Homoeopathy and Children

 I’m not sure if it’s Africa, or me; probably both. Monday was a big struggle for me (like the chicken coop day last week). Having established a comfortable rhythm working with Lorraine, we swapped partners again and I was all at sea once more. Now I am learning to speed repertorise and trying to ignore my lack of confidence.

So on Tuesday we went to an orphanage – an impressive place in terms of what it is achieving  It takes AIDS orphans and houses them and trains them in skills. As ever, funding it difficult, so anything they can accomplish is wonderful.

We took the first boy’s case, noting that he was around 15; his size suggested age 9. For a while I was gutted, remembering what my two boys looked like aged 15: healthy, vibrant, larger. It was hard – I felt like bending double and just rocking, but what help would that be? This lad loved football. His favourite team? Manchester United. I am baffled how a team half way across the world can get such support – how often would this little fella actually see his team play on TV? perhaps never. But he knows the names of the players and is a keen goal scorer himself. He was animated talking about football.

The next boy – small again, this is what HIV and malnutrition do - had something wrong with his eyes apparently from preparing chilli pepper. One eye was blind and the other looked like it was going the same way; this was a child who might become totally blind. Homoeopathy is good but I don’t think it can rebuild physical destruction.

Before we could get going on the third chap, we were told about a boy who used to go to the school but had not been since August then came this week and it was apparent that he was critically ill. He had come because each day he is at home on his own; his mother goes out to earn 80p a day picking rice, and he knew he was getting worse. His little friend got in the car and showed us the way.

As we drove along the dusty, cratered roads there was a ravine along one side where men were digging out the clay. Further on we drove through a brick works where the clay was being combined with straw, then baked in stacks to make bricks. All the houses were made of these bricks which we were told are 12p each compared to the other bricks which are 60p each. I suspect that the local bricks are less durable.

The house was a small brick building with a tin roof and old pieces of cloth covering the windows and separating out a sleeping are and cooking area from the sitting room. The boys sat on a sofa and we crowded in, recognising that this was not a jolly trip but a serious attempt to save a life. The boy had a swollen face, ankles and feet. The belly button protruded from a distended stomach, reminding me of the starving children we are shown on TV. It was clear he was malnourished and there was nothing in the house; a remedy might stop the vomiting and diarrhoea, but he still needed food to live. After clinic Jeremy went and bought food for him – the charity www.homeopathyforhealthinafrica.org does not have money for this, but what else can you do?

These children are on the Edge of Life in so many ways.

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