Intervention

Today started out like a normal day.  But it soon had me caught up in a rather compelling story, with many twists and turns.

10:30am: A young girl appeared out of nowhere and cornered me in the corridor of the clinic, shook my hand and refused to let go as she made a plea for her family.  With a trembling voice, she explained to me that she was an orphan.  She is being raised by her aunt, but her aunt traveled to a nearby town two weeks ago and the food she left had run out.  The family was hungry and needed charcoal.  She said she saw me around town and came to find me to ask for help.  Her name is Sunny Asinye and she is a seventh grader.

I told her to have a seat and went to ask Joseph what I should do.

11am-11:45: Various staff interviewed her.  By all appearances, her story was true.  She is one of the Compassion children that we had screened this past Saturday.

12pm: Joseph and I discussed the situation and agreed we would send Wilson with her into town to buy charcoal and other needed goods.

12:15: We called her into Joseph's office to tell her the plan.  As we spoke to her, all of a sudden the Head Teacher from her school happened to walk up to the door.  Coincidentally, she was there at the clinic being treated.

The head teacher came in, saw Sunny there, and immediately started fussing.  Sunny had not been in school for about two months, always claiming to be ill.   Suddenly all eyes were on Sunny and she was visibly upset.  She couldn't make eye contact with anyone and she looked like she wanted to die.  Joseph spoke to her sternly about how important school is and how she must go, she cannot throw her future away.  The head teacher left.  We checked out her past clinic medical records and they did not reveal any serious illnesses.  Sunny surely felt pretty trapped.

12:45  We agreed that we would follow through on the plan to buy the groceries.  Sunny asked if we would pray for her.  Joseph summoned Beatrice, another clinic staff who has been very involved with the Compassion children.  The five of us stood and held hands and Beatrice began praying fervently in Runyoro for quite a while.  After a few minutes, Sunny started weeping and choking.  She partially collapsed and would not get up.  Her life is pretty hard and she was surely overwhelmed.  But it definitely appeared to be more than that, almost like she was in pain.  Presbyterians like me don't know much about these things, but it looked like a manifestation of something or other.

1:00 Beatrice took the girl aside and they talked for a long time.  The girl decided to seek treatment from the doctor, so she went and got a few medications.

1:45 Finally we were ready to be on our way.  It was decided that with the girl acting as emotional as she was, it wouldn't be good to send her out with Wilson alone.  Joseph and I accompanied them.

2:00 We stopped by Compassion headquarters to let them know about the situation.  At Compassion they verified her story, yes she was an orphan and had been receiving a lot of assistance.  Her Compassion sponsor had cancelled a while ago and so she actually didn't have anyone supporting her financially anymore.  Still, the local Compassion workers were doing what they could for her and paying her school fees somehow.

The Compassion guy also explained that the reason she hadn't been going to school was because the Head Teacher had been beating her so severely.  They said there was some sort of animosity between the two.  They said they would accompany her to school tomorrow and try to work out whatever the issue was between her and the teacher.

2:30 We went to the market and Wilson went to buy the groceries while the rest of us stayed in the car.  I asked Sunny what the situation was with her and the head teacher.  She said the head teacher beats her and tells her in front of the other students how her parents died of AIDS, even though they did not die of AIDS.   As soon as she mentioned her parents she started crying huge tears.

We asked her how her parents died.  She said she doesn't even remember her mom, she died when she was very young.   She said there was some jealousy between her father and his half brothers, some kind of witchcraft occurred, and her father got a disease where he swelled up and died.

3:00 We arrived at Sunny's house.  Her aunt had gotten home from her journey.  There were three other small children there (Sunny's cousins), all of whom had visible burn marks on their bodies and kwashiorkor bellies.  Their house was a dark, one room dwelling.  The aunt was appreciative of the groceries.  Joseph talked to her at length, re verified all the stories from earlier in the day, and exhorted her to take Sunny's education seriously and follow up with the Head Teacher at school.  If they couldn't work something out, he advised sending Sunny to a different school.

Seventh grade is a really crucial year in the school system here, Sunny is going to be taking her tests to qualify for high school in just a few months.  According to the people we interviewed today, she is a really keen student.  But right now she is very behind.  She really needs to be in school.

3:45pm Joseph, Wilson, and I returned to the clinic tired, sun-scorched and wondering what exactly had happened in the last five hours. 

No less than 8 people were involved in trying to get meaningful help for Sunny today, and it consumed a huge chunk of the work day.  But there is the potential that our interventions today could impact her for the rest of her life.

I feel words can't even do justice to all I felt as this was going on and the incredible sorrow I felt for Sunny. I have no idea what it means to live a life of such desperation that she would go to the other side of town to seek out a mzungu she saw in passing a few days ago, just in hopes of getting some cooking fuel.  I tell her story here and hope that it can speak for itself.

One thing I know is that I love my fellow clinic staff more than ever today.  I love working for an organization that cares so much for the population they serve that they would give up an entire work day to get involved in the life of one needy girl.  The fact that the staff are members of this community is so important.  I never could have gotten to the bottom of any of these issues on my own.

If any of my readers out there feel inclined to get involved with Sunny, contact me.  Compassion is still seeking a new sponsor for her.  It would also be ideal to find sponsorship for her to go to a boarding high school next year.

Peace, friends.  Cherish life.