IcFEM Gap Volunteers

Bibiana is 82 and has a very painful knee which severely restricts her movements. When Patrick, the staff member in charge of Mercy Ministries, visited her he was utterly appalled when he saw the conditions in which Bibiana was living. Her sons were all dead and her only source of help was a small grandson. Her traditional thatched home was on the point of collapse, and when it rained the roof offered no protection to Bibiana and her few possessions, a simple bed and a soiled blanket. IcFEM has been able to help her by building a new mud-walled house with a proper roof. Many old people live like Bibiana; they have to get their water from the river, they have to collect firewood so that they can cook, and if they are in pain they have to endure it, because a visit to the doctor is far too expensive to even consider. When they are too old to work there are no pensions, home helps or meals-on-wheels to help make their lives more comfortable. AIDS is destroying the old social order that would have provided for them. Now the young are dying and the old are left alone to fend for themselves.Some elderly people, however, are simply ignored by their family.

When IcFEM first met J. she was seriously neglected, living in a filthy mud-walled house, and covered with Jiggers (Sandfleas), parasites that burrow into the skin and lay their eggs so that the body starts itching. She was in a pathetic state, but loving Christian care changed her last days. She was visited by a Mission nurse and the Head of Mercy Ministries. They bathed her, cleaned her, got rid of the jiggers and made her comfortable. Others came to clean her house. Frequent visits by IcFEM staff made her family sit up and ask what was going on. Eventually her family were reconciled, realised their responsibility to their old mother, and she died in peace.

On Christmas Day 2001 IcFEM collected 78 destitute and lonely old people and provided a day out for them that Children Alone Trust had great joy in funding. They were given a substantial meal, and each old person was given some clothes and a blanket. The Gospel was shared and many responded. Patrick wrote, "In their vote of thanks at the end of the function they expressed their joy at what had happened and said it was like a visitation of God to them. They left very happy and excited for what they had seen and heard. The love of God through the Gospel was shared to them. This has really touched and changed the lives of the aged and their attitude to the things of God, Praise God."

In response to the situation IcFEM has started a programme of care for the elderly within their own homes. This involves regular visits and the provision of basic food and medical care as well as ensuring that their basic needs are being met. IcFEM would like to employ a geriatric nurse especially for the project.