Today was hard day. I don't really even know how to express what I saw today.
A close friend of Sonrise (Ida) lost her son today. She is the lady that found and brought Brenda, James, John, and Mark to sonrise. Ida had told her son (9 years old) to stay away from the River Nile because it was dangerous and he couldn't swim. Her son decided he wanted to go swimming with his friends this morning in the river. Well, he got caught in a whirl pool. Boys came and told the mom that he drowned. Ida sat by the river all day and waited for his body to come back to the top. He eventually did. We went to Ida house tonight to give our condolences..I was not ready. As we walked through the village the crowd was getting bigger. Got there and so many people were around the little house. Saw Ida and we went right up to the front of the crowd where she was. We had to pass the small casket to get to her. I thought he was already in there. The farther up we went, I saw him. Her son was just lying there on a table. His little lifeless body. So small. He just wanted to go for a swim, not knowing that he would never come back. Cotton was shoved up his nose. The doctor was preparing his body (injecting him) to put in the casket so he wouldn't smell for the upcoming 4 hour trip to Ida's mothers home to bury him. It was so hard to see him like that, and so hard to see his mother hurting. Ida started wailing and walking around wailing. I have never heard someone like that. It was so loud. I have never seen anything like it. Broke my heart. Only the family around was crying. It was like an old movie you see with people wailing over a loss. I was holding my breath to try not to cry. No one else was crying around me. Just somber faces. People staring at me to see how the mazungu would react to death. I know this will not be the last time I will ever have to experience a day like this. Pray for sweet Ida and her family. I have no idea if her son knew the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment