from Patty

 

My heart is full.  Yesterday my heart was full of joy and ready to burst.  Today my heart is full of pain and is ready to break.

 

Today is the day the men and women of our team split up and we women had the privilege to do Home Visits to five homes of students from the schools for street kids supported by our partner organization.

 

The main purpose of these visits is to check in with the families of the most vulnerable students to see what their home situation is like and see what we can do to help.   Assistance is given in the form of medical help (ibuprofen, take a child to the doctor, family planning advice, etc) and food stuffs like oil and flour.

 

We stopped by each of the two schools and picked up a total of five students ranging in age from seven to twelve.  Each student gave us directions to their homes through bumpy, dusty, narrow alleyways with barely room for a car.

 

The physical living conditions are burned into my mind.  The level of poverty and the dire situation to just try to find food for each day is unimaginable to me.  One woman we met with said that her husband was unable to find work on the streets while she tried to earn money to feed the children by cleaning the neighbors’ homes and doing their dishes and laundry.  During one horrible stretch she and the family went without food for fifteen days.  It was not uncommon to talk with the other families and find out that their only food was naan (bread) and water until they could find work.

 

The average size of the families we met with was ten to twelve people.  Their houses consisted of one room 8'x12'.  Everyone lived in that one room.  Cooking is done outside, no electricity in most of the houses and of course no indoor bathroom.  Even though these families literally had nothing, each of them offered us tea when we arrived.  That meant they would have to go neighbor to neighbor to find someone who could afford tea and ask for it in order to serve us.  At times like this we definitely felt like saying, “No thank you” to tea, but to do so would be dishonoring to our hosts – a price far higher than the cost of the tea. 

 

Each family we met with was very grateful for the visit and expressed how happy they were for the school and that their children were able to get an education and one nourishing meal a day.   For most kids this is the only meal they could look forward to that day.

 

We expressed our sorrow for their hardships and cried with them.  In spite of all their troubles there was no complaining, just many thanks for coming to their home, sharing their stories, and providing an education for their children so they can build a better life for their families.

 

I feel so honored to have been able to spend time with these incredible women in their homes and to hear their stories.  I wish I could wrap up this update with a happy ending but I don’t know what to do with this.  The only happy ending I have today is that I am VERY grateful for the life God has given me and I will continue to do whatever I can to help the people of Afghanistan have a better life.

 

Patty