We were out and about in our slum just recently and we found four children living alone in a damp, dark, unventilated slum home. The youngest one was 2, the oldest 9. Justine, Joshua, Jessa and Leno. Justine and Joshua were malnourished, Jessa, the oldest was trying to take care of them. As we talked with people around their cess pit of a home, we found out that the mother has left a long time ago and the father worked during the night in the market, and was rarely there in the day at all. He would come in the morning, cook some food, leave some water and then go off with his friends or look for other work. No one was caring for these little children. The two youngest were so sick, Justine has T.B and you can see all of there little ribs. Jessa is 9, trying to look after them, but she is just a little girl herself. Dad would sometimes come home and be angry at her if the kids were not feed or the crappy little house was not clean, she’s 9…and he would often leave no food and she was supposed to provide something for the others. They were all dehydrated, nearly no clean drinking water, one section of their home had clothes just soaking in “pooh and wee”, it just stank. The two bigger kids were often not there, but the little ones could not get out. Joshua could hardly walk when we found him, because he had so rarely been outside.
What do you do, this is one family of thousands of family. poor people, poor children have so little hope, nothing to smile about and so often no way out of their situation. What can a 2 year old do about being hungry and having no food…nothing. They just sit there and die. It’s horrible to think of unloved, uncared for children, just starving to death with no one seeming to care at all. But we found these ones and we saved them.
The first thing we do is feed them. They need to eat soft, sloppy foods because they are not used to eating often. So we feed them rice mixed with milo and they just love it, give them some bannanas (plenty of vitamins) and then bathe them all and clean up their house. Wash all their clothes, sleeping things, disinfect everything, repair the house a little to try and keep the rain out – just take over their little lives, make a differance. Give them lots of cuddles and kisses, make them feel special – and then just do that day after day after day…keep coming back, keep feeding them, keep loving them…never miss a day, DON’T LET THEM DIE.
Finally we meet the dad and begin talkin to him about what is going on in his life, what is he doing for work, where has he been, he must feed his kids, BUT initially this dad is simply not interested in doing anything at all. He tells us lie after lie, gives his word, breaks his word, wastes his time, not working and it all goes on and on. But we still go everyday, we never stop, we won’t stop…WE WON’T LET THEM DIE.
Finally we realise that we need to have these children closer to some of our leaders, to make the daily looking after of them easier on us. So we find a space right in amongst our main church leaders and we build them a house. It’s up off the ground, wind proof, rain proof and we move them in. We are taking over the running of their lives…they are children and they need someone to look after them.
We put together a roster with our church leaders and we clean the house daily, wash their clothes, buy them new clothes, buy and cook their food, medicate the younger ones and get them interacting with other kids, involved in sunday school…we change their world.
Finally the father begins to turn around, his attitude begins to change, he begins working more, providing more for his children. Hope begins to dawn in his life because some one else is involved, some one is helping him, the pressure is lifting.
Sometimes we are so concerned with creating dependencies, making people dependant upon our help…we did that and we do that often. These children were dying, they are dependant, they had no hope, they could not change their situation, they needed some one to take over their lives. There is no concievable way that these children would of made it on their own. The father would of eventually left them, as they were far to much work for him, Justine and Joshua would literally be dead right now and the two older ones would of been doing who knows what to survive. When people have nothing at all, no way out, no hope – then you have to come along side them and give them everything they need.
Life amongst the poor is really an eye opener…but the one thing we have really learned is that it is so easy to help. The big picture concerning poverty is impossible to change, we will always have it, it will increase and get worse…but family by family, child by child all of us can save lives, it is so easy to love someone. Helping this family might of cost perhaps $300 and alot of time, day after day visits, it was dirty, smelly work…but walking to that house every day and seeing those kids waiting for the food that you brought, smiling when they see you, sitting on your lap and eating, feeling loved and cared for…if it cost a milion dollars we would do it again.
You can do it, find some one, help them, make a differance, it’s so easy…!
