These last couple weeks, Jack left for Kenya and I got sick, but life goes on in Tanzania. We spent time in Engikaret with Maasai, went out to visit some HIV widows and children in Arusha, been working on Faces 4 Hope information and attended several parties for Hannah’s 4th B’day, along with a trip to Lake Manyara National Park with the family. We are feeling very blessed to be able to spend time with family along with doing ministry all the way from Washington.

Some of this past week has been spent at the hospital with a sick little girl. How scary a big hospital must be for an 18 month old. Her mommy sat up all night awaiting the results, only to return to the hospital to find the government has called back most any tests. Why? We can’t figure this out. In order to get a diagnosis on most any disease, one has to get to Kenya. How do the poor survive in Tanzania? God has mercy on them.

We visited a couple HIV widows’ homes, one who lives in about a 8 x 10 room with her daughter…no bathroom, no latrine, no kitchen, nothing, but a place to sit with no padding, a simple table and a bed. When the husband dies, life basically stops for an HIV widow, especially if it is announced that she is infected also. No place will rent to you, as it is believed you will die soon also. So you keep quiet about your condition, so no one will know. As you keep quiet, you get sicker. One of these mamas has gone into a depression…her husband has died, she lost two of her three children, she lost her home, and now lives in a cement box, and she is infected. Another momma works hard to try to raise chickens to have protein for her HIV infected daughter. She is trying to figure a way to tell her. They are both taking the free medication provided by the gov’t, but they need to eat two times a day in order to take the medication…something difficult to do if you are not rich in Tanzania. Faces 4 Hope takes food to these families, along with helping them figure a way to help them help themselves and their children. Some are too sick to work, and just need food for survival.

James 1:27 says, “We must care for orphans and widows in their troubles.” There are so many here, but it happens with one at a time.

May God Bless you, Holly

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