I've heard many sad stories throughout my life. Stories of sorrow and hardship, but nothing like the stories I have heard in the past few days. I have been thinking of ways to write this entry with words that capture the emotions of these women and how I felt while sitting in these homes, but I can't. I never will. Though I can't tell these stories the way they were told to me I will do my best to give these women a voice. Their stories need to be heard.
1st home: The mother of Shewit, a child who is a part of CHC, is a 30 year old woman who although loves the Lord does not attend church. She has one child who is 10 years old and in 4th grade. In order to support herself and her child she washes clothes and bakes njera for other families. Her parents arranged (sold her to an older husband) a marriage around the age of 13 where she was sexually abused by this man, then he left her shortly after. She became pregnant with Shewit and developed fistula, which is when the uterus collapses. From my understanding fistula occurs when a woman gives birth before her body is ready to go through the process. She was not given the choice to chose a husband or to lay her body down with someone she genuinely loved and cared. Instead she was robbed of something so many woman often take for granted. Sometimes I think of my reckless life before I met Anthony. How I took my body for granted and didn't treat it as the temple it was created to be. It makes me sad to think this woman (girl) was completely wrecked and has never experienced the type of physical love you should have with a husband. Walking through the metal tin door, awaiting, was a big pile of trash outside the door. Somewhere among the trash was a hole where you find the kitchen. The 'kitchen', or lack there of, consist of a small tin filled with charcoal. It's a long process to cook food; lighting up the coals, waiting for them to heat, waiting for the water to boil, and finally start cooking. And I wonder, what happens if it rains? It's humbling. The house is small and I'm not talking studio size small, I am talking the size of a closet in a studio apartment. The floor is made of dirt and the walls are made of tin. There is no air conditioner, therefore, when it is cold it is cold and when it's hot it is hot. Though there we difficulties in her life she makes the best she can out of it. I'm so thankful for her willingness to open her home to us. These women humble me beyond explanation. Please join me in praying for a sponsor for this child.
1st home: The mother of Shewit, a child who is a part of CHC, is a 30 year old woman who although loves the Lord does not attend church. She has one child who is 10 years old and in 4th grade. In order to support herself and her child she washes clothes and bakes njera for other families. Her parents arranged (sold her to an older husband) a marriage around the age of 13 where she was sexually abused by this man, then he left her shortly after. She became pregnant with Shewit and developed fistula, which is when the uterus collapses. From my understanding fistula occurs when a woman gives birth before her body is ready to go through the process. She was not given the choice to chose a husband or to lay her body down with someone she genuinely loved and cared. Instead she was robbed of something so many woman often take for granted. Sometimes I think of my reckless life before I met Anthony. How I took my body for granted and didn't treat it as the temple it was created to be. It makes me sad to think this woman (girl) was completely wrecked and has never experienced the type of physical love you should have with a husband. Walking through the metal tin door, awaiting, was a big pile of trash outside the door. Somewhere among the trash was a hole where you find the kitchen. The 'kitchen', or lack there of, consist of a small tin filled with charcoal. It's a long process to cook food; lighting up the coals, waiting for them to heat, waiting for the water to boil, and finally start cooking. And I wonder, what happens if it rains? It's humbling. The house is small and I'm not talking studio size small, I am talking the size of a closet in a studio apartment. The floor is made of dirt and the walls are made of tin. There is no air conditioner, therefore, when it is cold it is cold and when it's hot it is hot. Though there we difficulties in her life she makes the best she can out of it. I'm so thankful for her willingness to open her home to us. These women humble me beyond explanation. Please join me in praying for a sponsor for this child.
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