, they leave. 

-     I’m disabled. As a man, I have pain in my heart because I can’t provide for my family. 

-        If a family with several children is poor and struggles with fees, you’re not going to send a disabled child to school, other children will be sent first. One young man said, ‘I’m not considered. I was left as a child and nobody thinks of me and education. What am I going to do?’ 

-        How can a PWD get married? No-one wants us, and if they did, a disabled girl’s family are too poor to have cows for the bride price.
-     How can we build houses?  How can we cut logs or climb trees? A blind person can’t build a house. Some can’t lift an axe. We don’t have money to ask someone else to build for us – so we have to live with family or outside.

On our second visit, our brilliant friend Francis encouraged the group to work together to help themselves. He told them ways they could be empowered and said the DSG should find sustainable ways to improve their own society.  As we shared lunch, the group were excited and encouraged, but my notebook says, ‘How do you change the attitudes of families and communities – when will there really be equality and justice?’

So why the dragon? I understand its hard to train a dragon – I think it will be hard to change attitudes and see PWD receive their rights.  And, although its starting to happen, in very rural areas there’s still a massive hurdle to tackle before children with mobility or sensory disorders can access education. 

And the last dragon…. Have a look at this https://www.globalcare.org/2018/01/making-waves-for-disability/ and let us know if you want to be part of Tom’s Dragon Slayer team at the Making Waves For Disability: Fundraising Dragon Boat Regatta on Saturday 30 June 2018.

The Ever Smart Aunt Saloon

I’ve woken refreshed and reasonably well rested – for the first time in 2 weeks no alarm! I’m in an air-conditioned room with a carpet, kingsized bed, desk, armchair, kettle – and large tiled bathroom.  Incredible luxury. We treated ourselves for the last night ready for an overnight flight tonight. Yesterday was mostly spent in the Toyota SuperCustom -  divided between hurtling down decent roads, negotiating unmade roads, and sitting in traffic jams.  We take turns sitting in the front as neither of us can cope with 7 hours of anxiety, fear and sometimes terror, between Mbale and Entebbe! The traffic jams were the worst, as cars, minibus taxis and boda-boda bikes jostled to get ahead – sometimes taking to driving down the wrong side of the road just to sneak advantage on the queue.  The situation is intensified by hawkers coming to the window selling everything from toys to bananas, map posters to kebabs. Roundabouts are worse – no-one gives way as every driver tries to prove he is the bravest- we came close to colliding with several taxis. The boda-bodas sometimes carry 2 adults and a child - I can’t look.  

Travelling from Soroti to Entebbe is fascinating (when your eyes are open) – watching the landscape change, different styles of houses, different produce on roadside stalls.  The nearer we got to the capital, the more produce was available to buy – and clear evidence of more rain in green scenery and variety of flourishing crops.  In the North, there were mostly food crops – cassava, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, maize, and in Mbale we saw coffee, bananas and matooke. Nearer Kampala were tea and sugar plantations- cash crops, and big nurseries selling plants and fruit trees. 

Snoozing in the back of the car, there was time to reflect on our trip.  To remember incredible stories from ex-sponsored children, how Global Care enabled them to lift their families out of poverty by equipping them with literacy and numeracy, practical skills, vocational training, or a school education leading to University. I thought of the village children sleeping on the floor in dark huts in the stifling heat, who told us rats shared their homes.  Then there’s the Ark, which cares for disabled children meaning families can work. We were utterly delighted with the progress of the Ark children, learning to read and write, stand and walk, toilet trained and feeding and washing themselves – skills we never imagined possible last time we were here.  The Disability Support Groups (DSG) were inspirational – with support and guidance from Global Care and people like Francis, they are empowered and given hope. Able to come out from ‘behind the curtain.’ 

The achievements of the staff of twelve are phenomenal: 189 sponsored children (and nearly 150 on the waiting list) who receive education, welfare and medical support. There was a constant stream of children, parents and ex-sponsored children at the office. Then there’s the Ark, on-site skills training centre (including looking after several boarders), vocational training schemes in partnership with local businesses, DSGs, community work, tent hire, wheelchair supply, and a garden producing food for the centre. They were the first group to respond to the drought crisis, their food distribution lauded locally and featuring on local TV as an example of great community care and service.

Schools partnerships are a fantastic initiative and include supporting development of land to feed the whole school once a day, improved buildings and latrines, and staff accommodation. This results in improved retention of good teachers – a national problem in Uganda. Parents want to send their children to Global Care partner schools. 

