Challenges

8/9/13

Today after dropping the MAP folks off at the Sand Dam we visited the village Nakosoburin that had received filters last year to clean out their filters and review maintenance and hygiene with them.  As the women brought their filters to us it was disheartening to see that some of the buckets or filters had broken and were unusable. These people have nothing and even the small help they do have is now unusable. We were unaware of the issues so had no supplies to replace their buckets or fix their broken filters. All we could do was clean the dirty filters and take down the names of those who were in need of replacements.  The problem we faced was if we replace some we may have to replace them all to avoid jealously and the type of message it sends to all those who took such good care of their supplies. So frustrating!  Even with my meager salary I could end so much hunger and suffering in this village and yet, what good does a handout do but create a codependent culture? The children whose faces remind me of my nieces, nephew and Goddaughters, look at you with their swollen bellies and tell you they are hungry and yet, you have nothing to offer them. Some days I wish I could take them all away from this place.