How much are 3 lives worth?

There is no way I could leave Africa without sharing one more time the devastating affects of poverty.  It is easy for us to look away and not imagination what is really going on in the rest of the world.  After all, we have our own problems and many of us are struggling with a tough economy.  Without wanting to be redundant, American poverty and world poverty are vastly different.

Kasifa Nakatude is a woman that is waiting for sponsorship with our organization.  Her situation could not be more urgent.  Her children Joseph (3) and Sanyu (8 months) are starving.  Her life has been unbearable as she struggles to feed her children and keep them warm.  Each day she digs for someone and gives a small portion of cassava to her babies.  They have never known comfort or fullness.

Her husband has left her because he can not take care of them.  She is being threatened and chased from the mud home that is sheltering her because she is a squatter.  Without sponsorship, she will be homeless and alone without any way to care for Joseph and Sanyu.

Please take a minute and consider if $70 a month is too much to save 3 lives.  Africa Family Rescue can teach Kasifa how to survive and build a future for herself and her children.  Micro business and education can change the trajectory of this family.  Write me today at melody@africafamilyrescue.org and I will get you started on a tax deductible gift.

Life saving sponsorship

I have been asking God what could possibly be the purpose of this illness while I am in Africa.  I definitely have a deeper understanding of the physical trials facing the poor.  But last night I believe I had a break through that I wanted to share.

If you don't know about our program, let me briefly state an African's view of how to overcome poverty.  Years ago an African friend of ours told us that he believed the best way to help people in Africa was as a family unit and through temporary sponsorship that led to a micro business and self reliance.  We have widows and orphans who are currently on the road to self sufficiency in that same manner.  

The thing that always struck me about our sponsored families was the wonder by which they received that sponsorship.  So many African families have tried to express their gratitude to their donors through words, gifts and hugs.  But last night, I was given a deeper understanding of that gratitude.  My illness has taken me on a journey that honestly (without trying to be overly dramatic) has caused me to fear for my life.  Only those closest to me know the severity of the illness and the toll is has taken on my body.  I have been in the hospital 5 times in 6 days.  Even today I slept 22 hours straight.  The fever is still raging in my body as I sweat through layers of sheets.  The amazing thing is that I have been miraculously cared for by several friends or donors in the states.  I have had the care I needed, the medication and all of the necessities I needed for survival.  In short, I have received my own sponsorship.

As a desperately ill woman in a third world country, I can tell you my need was acute.  I would NOT have survived this illness without my donors.  I can now only tell you that the joy of the people that receive sponsorship is more than happiness... it is life saving.  I am a living breathing example of God's grace through sponsorship. 

As you continue to pray for my healing, please also continue to pray for more donors to come forward and offer life to another human being. 

How do people survive like this?

I have only had a taste of life in the village.  Two days ago I stood feverish inside a grass thatched hut alone and the impact of darkness, loneliness and neglect covered me from head to toe.  In that moment, I tried to imagine the thought of being ill here. The heat inside during the midday sun was stifling. My fever began to create a sickening sweat that covered my back and forehead. I struggled to get a full breath while coughing incessantly. All I wanted was water and even though the vehicle was only 20 feet away I didn't know if I could bring myself to go and retrieve it.  Every smell was heightened.  The man who lived in the hut is trapped inside for hours at a time because he is blind.  It is so very dark and the inside diameter is only 6 feet wide.  The mat that I stood on was bamboo and it made a crunching sound when I shifted from being dizzy.  I could smell his body odor and the mattress is holding smells I didn't even want to recognize.  I looked up and saw the grass moving; more wasps that are building nests everywhere are here working their hardest to create another home.  It is beyond my ability to stay one more moment and I leave seeking refuge from my imaginations.

Returning home to the city ill I knew that I needed to see a doctor.  I had no idea if malaria had begun its work in me or something else.  I could barely walk into the clinic.  I laid down on a gurney and heard voices speaking in hushed tones but I could not understand the language at all.  I could hear a definite sense of concern.  Someone was pulling my jacket off to take my temperature under my arm.  Another person pulled down the skin beneath my eye.  To have someone take your blood in a foreign country is very worrisome.  I was wondering if the needles were clean.  But I heard someone else opening a package for me alone.  It put my heart at rest a little.  The nurse left the needle in me for an I.V.  It was not plastic like the ones in the states.  I felt the metal moving around in my vein.

Apparently I had a raging bacterial infection in my lungs: something completely foreign to my body. Third generation and fourth generation antibiotics were injected intravenously twice in a 12 hour period; Steroids too.  I was left to rest in a hostel alone while I insisted Ben continue the work.  Our time here is so short I knew it was necessary.  It was there that I began to worry if I could even survive the walk to the toilet.  The fever was draining me and I could barely eat the bread I had.  There was no electricity.  No way for me to communicate to the people around me or to Ben who was in the village and unreachable.