Behind all this, there remains huge injustice throughout the country. Rural families struggle to survive with subsistence farming or work as day labourers. In urban areas there are endless street sellers, children collecting plastic bottles from rubbish heaps, and day labour in construction. Everything costs twice as much in the big cities – Charles was reluctant to let us buy him a proper lunch yesterday as it was so expensive (£5).

As we turn into tourists, I am so grateful for my Mum introducing us to Global Care 34 years ago. We are humbled and privileged to have the opportunity to visit this awesome country – and see for ourselves how our money is spent. Every trip reinforces our trust and respect for Global Care. Our money goes so far here – and not just for individual children – for whole communities.  

This year we’re supporting the Global Care 35^th Anniversary Appeal for a boarding section for children with disability in Rukungiri in the south of Uganda. We’re also even more determined to help find more sponsors. We think it is an incredible way to spend money – to invest in the future of children who have no hope, and support communities with literally nothing.

For more info: https://www.globalcare.org/product/sponsor/

https://www.globalcare.org/2018/01/building-ability-in-disability/

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/barbara-heyes-access-to-school-access-to-a-future

We've just returned from a trip to the Botanic Gardens - wow!

And the title – the name of a beauty shop we passed on the road yesterday.

Farmer Chameleon

We leave Soroti at 8.15am after prolonged goodbyes to the lovely hotel staff. Always pleasant and cheerful, they were very helpful with Tom’s strange diet (though he might skip chapatti and tilapia for a while).  I always say Uganda is very beautiful – and it truly is, but as we drive out of Soroti past piles of plastic rubbish glinting in the early morning sunshine, we’re reminded that nothing is straightforward in this country! We pass thick smoke where rubbish is burning, but there is too much rubbish, and inadequate waste disposal systems. We were told they closed down the plastic factories in Uganda, but businesses can buy cheap plastic bags from Kenya – because they’ve banned plastic bags.  Crazy world.

School starts today and there are queues of people outside the banks – presumably many are trying to pay school fees. Universal Primary Education is great – until you have to buy compulsory uniforms, shoes, books, pencils, (a razor blade does for a pencil sharpener), and pay a contribution for ‘school maintenance’.  As we drive out of town, we see children collecting water from pumps –late or absent from school.

Out of town, we drive through wide plains with roadside huts and schools. Narrow paths lead away from the road, disappearing into the distance or the bush. People we spot walking head for villages several miles down these dusty tracks.  Speed bumps herald a succession of roadside villages, brick houses, shelters, and stalls selling vegetables. Then we pass through the swamp. A vast area of grass and water. We see someone standing in the water up to his waist – he’s fishing. Fred told us about fishing for mud fish – hoping your hook doesn’t catch a massive dangerous black snake lurking in the filthy water.

After the swamp we pass acres of apparently uninhabited land – then spot clusters of huts in the distance, or see a child with a stick guarding skeletal cows grazing on dry tufts of grass. Other children play football, sell food, carry bowls of logs and produce on their heads – others are at school.  I fall asleep. Suddenly Tom wakes me, in the distance is a huge mountain range – the Elgon mountains separating Kenya and Uganda. Vast high ridges reach up into the clouds.  The car starts to climb up towards the hills, steep drops making it hard work for Charles. It gets worse when we hit the roadworks – clouds of dust and dirt obscure the view ahead.

Eventually we arrive at Sipi. We find a guide and negotiate a price to see all 3 waterfalls. Tom and I change into walking trainers, and we’re given 3 long walking sticks, we have to take them, no option to opt out. We set off along a dusty track. Our guide, Julius, stops to show us an ‘important’ leaf. It is used as toilet paper,  a hanky, and when eaten, cures worms. Who knew? Not us! We are shown coffee beans, Julius explains the difference between a matooke and a banana plant. After a hot climb, we reach the waterfall. It is beautiful and immense. Water tumbles down, crashing and splashing on the rocks below, creating a shimmering mist in the sun.

A boy appears to show us a chameleon. Photos taken, he asks for money. We pay up – no problem.

