SaimasCharityTravels

Thursday morning and i was expecting another eventful day along with some real eye opening experiences that i knew would be hard to witness but real life and i would just have to deal with what the day ahead would bring.

First visit today was the Allomano HIV medical centre, a small bus journey away from the town centre which was the only HIV centre within the area and solely dedicated to adults and children suffering from the disease.

As we arrived i felt this deep sadness as i just could not believe what i was witnessing, the medical centre was fairly big but as i stood in the courtyard and looked up all i thought was, i wish i could do something to raise awareness and help people in Iringa prevent themselves from getting this disease, this deep sadness of seeing so many of these children suffering from this disease who have barely entered life, barely had the chance to try and understand what is going on, let alone understand they won’t live to see their 5th birthday and here i was looking around thinking whatever worries, disappointments, heartache life has brought me at least i have got to live a life, these children are just babies and have been born to die within months of entering this world. I watched patients come and go and tears trickled down my face, little girls being taken into the examination room not knowing how long they have left to live or how badly the disease has hit them, it was very sad standing there and just wondering what was going through the patients minds, how were they feeling.

We got shown around the medical centre by one of the consultants, it was quite a big centre and it was one owned by and Italian funded organisation with support and funding from the United States. It was reassuring to see the patients looked after and the facilities seemed clean and quite open, but i just could not get over the number of people walking in and out and just watching the faces of some of them, one girl smiled at me with sorrow filled eyes and i just wish there was something i could have said to her but there was nothing to say, the reality looked me straight in my eyes and i know i will never see her again but i said a prayer for all the patients.

After my visit to the medical centre we headed to FISCH to continue painting and applying another coat of paint and finish off the work we had started in the children washroom.
It was coming along really well and they all seemed really happy with the result. It would have been nice to of had more time in Iringa to spend more time there and be able to paint and decorate a lot more, but on this occasion time was not on my side which was such a shame because i would love to have spent more time there and just done so much more.

After lunch we had planned on visiting Luther and his family. So previously i had mentioned Luther was the boy that lost his mum and he hadn’t told anyone, he spends his days selling onions because he can’t afford to go to school and his dad was recently made redundant and left having to support his daughters, sons and grandchildren. We wanted to pay our respects to the family so we managed to track him down and he took us to his home to meet his family. African tradition when you are going to pay your respects to the family who have had a death in the family is to take some sort of gift, this can be a packet of sugar, bread, soap just something to give to the eldest member. I bought 1kg of sugar and money to give for the children knowing there were little kids and thought that maybe a better option. The group i was going with bought soap, butter, sugar just small things to give when we arrived there.

It was about a 90mins walk maybe slighter longer but in the same village i had visited before in Ipogolo, i actually loved going back there because the children absolutely loved seeing new faces and they wold walk with us and try and get our attention and would just laugh the whole time.  Watching these children walking and running around barefoot on muddy ground full of litter, broken glass and in some places sewage water worried me a lot but they just didn’t have any fear at all.  They just laughed and ran over to say hello and wanted to hug us and just looked so happy.

Above are pictures of locals who go to the local river to wash their clothes and bathe themselves.  Also is a picture of homes which over years have just been buried by litter and pollution which has mounted up over the years.  You can just about see the top of the window, but all around is mountains of pollution.

When we arrived at Luther’s home it was such a somber atmosphere, as we entered his home it was so dark and i just felt so pained by what i seeing, a small little home with kids standing around hardly any clothes on just staring at these strangers who had arrived, the flies and mosquitos everywhere it was just so warm and very little air but this was home to them.

We greeted everyone, met Luther’s sisters who also help try and make a little money selling onions to travellers who enter the bus station, it is difficult to communicate when they understand very little English but they understood i was very sorry for the loss of their mother, we were then asked to take a seat whilst we waited for Luther’s dad.

When Luther’s dad arrived he took a seat and said a few words thanking us for taking the time to visit, he said a few words about his late wife and it was so sad and emotional, as he spoke i had Joseph next to me translating and as he spoke of his late wife, he told us that she was ill and God made the decision to take her away from this world, from him and the kids, i found it really hard to fight back tears and you could see he was full of heartache and sadness, his kids were all so emotional and i guess i knew it would be difficult to witness and be part of, but i could not fight back tears.  We each took it in turns to introduce ourselves to him and the family and i prayed for him and the family, Joseph translated for me and then i walked over to him and handed him the bag of sugar and money and just held him so tight as i really felt his pain and again there was nothing more i could do or say other than to say sorry for his loss.

After the gifts were handed over to the father, we were asked to bow our heads so a prayer could be said for the family and for the soul of the deceased, i as listened to the prayers said in Swahili i may not have understood what was said, but i certainly felt the words and i was moved by the whole moment and i prayed too that God blessed this family and families and children of Ipogolo.  We sat in silence for a few moments before it was time to head back home,  I asked if i could take a few photographs of the family and they couldn’t be happier, we all got together and whilst i stood amongst the family and have them around me, i felt completely blessed.

The journey back home felt long but i guess part of me would love to have stayed there a lot longer, i am just so glad i had been given the opportunity and i thank God for opening my eyes to this life and i pray i get the chance to come back and visit them all again.