I couldn't submit a BLOG entry yesterday as we experienced one of the many power failures that plagues this country. The power came back on this afternoon and hopefully will stay on until I finish this entry.
Maria, the headmaster of St Henry"s, and I went into the Soweto section of the Namuwongo Shanty Town. This area is even more impoverished than the section from which our existing students live.
(wow! just had another 1/2 hour power failure. Than goodness for the save feature on this BLOG service!)
Since I had visited Namuwongo several times on past visits I thought I might be somewhat 'hardened' to what I would see. Once again, I found myself trying to hold back the tears as I walked through such extreme poverty, watching the wide eyes of the countless numbers of children who jockeyed for the best position to hold this white-haired,balding, somewhat elderly, Muzungo's (white person) hand. Their hunger was apparent as was their curiosity! How could these little bodies that were so hungry still maintain shy smiles and laughter when I would point my camera at them? How would I able able to say "no" to all but the chosen seven?
Maria was terrific! She would literally capture in her arms a child who looked like a potential candidate and ask, usually in their local dialect, a few questions that would indicate whether a child met our simple criteria: an orphan between the ages of 5-7 years not currently attending school, with care-givers (if any) able to get the child to our program. Very quickly we were surrounded by adults who heard that we were looking for children. Many would 'shade' the truth by saying the child was the age we were looking for when they were clearly too young or too old. Maria would question the children directly because they have only known how to tell the truth in their short life experience. I must admit I made only 1 exception. We came upon Grace, a tallish, thin wisp of a girl hiding behind two older woman whom we later discovered were her grandmother and great aunt. Another woman lay on a bench next to them, her head covered by a thin, worn scarf. We asked who Grace's mother was, and one of the old woman pointed to the bench. Grace knelt next to her mother and whispered something to her. Her mother rose from the bench removing the scarf. It was immediately obvious that this was a very sick woman. She appeared very frail, open sores covering several areas of her face. We asked Grace's age and were informed she was 9. Both the mother and the grandmother got down on their knees and explained that the father had died, Grace's mom was seriously ill, and that they wanted Grace to be able to go to school. I had to turn my back so they they could not see the tears that I knew were coming. How could I say 'no' to a child and what was left of her family, who only wanted to go to school, be assured of a meal, and have a place for 8 hours where she could be assured of some joy in her life. Grace has joined the Namuwongo Project!
(wow! just had another 1/2 hour power failure. Than goodness for the save feature on this BLOG service!)
Since I had visited Namuwongo several times on past visits I thought I might be somewhat 'hardened' to what I would see. Once again, I found myself trying to hold back the tears as I walked through such extreme poverty, watching the wide eyes of the countless numbers of children who jockeyed for the best position to hold this white-haired,balding, somewhat elderly, Muzungo's (white person) hand. Their hunger was apparent as was their curiosity! How could these little bodies that were so hungry still maintain shy smiles and laughter when I would point my camera at them? How would I able able to say "no" to all but the chosen seven?
Maria was terrific! She would literally capture in her arms a child who looked like a potential candidate and ask, usually in their local dialect, a few questions that would indicate whether a child met our simple criteria: an orphan between the ages of 5-7 years not currently attending school, with care-givers (if any) able to get the child to our program. Very quickly we were surrounded by adults who heard that we were looking for children. Many would 'shade' the truth by saying the child was the age we were looking for when they were clearly too young or too old. Maria would question the children directly because they have only known how to tell the truth in their short life experience. I must admit I made only 1 exception. We came upon Grace, a tallish, thin wisp of a girl hiding behind two older woman whom we later discovered were her grandmother and great aunt. Another woman lay on a bench next to them, her head covered by a thin, worn scarf. We asked who Grace's mother was, and one of the old woman pointed to the bench. Grace knelt next to her mother and whispered something to her. Her mother rose from the bench removing the scarf. It was immediately obvious that this was a very sick woman. She appeared very frail, open sores covering several areas of her face. We asked Grace's age and were informed she was 9. Both the mother and the grandmother got down on their knees and explained that the father had died, Grace's mom was seriously ill, and that they wanted Grace to be able to go to school. I had to turn my back so they they could not see the tears that I knew were coming. How could I say 'no' to a child and what was left of her family, who only wanted to go to school, be assured of a meal, and have a place for 8 hours where she could be assured of some joy in her life. Grace has joined the Namuwongo Project!
1 comment:
Wow Howard I don't know how you are still standing!
ellen
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