Yesterday we visited ‘S’,this 9 year old child is very sweet - quite shy (she tended to hide behind her Dad most of the time we were there), but she has a very open face and a big smile. She's quite tall for her age and said she enjoyed going to school and had friends there. The place where they live didn't seem to have much evidence of children around. It is a tiny shack, one room with a separate toilet area, made of old G.I. sheets - with an small extension/overhang at the front to give a little shade, so low that even I had to bend my head. It is dark and hot, the only light and air coming through the occasional spaces in the wooden planks or the open door, for which they pay rent of 1,200 B per month, which includes utilities of 500 B. They are desperately poor.
Dad works, as able, in construction. Mother, who has been virtually catatonic since witnessing her parents being shot 9 years ago (probably why there is no official birth certificate) is only now beginning to function at all. She was present physically, but said nothing. When I touched her, to let her know we weren't ignoring her, she flinched visibly. There was no emotion on her face - her eyes were just empty. When I suggested we try to get her some counselling, her husband asked us not to, as he is just so grateful that she's beginning to function (however spasmodically) again he doesn't want her to remember anything - just move forward and leave it in the past.
They live on 100 B per day. The neighbour has been caring for the child, making sure she gets to school and back again each day. I think we need to check with the school about lunches, too.
Suky and I just wept when we left the house. It's one of the visits that make you grateful for everything you have and determined to do whatever you can to help. I can't even begin to imagine what the last 9 years have been like for them and one can't help but worry what may happen if she starts to recover her memory now.
The Social Workers are trying to get what details they can to see if they can regularize the paperwork, but dad thinks she was born on February 15th (couldn't remember the year, but since she's 9 years old, by European reckoning that makes it 2003). At least it gives us something to put on the file.
100 Years From Today
It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.
