"Finetown"

Today Nandi & I, Agnes, the head of the Mother's Union and Sello, the local coordinator, went to the shanty town called "Finetown". There's nothing fine about it, however! Most of the homes were made of tin - siding and roofing with gaps between the tin sheeting. All had outhouses with new-looking vent pipes (to keep people from dying from methane gas). And some had water taps in the "yards" while others had no water and the occupants had to go to a community water supply which had several faucets to fill jugs of water. I saw someone pushing a wheel barrow with 2 or 3 large plastic containers of water back to their home.

The 'roads' were not paved and were deeply rutted making hard for Nandi to drive. Dust was everywhere! We visited several clients in Finetown, sitting outside on borrowed chairs, stools or benches from neighbors. One lady invited us to sit inside her home. A curtain separated her bedroom (I think) from the kitchen, dining, sitting area. She has no ID so she cannot receive services - food & financial support - for herself and her family (3 children). She lost her birth certificate and only has a baptismal certificate. Nandi talked with her about presenting the baptismal certificate as ID to see if it's acceptable; otherwise, she told the lady that she would get an affidavit to say she lost her birth certificate. If anyone can find a way to get this lady an ID it is Nandi!

Some of the neighbors in Finetown were drinking beer that Nandi told me they spike with battery acid to make it more potent. You can see, she told me, their red lips that have been burned from the acid.

Today was quite shocking for me. It's so sad and yet Nandi and her staff & volunteers are doing amazing work and providing so much support, but as Sello said to me, "the need is overwhelming."