Back in the car, we drive up an bumpy, potholed road full of deep ridges. We can’t imagine what it’s like in the rain.  Eventually we arrive at a parking place where families are hoeing and harvesting potatoes. An old lady sits by a sack of tiny potatoes. The harvest is poor this year. Its back-breaking work.  We walk a short distance and start climbing, then clomping through sticky wet mud and rocks. Round a corner are 2 waterfalls – it doesn’t take long before we’re soaked. We’re told this isn’t what it’s usually like – now its hot and dry and there’s hardly any water! Its spectacular to us.

We visit a viewpoint for the last waterfall. Look from above, we can see the vast plains of Karamoja. Julius tells us the Karimojong (cattle raiders) repeatedly came to Sipi, took all the cattle and killed the men. The community decided to help the women and now there’s a widow’s coffee cooperative. He takes us to buy coffee! Then we drive to Mbale and our hotel for the night.  Our room is basic but fine, and oh joy, overlooks the swimming pool. I manage a few lengths – I am incredibly unfit after this trip – and suspect I’ve put on weight.

As we rest by the pool, I realise I haven’t really stopped for 9 days. Up at 6.30 in the week, still writing blogs at 9.30pm with the rubbish Wifi, or preparing for the next day’s meetings and workshops.  Then I remember the hotel staff, the children, the farmers. I wonder if the concept of leisure is a western luxury.  In Uganda you only get a break if you have a professional job, otherwise your family doesn’t eat on the days you don’t work. If you’re not at school or work, you’ll be working in a garden somewhere, or helping your family in another way. Note to self, don’t take holidays for granted.

Tomorrow we travel to Entebbe for our last night.

And.. I broke dry January with a very nice Nile beer this evening....

Tea, Mites and Termites

I'm impressed that some people read every blog. Takes real commitment. Thanks very much. It's encouraging to have comments and see blogs shared. Today's been a day of encouragement. Our day started at Pamba Pentecostal Assemblies of God church at 8.30. We went for 2 reasons, David asked us, and Tom went to PAG in 2012, and Pastor Joseph and Pastor Simon helped him with his research.

They have a great heart for people with disabilities. We arrived as instructed in time for the 2nd service, to find the 1st service only halfway through.  David isn't known for accurate time keeping -  we should have known. We tried to wait outside, but were hustled into the building and directed to fancy chairs at the front. The leader made a comment about people being late and missing introductions but made us stand up anyway. Tom explained that we weren't sure if we were late for the 1st service or early for the 2nd. There was then a lengthy sermon which was challenging and entertaining. Excellent.  This was the English service which helped. The fabulous preacher was undeterred by the escaping chicken (a collection contribution) or small children coming behind him to peer at the Whites.

There were some excellent quotes, including:

'When you pray, God's delay is not God's denial, be patient, He knows you personally.'
'Don't lose your temper, nobody wants it, everyone has a temper.'

After an hour, the service finished, we found David outside, and went back inside for the 2nd service in the local language, Ateso. We sat at the back. There was exuberant praise with singing, jumping and dancing. Then I joined the children. Bizarrely, Tom chose to stay in the service for a repeat of the sermon in Ateso. I had a brilliant time with 75 1-14 year olds (half the children are still in the villages for the school break). The children led singing and prayers, then we had a talk from the Sunday School teacher. I was asked to talk to the children at 3 points in the session. For some inexplicable reason I'd forgotten this would happen. I bottled out the 1st time and stuck to hellos and greetings, 2nd time I managed a story, 3rd time I resorted to songs. Songs proved a great success. Before long everyone was joining in including the young drummer. We had lots of laughs... Until the point where they decided they'd sing 'my' songs to the main church next week and we had to repeat until word perfect - a hot, tiring process.

Tom and David were chatting with Pastor Joseph, then just as we were about to leave, we were led to a table and chairs under a tree and served tea, bottled water, bread, and termites. It was an honour to be served food with the pastor. Ugandans are incredibly welcoming, any hospitality comes with food of some kind. Tom tried the termites first, but soon we were all happily munching and crunching. They were fried with garlic and chilli and not bad! We learnt the lady who prepared them has a business and people come for all round to buy her termites. Collecting them is a laborious, time consuming activity.. And not without hazard. The business made it possible for the lady to build a house and buy livestock. She even gave a pig to the church.

