Thursday, July 24, 2008

Requiem for a Dream

This will be short.

There are so many parts of my job and life here that are fun and rewarding. Then there is this.

On Monday night, we lost another of the women in the program to the illness she had fought and suffered with for so long. She leaves two children under the age of nine. Two more orphans of Africa. The saddest part is this: she had just completed her home in Friendship Village after working and saving and planning for a very long time. She hadn't even gotten to move in. The dream of a safe home and a good life for she and her children is over.

This happens far too often here and I haven't yet learned to accept these things as those who live here do.

Today, the mood was somber as the members of her group arrived to sell their beads. Just a prayer and one sad song for her in the bead circle this morning. While I thought about the irony of her short life and the uncertain future of her children, the other women in the circle grieved for her, for themselves, and for the ceaseless tragedy that is this country's legacy.