Supporting Mothers in Mutonguni
by Helen, Keogh, CEO, World Vision Ireland
Today I met an inspirational lady; a farmer by the name of Christine Musili. She was looking after her nine year old daughter who was off school for the day because she was sick with a cold. A normal occurrence for many Mums all over the world, but an unusually happy one for Christine. In the past when her children got sick it was with more serious ailments than a simple cold and back then, she did not have the means to help them get better as easily as she would have liked.
Before World Vision entered her life Christine did not have access to the clean running water that is now piped to her home. Her four children used to have to trek for miles in soaring temperatures to a local lake to collect unsanitised and dangerous water. The children often suffered from stomach bugs and diahorrea and she did not have medicine or clean water to hydrate them and nurse them back to health. They were frightening times, as any Mother can imagine, and she often feared for her children.
As well as worrying about the health of her children Christine also fretted about how to put food on the table. She owned some land and tried her best to grow crops to feed her family; a difficult task when the earth is regularly scorched due to recurring periods of drought and you have never been trained in farming techniques.
Life changed for Christine and her family five years ago however, when she was accepted onto a World Vision poverty reduction programme. She joined twenty other small farmers from her community and was trained in organic farming and taught irrigation and water conservation techniques. Water was pumped to her home from a pipe World Vision created which tapped into a national water resource running miles underground.
It was clear to me today as she lovingly walked me around her farm how proud she is to be a skilled farmer. She tended to her crops with a gentle expertise that exuded a love and enthusiasm clear to anyone who watched her. But as she waved goodbye to me, her arm was wrapped protectively and lovingly around her young daughter, who nestled into the comfort of her Mum. It struck me that as proud as she is to be a farmer, her proudest role in life is that as a Mother, just like most working Mothers around the world. The support she received from World Vision has given her the means to provide for her family but more importantly perhaps, it has given her the ability to be a Mother, without having to worry about real and dangerous risks to her children’s lives every day; something every Mother in the world should be able to do. I left Christine’s farm and family home with a real sense of pride in what has been accomplished thanks to the generosity of World Vision Ireland sponsors. Lives have changed so dramatically and smiles have, in so many cases, replaced tears. Child sponsors in Ireland should be so very proud of what they have helped achieve. I know I am.
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