Today we got the news that the mother of one of our college students passed away.  She had been sick for a while with leukemia, she was only 40 years old.  Our student, Vanessa is the oldest of 3 children.  Being the oldest here brings a lot of responsibility.  I haven’t been able to see her because the family had taken the mother to the “province” to get her out of the city.  We’re hoping we can help in some way.

Since I’ve been here have been 5 deaths that have touched us here in some way.  One of the staff lost an aunt and a 7 year old cousin hit by a bus, another student’s grandmother, Vanessa’s mother and the other day when I was visiting in the permanent housing, a little girl was killed by a truck……

I know this is not the most joyous blog you’ll ever read, but the reality is, death is very prevalent here and it seems age is not a determining factor.  So they deal with death on a regular basis.  As if the daily struggle here wasn’t enough, you have to keep moving on in the face of so much tragedy.

I guess blogging is a way of venting…..but the truth is….life really is short.  Let’s make a difference with each day we’re given!

Here is a picture of Vanessa.  When you think of her, say a prayer for her and her family……thank you!