Being part of a SCAW team includes doing home visits to the children's homes from previous distributions and the current one. It involves observing how the kit has lasted after use and the possibilities of any improvements. This, being my first experience, it was overwhelming emotionally.
Today we got the privilege to visit a home where a child had received a bedkit. It was a very small two room, dirt floor, mud brick dwelling that housed a least 11 people. The mother, in order to help feed the family, broke up stones into smaller pieces with a hammer to sell for making cement. She appears to be managing except for the fact her thatched roof had various places where it would leak when rain falls. One leak in particular was in the small room with a mud floor where the children sleep!!!
I felt overwhelmed with emotion that a woman struggling so hard to look after her children still had to cope with such a major problem that could be so easily fixed. She has asked her neighbour for help so let's hope that it comes soon.
She has one big blessing in that she lives right next door to the school. Lots of children live hours away and there are no school buses. In the cities only 5 children are allowed on the buses at once because they pay less so there are long waits at the bus stops.
For this family, having one little boy with a
clean mattress that he can share with his brothers and sisters as well as a
mosquito net that would be able to cover the room the size of a double bed, is
one small step in helping this family improve their lives. We are so thankful
to Mamma Wandoa, her daughter Wendy and all The Oversea Volunteer Partners for helping us
talk to the children and their families to share their life situations. Without
them it would be more difficult to understand their life situations and how
Sleeping Children Around the World can make a difference.
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