Mourning

A child died in Chahalka today. She was the second child of a young couple. She was just 18 months old. She died of dehydration. Our team visited the home of the family to pay our respects, a chore no easier in this culture than in ours. Because we attract a mob wherever we go, we arrived at the house with about fifty people , mostly children, in tow. The family insisted on serving the 10 members of our team Chai and seemed honored to do so. By the time we left, I felt that our effort to ease the pain of the family was an exercise in futility. The mother kept her composure until we were leaving when she fell to the ground and started to sob.