We had a quick turnaround then went to our friend Michael's for lunch. We were served a feast of rice, potatoes, chapattis, cabbage, pork, chicken and smoked fish, and cassava for Tom.  During the afternoon, children kept arriving, until there were about 35.  It was too hot to play so they amused themselves until Tom produced his tin whistle to entertain them. Finally the awaited moment arrived - out came the 'Par-a-chute'. At maximum capacity, I counted 85 children. I stopped playing when we reached 60 due to risky over-crowding.  The flapping silk blew up huge clouds of dust and straw. I can't tell you how much I enjoy watching Uncle Mike in action. He does this because he loves children and they love this single opportunity for organised play in their community.

The parachute is a 'Wightman' model, bought by a family at our church. It came here in 2010 and only has one patched rip. Mike has adapted games I taught him, or he read in books, so they have a Ugandan twist. I love it. This parachute has brought joy to the lives of 100s of children over the years. When you watch shy, barefoot children in ragged clothes shrieking with laughter and delight you can't help but laugh with them.

I'm thinking about commitment tonight... The way Pamba PAG has grown and flourished and cares for people in desperate situations- through the commitment of the leaders and church family. My limited commitment to persevering in my Christian walk or in the work of Global Care.  The commitment of the local team here, who work to find ways to support vulnerable children both at work and at home.

Now I'm going to pack, ready for another holiday day tomorrow and the journey to Mbale.

How many potatoes can you peel in a day?

So that was our last day of work here. We’ve another day in Soroti, a day to visit Sipi Falls, a day of driving, and a day in Entebbe before our midnight flight on Wednesday. Once again, we’ve been made incredibly welcome. We’ve reconnected with our Global Care Soroti family and made some new friends. We’ve been truly blessed and spoilt with good food and chat. We’ve written more logframes than I care to remember.  The exercise reinforced our impression of the inspiration, vision and care of this team. We’ve asked difficult questions and left them with more work, and really hope what we did has helped them with their proposals for new interventions. We’ve talked about budgets and business plans – for anyone reading this who really knows me, I had a giddy moment when I showed the team how to write a Gantt Chart!! We’ve looked at reports and recording and thought again how hard it is when you keep paper records or don’t have access to computers which have become so much part of our daily lives.

There are some moments I will never forget:

·         Mike and Sam stripping corn cobs so they can take the maize for milling.  A pile of maize sacks was an encouraging example of the great harvest they had this year. As their knives peeled the kernels, yellow mini hailstones rained around them. By the end their chairs and bowls were islands in a sea of corn.

·         Meeting sponsored children and hearing their stories. Shy teenagers and confident young men, the little 4-year-old boy. Knowing how grateful they are because they say without GCare they would be ‘nothing’.

·         Listening today to Francis, a National Representative for disabled people speak with passion and wisdom. It was uncomfortable sitting on my wrap on a hard, dirty stone floor, with other women. The men sat on chairs or benches. Francis talked to the executive committee of the new Abeko Disability Support Group, helping them understand the legal process and constitutional requirements for a village group. People arrived slowly – some walking miles in the heat. One exhausted women arrived with an IV cannula in her hand, and lent against a tree trunk, sweat pouring off her face. But they came. They want to learn how they can improve the lives of people with disability.

·         Peering into a tiny dark hut to see our friend from the Ark and her beautiful smile as we left.

·         The mother cradling her disabled son with compassion and love pouring over him like a sweet balm of peace.

·         Listening to people talk about the problems for people with disabilities – some similar but most vastly different from the UK. How can you fetch water if you can only crawl, or if the borehole is too far away, or if you’re blind? How can you build a house if you can’t use an axe or climb a tree for branches or get a job to pay for materials or labour?

The laughter and smiles in the Ark. The peace and joy covering the children. Seeing a child count from 1-10, standing in a standing frame, talking – all huge improvements from last time we were here. And the child who was like a different boy. Gone was the miserable, unsociable child and here was a laughing healthy boy who wanted to play and was cross if Uncle wasn’t with me.

·         Seeing tiny, tiny babies at Amecet – motherless or sick or both. Little faces crying for comfort and love and milk. And the awesome caring team who look after them.

Today I thought I’d give you some money facts.

·         We paid a similar amount for 11 nights at our hotel in Soroti as the families were given to set up businesses to provide for their disabled children and the rest of the family, when children were discharged from the Ark.

·         We pay our driver Kampala Muzungu rates and the daily cost of the car and driver is the same as someone in the village gets for a month.       

 Peeling a 20 -25kg basin of potatoes pays 1,000UgS (about 20p). An elderly grandmother supporting herself and a child can probably peel 3 – 5 /day. That’s their only income.

