Queen's Update

This is Queen in the white. Her sister and nephew are on the left.


Friday morning Queen, an older sister and the sister's young son arrived at the St. Lucia daycare. I can't imagine how long it took them to walk from their mountainside home. The sister and young boy are quite sick with HIV and probably TB. We gave them some porridge and they sat outside to wait for Winfrida.

Once Winfrida arrived, she talked to the older sister. Later I got the update - the sister was crying because of their situation. They have little money - food is hard to come by and they are sick. It turns out Queen is in level 5 at school; she's supposed to be in level 2, but she was advanced 3 levels because she is so smart. I didn't even question that - knowing what she'd done the day before. It's obvious she's wise beyond her years.

Now the problem is money. They can't afford for her to go back to public school. They have to pay for uniforms and even books for writing in. Winfrida talked to the Global Fund people who assist in the area. They found Queen a sweater and dress in the proper colors (navy blue) and gave her some writing books. I gave her my $7 Wal Mart shoes that are much too big, but will do for now. They also provided a bag of rice and some grain and vitamins. It was too much for them to carry back home, so the sister said she'd send someone on bicycle the next day to pick up the rest.

I was so glad they made it to St. Lucia. It's not the perfect solution, but it's something for now. I think Winfrida will follow up with them and try to get Queen into a boarding school if possible. The problem is just so huge - there are lots of children like Queen in Tanzania - there's just not enough resources to help every one of them.