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How July 10 was a day of reflection…..
By zaheen | July 15, 2009
I woke up in the morning to find no running water. The taps were dry! Oh crap, how would I wash my face, brush my teeth, have a shower. We even had dishes in the sink from last night! For a moment, life felt like it was on hold or stuck. Soon enough my mother quipped, ‘ This will become common now because the rains haven’t come yet and the dams are dry. Water and power will be rationed by the government.’ Fortunately, we managed to get water from a cistern that was available to the tenants living in the area and yes I managed to take a shower. We take things for granted, even water, which is a precious commodity in other parts of the world. I then wondered how the mass population living just outside town manage without water. I asked and some of them collect water from a common well or cistern almost EVERYDAY. We are living in the 21st century and imagine if most of us had to do that. We just turn on the tap or shower and we expect water to flow out. I have taken a couple of videos of my ordeal that morning and it will be posted in August when I return to Alberta, Canada. So conserve water starting today. My afternoon was even more interesting….
Before my trip, I had collected stationery items like pens, pencils, colors, stickers, etc to donate to children. I chose an organisation that helps children with AIDS. The Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa CBHC and AIDS Relief Project began in 1996 as an exclusively community based home care program providing, initially, medical care to HIV positive people and other sick-poor individuals. Volunteer CHWs (community health workers) from Catholic parishes form the “backbone” of the project.
The driver picked us up and drove us to the office and clinic where we had the opportunity to see teenage children go through a program and receive their medications. It felt so good to see the smiles on their faces when Arissa, my daughter, and I distributed the donated items. A couple of the children were asked to come up and recite poems for us. My husband and Iwere moved by one girl who recited a poem about her life and how AIDS has affected her. As a young child she was raped by her step brothers and uncle, but she now lives with her aunt. She travels a fair distance from her home to the clinic to receive her meds so she can survive.
At that moment I realized that we are so selfish when we complain about our car breaking down, or we complain about our kids or spouse or the house we live in or the job we are in and so on. Imagine living like this teenage girl or even going through what she did. Would you have the strength like she does? Would you have the courage to face society with the stigma of living with AIDS?
I am going to try and get a copy of her poem so I can post it on my blog and I have arranged to go into the community with one of the field nurses/counsellers and I can’t wait.
If you have questions or comments for me please post them or even if you want me to ask the kids certain questions, when I go out with the field staff, let me know.
Topics: Law of Attraction, wealthy mind |
One Response to “How July 10 was a day of reflection…..”
Comments
« How my day at the beach reminded me of the goal I had set. | Home | Visiting HIV/AIDS Clients in The Largest Slum in Mombasa, Kenya »
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for posting about this, I would love to read more about this topic.