·         We paid 3 times as much for a meal in the hotel (which is full of foreigners) as we paid in the café in Mbale, and one hotel meal is not much less than the price of a chicken (£4).

·         In the village you pay someone to maintain and protect the borehole – nothing is free here.

·         In town in a poor area, renting a small hut will cost you £6/month and you share a latrine with 30-50 people.

It really is a crazy world. The grandmother could never afford a 40p rolex – she has to provide for everything – not just food. 

I suspect we’re going to go home and consider our giving again and as we go back to our lovely home, I hope we don’t just count our blessings but remember the need here too.

I am incredibly grateful to Global Care for allowing us the privilege of seeing the work first hand, meeting families and communities who benefit from their work, children with hope for the future, and the utterly wonderful local team. 

Help, I need somebody

I’ve just handed a package to a small shy boy. His clothes are dirty and although he’s wearing shoes, the laces are missing. He doesn’t seem familiar with unwrapping a present – eventually I help, and we rip it apart. He holds up the T-shirts, I don't know if he's pleased. He speaks Kumam... His friends and teachers speak Ateso. Fortunately David speaks Kumam.  We show him the coloured pencils and drawing pad and he draws a tree and a cup. He lives alone with his Grandmother in town. They can’t live with the family in the village because a land dispute ended in violence, and it isn’t safe for them. His mother has left him but brings him today. His father died. His grandmother earns money by peeling potatoes. She’s paid 20p per basin of peeled potatoes. That’s what the pair of them live on.

Because of sponsorship, this boy can go to school – his fees are paid, he’s provided with uniform and books. He will receive soap, healthcare and general welfare care. He will have lunch at school every day.  He’s 4. Without Global Care he would be unlikely to start school until he is much older... If ever. Living alone with his grandmother, he helps with chores around the house. He will get gifts from GCare which may include fruit trees, a mattress, water carrier, oil lamp, cup and plate – even livestock. He’s been given a chance to have hope for the future.

Blog followers will know there is always a blog about sponsorship. We’ve been excited to meet up with our own children and those sponsored by friends. We met a tiny frightened hungry child in 2008, with his baby brother and desperate widowed mother. Now he’s a strong healthy teenager training to be a motor mechanic. We've seen the value of this programme. We’ve sponsored children who were bright academically, and met ex-sponsored children who are doctors, lawyers and engineers. For others the outcome may be different. Girls may get pregnant, thinking a man is a good option for financial support. That is rarely the case. We’ve sponsored children who’ve moved away, who’ve completed education and we’ve lost contact, and some repeat primary school years so many times they are 18-20 yrs old when they go to secondary school. They have gaps.in education...  the weather is too bad for the walk to school along several miles of muddy flooded tracks.  Their family may prefer them to work at home. One option is to apply for vocational training schemes. We’ve seen ex-sponsored children working in carpentry, hairdressing, sewing, welding and mechanics. Some even have their own business. Global Care sponsorship is about enabling children to gain skills to be able to support themselves and their family one way or another. We’ve come up with a phrase this week ‘improve life chances’.

Yesterday we saw barefoot children in ragged clothes living in dark, tiny claustrophobic huts. Some of these children have no hope of ever going to school. Some will struggle to get anything other than casual labour. In villages, we see small children fetching water, looking after cows, caring for younger siblings, cleaning, working in the garden, fishing for mud fish - all tasks focussed on survival, some jobs are dangerous or unsafe. We’ve seen poverty in many guises, including lack of basic needs such as food, clothing and sanitation, but also in terms of loss of respect or being ostracised and alone.

What excites us about this charity is that it isn’t afraid to attack the most difficult situations – they really do bring hope and light to places of fear and darkness.  We’ve seen schools with wheelchair ramps, school gardens with successful crops providing food for all the children, safe storage for books, concrete classrooms where once there were leaky thatched roofs. And you can’t underestimate the impact The Ark and the Disability Support Group have made to families with children or adults with disability, and the slowly changing attitudes amongst local people to disability. In Soroti there was a feeding programme during the drought, there is a skills training centre for sewing, they are working on their own garden as part of a self-sufficiency plan. Everyone you speak to who has encountered Global Care is full of praise and gratitude, every family, child and community.

