It does make a difference!

At first these things shock you and make you wonder how people cope with it. But after a few weeks you don’t notice it that much anymore and, as harsh as it may sound, after a few months you get kind of “immune” to it. Off course it still hurts to see all the difficulties people are living with, but it is part of their daily lives. They just have to live with it. As well as you have to, since there’s only that much you can do.

And then, every once in a while, you meet someone or you see yourself in a situation where you realize that it is not normal to be hungry, that it is not normal that people have to struggle to feed their children and, most importantly, there is something we can do about it.

One of the stories that made me realize this is the story of Laha Remagnitatse, a 45-year old man who suffers from TBC and is being treated for it in a WFP-assisted TBC-centre. When I first met him, about a month ago, he had just arrived at the centre. He was in a critical state, had a bad cough and did not even have the energy to reach out for a glass of water. It was not hard to see that see his body was tired and couldn’t take the toll the disease, dehydration and malnourishment took on his body much longer… He had noticed for a while that he wasn’t feeling well, but did not have the money to go see a doctor. He just carried on working to support his family and hoped that he just caught a cold and that things would get better. But they didn’t…

Luckily, one of his neighbors convinced Laha to go the clinic, where he has been treated for a month now. He’s not better yet, but –thanks to WFPs food assistance- is responding well to the treatment. If it wouldn’t have been for the clinic and the food aid, Laha would most probably not have survived, leaving his 4 children without a father.

Stories like this make you realize how an entire family’s future can depend on things we often take for granted: basic healthcare and some food. And it makes you realize how a very small investment can save a whole family from losing their father and therefore probably losing their future. So, for everyone who has become “immune” for stories of hungry children and think there is nothing we can do or for everyone who thinks that their contribution doesn’t make a difference, I would like to say: There is something we can do and it does make a difference. Stories like Laha’s are the living prove of it. Just think about it!