This is an update to the post entitled Why? To read previous post click here
A few days after we took the BGR bucket to Amai Ngoma a few of the caregivers were walking through the compound and saw the young woman who is living with her and she was drunk and trying to sell the soap which had been in the bucket. When they confronted the young girl she said that there wasn't any charcoal left so they were selling the soap so they could buy charcoal so they could cook.
Then this past Sunday we went to church in this compound and for the whole 3 hours we were there the rain poured down. All during the service I was worried about Amai Ngoma because of the crack in her wall. I kept picturing her lying there with her walls crumbling down all around her. As soon as church was over I called my friend Esther to find out if she had heard anything about Amai Ngoma. She said she would go and check on her. When she went everything was fine. The small two room house was still standing. In the above picture you can see the flooring I got her so that she wouldn't just by lying on the dirt ground and so that it would also be easier to clean after she goes to the bathroom(because she is paralyzed).
Wednesday I called the caregivers and said that we should go and visit Amai Ngoma again. When we got there we found her lying curled up on the ground with just a sheet over her. The flooring we had brought was gone. She was cold and wet. She had not eaten in a while either.
We went outside to decide what we should do. We found the flooring and all her blankets, clothes, and some sheets on the ground all balled up. They were soiled and there wasn't any more washing powder. We walked down to a small market and bought some more food and charcoal and brought back to the young girl to make some food for Amai Ngoma. I stood outside and talked to the nephew and the young girl about how they should be caring for their aunt and not wasting money on beer. They just laughed and said they didn't drink beer. Everyone around said they were lying and that they did drink. I told the man he should at least try to get a job or some piece work. He said he couldn't because he had syphilis. He won't go to the doctor over it either. I shared the gospel with them. The nephew said he wanted to make a change in his life but did not when given an opportunity to. I challenged him to read the book of John and ask God to reveal Himself to him each time that he reads. I told him I would be coming back next week to find out what God was showing him through His Word.
Then we gathered up the bundle of wet and soiled things and put them in a big wash basin and drove to a small creek(what they called it). Then Matilda and Mary hand washed the patients soiled clothes and blankets in this water. These women are volunteers! I was so very encouraged to see their servant hearts as they did this act of kindness for Amai Ngoma.
I don't think there is water in this spot the whole year. Probably it is just here because of the rain.
I hope that you can tell from the picture just how muddy this water is. This is where they were washing the things.
There was trash everywhere. The smell was horrible!
Would you want to wash your clothes here?
This is also the pathway which children take from school to home.
As you can imagine I'm beside myself through all of this.
We went back to the small house and the food was ready. We found the young girl and older man(the nephew) to Amai Ngoma eating a large portion of food outside. Which by the way, the girl had already eaten that morning and so had the man but they had not fed Amai Ngoma. They use whatever money they have or trade things so that they can drink beer. Meanwhile, Amai Ngoma is being neglected, lying hungry, cold, and wet on the floor! We did go inside the house and saw that they had giving Amai Ngoma some food and she was eating. She was very thankful. She said if we had not come by she would not be having this good food.
As we were leaving we encouraged the two relatives to take care of their aunt one more time and said we would come back next week. They did not even say thank you as we were leaving.
The caregiver stayed behind to hang up the clothes and bedding on the line so that it could dry. The two relatives just kept on eating.
I was appalled! My heart hurt for this helpless old woman. Please pray for these family members to take care of Amai Ngoma. Besides being paralyzed she could be a healthy woman if they would just feed her and take care of her.
2 comments:
Praying for your ministry there. Sometimes it can be difficult.
Good morning, how are you?
My name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because through them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Zambia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Zambiain order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez
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