Hey, I just need to let everyone know that I'm taking a day of mourning on the blog today. Unfortunately, Deliwe's uncle's wife died early this morning, and I've spent much of the day helping her and her family cope with the loss and prepare for the funeral. I recently got back from driving Deliwe and some of her family members to the village where the funeral will take place tomorrow. There is much preparation to be done, so the closest members of the family need to stay overnight to help in that effort.
Though I will not attend the funeral, I did give my condolences today to Deliwe's uncle and family members. The saddest part of it is that this woman was only 35 years old, had 5 young children, and died of tuberculosis (the symptoms of which were largely ignored until it was too late), a disease for which there are vaccinations and cures. I received a vaccination for it (among other horrible diseases common here) before I left the U.S. I suppose when you are far away and know about these problems intellectually, it doesn't hit you as hard. The impact of physically seeing someone suffer the way this woman did from something that she only died from due to her geographical location is difficult for me to come to terms with. Of course, the "save the world" instinct comes to mind. There are several medical organizations around working to help get vaccinations and medications to people here, but it's simply not enough. I did all I could to help, even assisted in paying the hospital fees. But, in the end, it wasn't enough, and 5 kids lost their mother today.
What else can I say? I'm just too sad. Let's just leave it at that for now.
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3 comments:
We mourn with you. Very sad indeed. Pass our condolences to Deliwe.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Deliwe.
pass my condolences to deliwe
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