Revisiting The Poor Family

As humans, we need to keep in mind the way we speak and act, and it must always be done with  integrity and authenticity. I am finding myself practising this daily here.

Last week, when I met the Poor Family for the first time, we gave them some soap powder so that they could wash their clothes.

Yesterday we went back down to the village and stopped by The Poor Family. When the husband saw us pull up, he scurried along, and started looking very busy all of a sudden. It wasn't until we got over to their little house that we realised the husband was pulling all the clothes of the line and putting them in a pile, setting them on fire! I was absolutely gobsmacked as to why he was doing that. When asked what was he doing, he said that he is burning them because the clothes are too old. We realised that he had set them on fire because they hadn't been washed since we saw them last, and he felt ashamed.

How sad.

Their 3 year old also looked hot and floppy, apparently she has been that way for 3 days. The Mumma didn't want to take her to the near by health clinic, even though if they say they are poor they dont have to pay.   It is so shameful for her to have to admit that they don't have any money. If that young girls gets diarrheoa, then she is probably going to die.

We all left that place feeling overwhelmed. There have been many attempts to help, some of the plans in place are still being done by LifeOptions, such as bringing them rice, but what else can we do? What can we do to help them that isnt rescuing them, but is helping them to find their own feet on the ground so that their children have a chance to survive and grow into healthy adults? The phrase 'give a man a fish and you feed his family for a day or teach a man to fish and you feed his family for a lifetime' feels like what needs to work here.

There are ideas of a school for that particular village so the children get a chance to be educated, clean up days each fortnight, drunk groups for the husbands.

The main thing that stays with me is not giving up hope. This family is on the brink of hopelessness. If you have nothing, at least you have hope. If you lose hope, I believe you die. So, as overwhelming as it is, we cant give up hope for The Poor Family, because it may be our hope for their futures that ultimately keeps them alive.