sight provided for those in need!

the girl with her new glasses (side photo to protect her identity!

sometimes it is easy to take things for granted, such as our health, health care systems and just the ease to buy what we need!, we hope the story below will highlight the struggles that many of the children we work with face each and everyday. 

a couple of weeks ago during our Rainbow Smiles HIV Support group one of the girls approached emma, and asked if she could talk to her, it seemed to take all of her courage to tell her that she needed glasses and that her mother could not afford them, she went on to say that she is finding it difficult to do her school work without them. 

after undertaking a home visit we found out that this little girl doesn't actually live with her biological mother but her aunt, uncle and 3 cousins in a small home and that following the death of her parents they do not receive any extra money to help support them with her care, the glasses would cost R250 (£15). 

this initial interaction all took place on a friday afternoon, the very afternoon on which emma was going away on a well earned holiday, as you can imagine this broke emma's heart and challenged the very fact that that this young girl could not afford a pair of glasses, that are so essential and without them the affect on her health, education and future, and the holiday was a luxury and would not have detrimental affects on her future if she did not go.

these are some of the struggles we face on a daily basis living in a place that has completely different worlds right next door to each other. emma was able to express my heartache over facebook and emma had an amazing response, so many people offered to donate to buy a pair of glasses we have received donations of up to £80! there were also so many messages of encouragement from many people around the world encouraging the work we are doing and it is really amazing for us as a team to be able to hear those messages and it spurs us on a bit more to continue doing what we are doing. 

last week emma was able to take the girl down to the day hospital to buy the glasses, but that didn't go as smoothly as first anticipated and after waiting a long time they told us we needed to go to the provincial hospital as her eyes are very bad! as they started to make their way to book an ambulance they realised they had given the wrong folder!! good job they noticed and after going back and queering this they were finally told that they had lost her notes...!, this isn't the first time this has happened and thank God we were around to rectify the problem, we do appreciate all the work that the local hospital do and the fact that they have so many patients with complex cases but really! after some discussions they were able to see her again right there and then and redid the eye test, confirming once again that she needed to wear glasses. 

the young girl took great joy in trying on all the different frames and picked a pair she liked and we paid for the glasses. this morning we went to pick up the glasses, the day hospital was bursting with people at 7.30am but luckily all we needed to do was pick up the glasses, the young girl was very excited and seemed very pleased with her new glasses and it was a pleasure to watch this dear girl as she received an amazing gift she so desperately needs. 

unfortunately though this is just one case out of many, we would love to be able to help everyone and its difficult knowing that we are unable to do so but we continue to trust God and know what may seem impossible for us is certainly not impossible for God, we continue to be his hands and feet and pray he will put is in the places and with the people he wants us to be.  

thank you to everyone who donated, it was amazing to feel so supported by so many people, please continue to pray for the children in our Rainbow Smiles group and the children in the community whose lives are so complex.