This morning looked like most mornings here in Swaziland. My team and I traveled to a Care Point to play with children and encourage the Go-Go’s (caretakers). We were headed down the road to visit a Go-Go and something out of the ordinary caught my eye. There was an elderly woman in a wheel chair in the middle of a long uneven and rocky dirt path. What was most interesting was the half-functioning wheelchair she was sitting in. It was the first wheelchair I had seen in Africa because most that are disabled simply stay at home and do not venture out. Not this woman. She was determined to get around. I watched as she pushed herself inch by inch struggling just to move. Something in my heart ached for this woman so I decided to go up to her and ask if she needed a push. After approaching her I noticed she was struggling to maneuver the wheelchair with 1 leg, no shoes, and not a single tire.
After successfully pushing this woman to her home which took 3 people because of the condition of her wheelchair, we sat down and spoke with her. Maria was her name. She shared a portion of her story which blew my mind. She was married at one time with 8 children, and then her life took a turn. Throughout the years, all 8 of her children and her husband died from various illnesses, most likely AIDS, which no one ever speaks about. This woman is surrounded by so much death and sorrow but on top of that she struggles to provide for herself. Shortly after the death of her husband someone broke into her house and tried to rob her. In the process they cut off her right leg so that she was unable to run after them. They cut her leg off…Could you imagine the pain and sorrow this woman has endured throughout her life? Maria still struggles with pain everyday and is unable to work because of her disability. Without any programs to assist her she is left alone without any help. I am still uncertain where to start processing this but know that this woman affected me in a way most cannot.
What was finalized today is that God has definitely given me a heart for the disabled. Growing up my mother developed MS which has now caused her to struggle with walking and left her unable to get around fully without walking aids and wheelchairs. When I met Maria, I instantly pictured my mother trying to push herself in an ill-equipped wheelchair with no one around to help or encourage her; with no one back at home to help her around or provide some kind of income so that she could eat. Maria has no income at all and will go without food at times. She has one friend in the area that will come visit her and bring food supplies but that is rare. She is virtually alone with only God to lean on. Maria is such a strong woman and faces life with a smile. She shared that at times if she owned a rope she would hang herself but this woman is a fighter. Instead of sitting and sulking in her current situation she gets herself up and ventures out even along the dusty, uneven roads.
We asked if we could pray for her and she gladly accepted but what do you pray for; that God will meet her most basic need, or that she will be loved by someone? After praying for her she broke and started to cry the most genuine tears. This woman is tired and simply wants a break. The most shocking thing for me was the fact that she did not ask for help or money. Only after I asked her what we could do did she simply ask for a pair of shoes for her one foot so that she could get around better. I imagine if that were my life and I saw 5 Americans walk over to me and ask what I needed; I would give them a list that would take up a notebook and do it without a smile. Maria has forever changed me and my view of sorrow. This woman has nothing and is still joyful. So often myself and so many others cry over the smallest things like not getting that perfect detail worked out for a wedding or missing that promotion or raise but worldwide people are struggling to eat or even have someone to love them; the most basic and free need. That is my job here on the World Race; to love those that may have no one else. I am confident that Maria was blessed by our visit but most of all I was changed today because of her testament to life.