You may be wondering why I am saying all these details so let me say this: I have never been so keenly aware of the unbearable struggle of normal African life.  If water is a 5 hour walk away, if a doctor is out of the question due to finances,  if medication is not available, if you are an orphan or a widow alone without support - how do people survive at all? I could barely get up to move to the toilet let alone to a water well!

Today I am a little stronger.  I am still exhausted and of course I am expected to be worse off than Africans who are exposed to these germs daily - but I am completely overwhelmed by the difficult situations these people live with daily.  I asked God today, "Lord, why am I all the way here to be this sick"?  There was no audible response and honestly I have felt a little far away from God so I looked to His word to speak to me which said, "I am with you.  I will never leave you."  Today I am choosing to believe that even while I am alone - I am not alone.  It is a fact.  I am sure that many Africans have felt this way and have come up with the same conclusion.  It is the little things God did yesterday that blessed me: I asked for water from someone outside and they brought it. I felt a breeze through the window and I was relieved.  I had a mint to coat my throat.  I had a book I could read to distract myself some.  All of these small things blessed me.  I was grateful even in pain. Maybe this is why Africans are so joyful.  All the little things are blessings.

I feel.... so small

It is customary to greet a church with "Hallelujah!"

So I pretty much feel heavy hearted right now.  I am doing a lot of heavy sighing.  I am trying to put into words something that is somewhat complex because, well let’s face it: I am complex.

We spent all day doing what we do: speaking at church, meeting with individual families, trying to avoid food poisoning because the whole community cooked for us (the pumpkin was good though), fighting against the worst roads, suffering extreme exhaustion and fear of cockroaches (of which continue to plague me), crying over triumphs, laughing over getting lost in the bush and using pit latrines and the last straw – getting bit by mosquitoes without anti-malaria meds as well as no electricity for a hot shower.  I have seen the poorest widows, the blind, lame and countless orphans dance with joy over a meal filled with rice and beans when I myself struggle with a fierce desire for meat… something our Ugandan families never taste until they are over the age of 18 if they have survived that long.  Today I have battled my own demons of having WANTS when those I see here work 12 hours a day for NEEDS: Survival at the top of their list and comfort at the top of mine.

Even when I walked into a store later this evening I cried at the options of 10 crackers when just outside those doors children were starving.  I have SO much to choose from and they just want a chance to live. 

Crying again.  Can’t help it.  I am burdened and reminded that the needs are many… so many.  I need to center myself in God’s sovereignty and remember He is over it all, and trust.  I often quote Mother Teresa when I feel this way, “If you can’t help the world, just help one.”

Help one.  Help one.  Help another one.  Each one is precious in God’s sight.  

 Dancing in church is expected!

 Ummm... ya - like I said, pretty much a problem in the intestinal area!

One of our newer sponsored families! Thank you Hensons! 

This is just not as easy as it looks! 

 Can't even see in the sunshine - Josephine is used to it!

Whenever I speak in church I always tell stories and can't help but walk into the crowd.  

African's LOVE stories but who knows how annoyed they get when I am up close!

Thanks to a wonderful American grandmother - we gave out HAND MADE quilts to Solange and her mother who had NO sheets or mattresses.  They will be warm tonight for the first time in years :)

Hope bigger than fear

We traveled a long way and slept only 4 broken hours during a 30 hour plane journey.  We drove an additional hour to a hostel to drop our luggage and then rested for 2 more.  We then twisted and turned for 3 hours in a car to get to Mukono village.  It was a wonderful day filled with being reunited with widows, orphans and widowers that have been thriving through our family sponsorship program.

Sometimes when faced with absolute destitution and poverty, I think to myself, “What could I possibly do to make a difference here?”  I sometimes struggle to look poverty in the face.  Maybe it is a knee jerk reaction to pain that is visibly over someone.

I especially will not forget the day I met Josephine in 2011 and saw how she struggled to survive in the bush with her children.  Abandoned and neglected she was 8 months pregnant when I last saw her.  Even after one of her precious little ones passed away earlier this year, she never has given up.  She now has a healthy young baby girl named Robina and all of the children are thriving.  I cried like a baby when I saw her (as you can tell)!

Today I remembered the courage of daring to believe that God could use me and others to make a difference.  I saw the fruits of courage and belief in something bigger than myself.  Today I remembered hope.

Josephine gives me a generous gift! Eight beautiful eggs from her chickens!

Nora is a widow waiting for sponsorship for herself and 3 sons.   Her family is still waiting for a chance at new life just like Josephine.  Please consider our 3 year sponsorship program to create self sufficiency.  Contact me at melody@pahlow.com for more details. Today our organization made sure she could remain in her broken down house for 2 months while we trust God for a donor.  

Solange is taking care of her mother in a tiny rented shack. We provided them with much needed food.

Above is a picture of the home we are building for 4 orphans whose mother was killed by their father and left with a tiny bed and kitchen as you see below.  Imagine a 9 year old child caring for 3 other babies in this grim situation!