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(Santino,
Luka and John from the village
of Gordhim in Sudan
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When I arrived in the village of Gordhim in Southern Sudan this past January 2009, a group of smiling children ran to greet our group. This was my third trip to the region with Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan (CASS), the London Ontario based humanitarian organization. On this trip Denise Pelley, a jazz singer from London Ontario, and I once again planned a music and art camp for the children.
As our group makes our way to the Catholic Church where we are to hold our camp, I feel a small hand slip into mine. I look down to see a little boy with the biggest smile and sparkling eyes. His shirt is torn and he has no shoes. I also notice he is walking with a slight limp.
This smiling boy walks with me into the church
where he takes a seat with the rest of the children. His name is
LUKA.
Denise begins singing with the children and
they take turns sharing the little musical instruments that were
donated by some kind folks from London Ontario. They sing some
of the songs that Denise taught them on her previous visits, along
with their favourite Sudanese songs. They are always eager to learn
new songs too!
Although the music portion of our camp is held
inside the church, the arts and craft portion is held outside under a
huge tree beside the church.
During the camp, I notice LUKA sitting with
his little friends Santino and John. He is always smiling at me with
a great big smile.
It´s so wonderful to see these kids happy and
having fun.
It´s why I go to this little village in the Sudan
so far from my home at Winter Wheat.
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(Children
from the village of Gordhim in Sudan
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A 25 year civil war has caused tremendous
hardship for the folks of Sudan especially for the
children.
On previous visits to this region the artwork
the children created was filled with many violent images. This time I
notice there are very few drawings of war and violence.
I hope that the children´s horrifying memories
of war are being replaced by new, more peaceful memories.
But I know for these children, the world is
far from perfect.
When camp is over for the day LUKA and his two
little friends walk with me back to my room at the Catholic compound.
There they start playing with a beach ball.
Once again I notice that LUKA is limping so I
take a closer look at his foot.
His foot is swollen and caked in dirt so I
have him wash it with soap and water. When it is clean I find three
wounds on his foot. The largest one is on the top of his foot and it
shows signs of a bad infection. I also realize that LUKA is running a
fever.
With help from Denise, we apply Polysporin and
bandages to the infected area.
Sister Teresa, LUKA´s teacher, explains to
LUKA that he is to go home, wash his foot and make sure that he puts
the ointment and bandages we gave him on his foot everyday.
I want to visit LUKA´s mom to let her know I
am concerned about her son and teach her how to clean his foot.
But Sister Teresa tells me that LUKA´s mother
died in August after suffering from Tuberculosis. She tells me his mother had been
sick for a long time.
So I decide to visit his father and make the
journey to LUKA´s house.
Again I am faced with the reality of LUKA´s
situation. His house, called a tukul, is made of mud, sticks and a
thatch roof.
There is a large mound of dirt covered with a
sheet of plastic just a few feet away from the entrance to LUKA´s
home. It is his mother´s grave.
Seeing this boy´s situation touches my heart.
I try to make sense of it all as I wonder how people could still be
dying from Tuberculosis.
How can a little boy have such a horrible
injury to his foot and not have it taken care of?
It´s hard not to be overwhelmed by all the
needs in this part of the world.
I ask Jane Roy, one of the cofounders of CASS,
how she faces the situation. Her answer is simple, "we do what we
can".
And so with this thought in my mind and with
the help of Kristylee, another CASS volunteer, I spend time teaching
LUKA how to keep his own foot clean and bandaged.
My hope is that LUKA will remember how to take
care of his foot after I return to Canada. I hope that maybe
I made a small difference in his life.
Our world is in such turmoil with wars,
floods, fires and other terrible events. I think that sometimes it
takes a small boy like LUKA to remind us that we need to step out of
our personal worries, like the current global financial crisis, and
look into the eyes of our fellow human beings.
I wonder what would happen if we all truly
believed that there is greater joy in helping others rather than
ourselves.
What if we believed every step towards peace,
love, joy and acceptance really does count - even the small steps
that seem like they are going nowhere. Maybe then our society would
become a place where together we could do something beautiful.
I wanted to share this story of LUKA and I
hope he reminds us all of what is important in this world.
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Lucy and
Luka in Sudan
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