With the fighting raging on our little island and the need for medical assistance in the displaced camps of the northern regions, I joined our dedicated group of volunteer doctors, nurses and pharmacists on the Mobile Medical Unit for an expedition to Kantale.
We traveled four and a half hours north to reach our destination and with our medical team in place, we began to treat the needs of the people. Little did we know that this journey would not only lead us into an area needing the Mobile Medical Unit but also Work For Widows.
Hundreds of families have fled the areas of fighting and as we met each patient it became painfully obvious that there was something missing; husbands, fathers, men. In just the five camps we treated, 25% of the women are widowed. With our limited funding, we struggle to keep going for the women all ready in the program. How do we take on more?
The team pooled their money together and gave the children a meal for the day but we all knew it was just one day; they need a lifetime of help.
As our team left the Kantale area, there was a mixture of emotions. The feeling of accomplishment for the medical mission was a success and a feeling of loss for the hundreds of women and children we left behind.
But, I will hold their innocent faces in my mind as I write the next plea for funding.
I will keep their desperation close to my heart as I knock on another donor’s door.
