Josephine blog
After hearing Josephine’s story (blog post 6), the Living Compassion crew gathered in the dining room to talk about what we had just learned. Part of that discussion was to inform the men who had been, at Josephine’s request, excluded from the conversation. Those of us who had heard her story were immediately committed to assisting her to alleviate some of the struggle resulting from her illness and poverty.
As we re-told her story, we began to hear resistance from Ignatius. He expressed concern that we were planning to take this one person out of the crowd and give to her what we would not be giving to others. “What will happen when others hear about what you’re doing for her? Everyone will want the same thing.” We agreed that that was no doubt true. We have a situation in which over ten thousand people are slowly starving to death. Of course they all want help. Of course they all need food and work and clothes and blankets. Of course. But we remained committed. We cannot deny Josephine because there are others who have an equal need.
We explained that in Living Compassion we practice saying “yes.” We focus on participation, on being open to the opportunities with which we are presented, and accepting the guidance life gives us. Josephine had done all that. She saw an opportunity to step forward—vulnerable as that made her—to go where life was directing her, to ask for what she needs, and to do everything she could do for her children. When asked what she wanted most in life she answered, “I want to learn something I can use to make a living for my family. I want to be self-reliant. I want to make a better life for my children.”
We were very aware that to give Josephine, Mary Ann (not Monica as we had previously been told by a neighbor), and Daniel a great deal more than others in the community were receiving could be hard on them as well as their neighbors. So, we gathered some donated clothing for the children and purchased a bag of mealie meal. Then we arranged for Josephine to begin cleaning the school house after classes (because there are so many contagious conditions the inside of the school is scrubbed down each day—a task the teachers previously had to perform). This enables the family to eat lunch with the students and teachers. The little bit of money she will receive for the cleaning will allow her to purchase extra food to supplement the mealie meal and create for Daniel the balanced diet he needs to strengthen his little body enough to be able to handle the ARVs he’s taking for HIV. We also arranged for Josephine to get the tests she needs to qualify for the free ARVs that will help her fight off the AIDS virus. When the sewing cooperative is formed in Kantolomba (and Martin comes to teach the women to sew), Josephine will be able to learn the life-sustaining skill of tailoring. (There is a market for mosquito nets and we plan for the tailors of Kantolomba to be the suppliers of these much needed nets.) As we left Ndola, two of the retreatants donated their pillows and some blankets so the family will have a warm, comfortable place to sleep.