Trust us, this system works. It takes a holistic approach to children and families in the context of their community. It works to improve the lives of as many people as possible and always looks for self sustainable solutions. The staff are inspirational. Go for it - £22/month for sponsorship, but as little as £3/month to be a project supporter. You know it makes sense!

https://www.globalcare.org/product/sponsor/ 

Today we also did a session on Business Planning, wrote reports, suggested recommendations, and visited the wonderful YWAM centre for abandoned babies and sick children... See  Drtomgoesglobal  for more.  

The Mummy: Unwrapped

I’m a Global Care volunteer, a wife, and a Mum with 3 adult sons. When my children were small, my husband worked long hours and helped where he could. My friend has 4 children. One has learning disabilities. Her husband also works long hours and is away from home most weeks. Her son goes to a special school, so during term time it’s the evenings and weekends that are hard. They get some respite through social services. She's one of my heroes!

We visited three of our old friends today - children discharged from the Ark. We also met their mothers. Their families attended Physio sessions when the children were at the Ark. They leant how to care for their children at home. They’ve each been given money to invest – after discussing their ideas with the GC managers in Soroti and agreeing a plan.  First, we went to a tiny hut, where a girl with athetoid cerebral palsy (we'll call her Susan), was lying in clean clothes on a clean mattress being fed by her sister. A very different situation from when she started at the Ark 5 years ago. There are 11 people in the family. Both parents were casual labourers, earning a pittance on the days they worked. With their GC investment, the mother started a business selling dried fish, and the father selling cassava. During the day, Grandma cares for Susan and the younger children, while others are at school or working. Susan was distracted by her breakfast banana while we were visiting, but we had a lovely smile as we left.

Our second visit was to ‘James’ who lives with his extended family in a house built through his grandmother’s nursing pension. James is an active child who puts everything in his mouth and has an unhelpful habit of escaping the compound in his wheelchair, heading for a busy road. It was great to see him playing with his sister. His Grandma told us they've moved things into the house so James can't eat dusty dirty objects. I can’t imagine what its like looking after James – and at night he can be noisy. His mother used her money to set up a clothing business. She buys bales of clothes in town and sells them by the roadside. She says she makes a good profit. She can provide for her family and care for her disabled son. 

At the final home, we were all moved by a mother holding her son with love and compassion, bent over him rubbing his back and nuzzling his head.  Her love and care radiated round the room.  17-year-old ‘Emmanuel’ and his mother live in a teacher’s house at the school where she works. Ema had un-diagnosed meningitis when he was 1.  He has no functional movement in his limbs. He can hear and see some things, but doesn’t speak. Ema is sick. Very sick. His mother takes him to hospital for treatment but he’s so big its becoming difficult. He’s in too much pain to sit in his wheelchair so they take a boda-boda motorbike. The guards at the hospital won’t let the motorbike into the compound so she has to carry Ema to the doctor. Then she carries him to other buildings for tests, back to the doctor for results, then the pharmacy for medication. Then they have to get home again. Today Ema was silent and kept drifting asleep.  Carrying and caring for Ema has left his mother with a painful back. The doctors say there’s nothing else they can do except relieve Ema’s symptoms. School starts tomorrow. If she works, Ema is alone at home. When he was well, he’d go to the Ark and at home  other children would push him around in his wheelchair. His mother told us that before the Ark, he stayed home alone when he was well, she missed work when he was sick. This was their life for 12 years. She's an amazing example of a mother's unconditional sacrificial love.  Ema’s mother has spent most of her money on medical bills, but also plans to buy a cow - an investment here.  Her strength and courage were inspirational, her love overwhelming. 

I'm in awe of these mothers and grandmothers. I'm in awe of how hard GCare worked to find ways to relieve the suffering of parents and children when Tom was doing his research. Back then these children were hidden away, in the shadows or even under beds. No special schools or social services.

Today the mothers were incredibly grateful to GCare. They found hope when they realised people not only understood how difficult their situations, but wanted to help. GCare reaches out to individual children in unique situations, supporting extremely vulnerable children, families and communities...  with wisdom and integrity. Days like today may bring me to tears, but also bring stories of change and hope. These 3 children are no longer behind the curtain, their families not alone and outcast, and they have people who will continue to care for them and regularly visit. 'We can't do everything, we mustn't do nothing, we can do something.' 

Incidentally,  the wheelchairs all came from GCare. 

We also visited a school where wheelchair ramps had been installed, some boys on vocational training schemes, and met lots more sponsored children – but that’s for another day! I'm not blogging about the 2 hours of logframes...