Magdalene

A photo I can't forget

Magdalene, the hope of a mother

Last week I heard news that Nakalula passed away.  Perhaps you remember the story I wrote of last year?  Nakalula was in the fifth stage of syphilis and her daughter Grace (then 17) was dying of AIDS?  I met them on a dirty and roach infested floor in Uganda.  I will never forget that fateful day.  It changed my life.  I will never forget the blessing of a bed when I am sick.  

Grace passed away in September and Nakalula passed away just last week.  The oldest child to care for 4 kids?  He is 12 and mentally handicapped.  So all hopes lie on a young girl named Magdalene.  She is 10.  That is the same age of my youngest daughter Hope.  The weight of the world on her shoulders?  Impossible.  I can't imagine the force of grief Magdalene is carrying.

With Global Family Rescue, she will not be totally alone; that is a certainty.  But Magdalene will never be a child again and there is nothing I can do about that.  It makes me crazy.  There are times I feel so powerless and this is one of them.  

We are waiting for the outcome of the funeral to see who will become guardian over this family.  Options are distant relatives or local families who have been aware of the situation intimately.  I don't know what will happen to Magdalene.  I am sitting here thinking that this is only one family of orphans to be concerned with.  And how many others are there in the world?