The One We Couldn’t Save

95% of the time I’m able to bring you powerful stories of people that you are helping through your donations.  My goal is to inspire and uplift you.  Our programs in the U.S. and Uganda are what we view as sustainable with a goal to provide long-term solutions to end poverty and violence.  Our mission is not to do relief work, there are many others that do this well.

But sometimes, people need immediate help and they don’t have the resources to get it.  

Our team members live in the communities we serve and they can’t turn away when they see their neighbors in distress. Especially since there are no other resources in the rural villages. That was the case recently when the Rogers house burned and we were able to quickly raise funds to help them rebuild. That was a real partnership between our donors and the community.

Today, however, we couldn’t get help for little 2-year-old Benita fast enough.  Yesterday she was playing outside in her yard and there was water boiling in a large pot on an open charcoal fire.  Very common in rural Uganda. But Benita fell, the boiling water spilled on her and she was badly burned on a large part of her body.

Her very young parents rushed her to the district hospital in Kamuli town.  She was seen by a doctor who told the parents they would need to take her to Kampala, the capital city, for an operation because of her injuries.  The doctor told them the cost would be 1,000,000 shillings, (about $312). The family couldn’t pay so they took Benita and fled the hospital and brought her home.

I got the call first thing this morning when our team member Aminsi learned what had happened. He wanted to know if we could put out a call for help to raise money for Benita’s treatment and operation. He went to the home to get the information and spoke with Benita’s uncle.  Poor little Benita was in so much pain, it was heartbreaking. Of course, we knew we would help.

But in the short time Aminsi returned home with the info, Benita had died. Now the family is preparing for her burial.

My heart broke today.  There is often such joy in doing this work and there are so many people we, and you all have helped. 

But it’s hard when so much of your life is determined by where you were born. No access to emergency care, living in a remote area, and not able to access a doctor or hospital unless you have the money in hand.

I apologize if you are very new to my posts because most often I am able to bring you good news. This is not my usual post. 

But today my heart is heavy for the child we couldn’t save.  And sometimes that’s the reality we deal with.

So now we carry on and focus on what we can do to help the children live, for that is my mission, what I think about and work for every day.  Because that is the best we can do to honor little Yozefina Benita.  

Thank you for allowing me to share my sorrow today and for being such an amazing community of givers!

With extreme gratitude for all you do,

Mary


P.S. We are thinking of ways to help families with dire medical emergencies in the future to get immediate care for a sick child. We don’t know what that is yet, perhaps it is an emergency fund for the village. I will keep you updated. If you have any connections, knowledge, or resources in this field I’d love to hear from you.


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