no one noticed | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: no one noticed | Previous Challenge Entry
By Millicent Njue
07/13/07
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No one paid attention to the young girl sitting on the bench in the overcrowded hospital bench. You see everyone who came here had such a story to tell. Some had gone through so many traumas in their lives words were not enough to describe the pain they carried inside of them. All the patients could hope for was that they could at least get that much needed chance to see the doctor that day. So the young girl sitting hunched up on the bench was just one of the many who visited the hospital that day.
Life could not be harder for a girl ,13years old who had lost both parents to the dreaded Aids pandemic and who had to fend not just for herself but also her 3 siblings. Living in a deplorable situation in a city slum in Africa, Faith for that was her name, had learnt to count her blessings for each passing day when she was able to put a meal on the table for her and her younger siblings let alone meet their other needs. In a slum where almost every family had been touched by the scourge this was the odder of the day for many families struggling to come to terms with their loss.
But despite all the struggles, Faith had a hope to hang onto. She remembered those happy days when both her parents were alive and well. She relished the moments they shared together as a normal family when she had no worries in the world because her parents were alive. Moments when she enjoyed the joy of being a child , complete with the security of her parents and company of her siblings. Those days were now gone, and she did the best to move on. She and her siblings had been through so much transformation ,from living in decent shelter when her parents were alive to being forced to sleep in the streets even in very cold whether, to their current habitation in the slum where Faith toiled all day to cook and clean for the family before leaving to look for casual labor in the neighboring up market estate. If she was lucky she could get someone who needed their laundry done or any casual job that would enable Faith meet the family needs for that day. Many were the days that was not forthcoming and so the family slept hungry but they hang on to the hope that things would be better …just maybe tomorrow would bring better luck.
But today, as Faith sat at the hospital bench waiting and praying for a chance for treatment that day ,she was not thinking sad thoughts. She was thinking happy thoughts. She was grateful that she and her siblings no longer had to live on their own anymore. Grateful that they were assured of at least 3 square meals from now on. The reporter who had highlighted Faith’s story had done a good job at it and offers had come pouring from sympathizers who in one way or another wanted to help Faith and her siblings. However, the best one had come from a Christian children’s home which offered shelter and food for homeless children who had lost their parents to AIDS. At last Faith could live an almost normal life, complete with a new family and with benefits like education. Those were the happy thoughts going on through the young girl’s mind as she sat there in that unhappy place, counting hours before she and her siblings would be taken to their new home.
Whatsoever you do, to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me..

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