It's not just about the Bubbles.......

Friday 4th November 2011 (con)

This afternoon I went to Bubble for Christina - it was her 8th birthday and she had a small party with some friends.

Christina lives in a run down apartment block with her Grandmother - her mother died of a heart attack due to stress in March this year. She went to the hospital in Medias but they would not treat her because of her HIV status.

Her Grandmother receives no 'allocation' (financial support) for Christina - she has been told she does not 'qualify'

Then we drove to Ormenis......

..... another small rural village.....

I was taken to a hut....

........ I stepped through this hole in the wall into a small square shed. The stench was unbelievable, there were two wooden structures (which looked like beds but with no bedding) and a stove. The walls were covered in dirt and there was human excrement on the floor. I was told that there were a total of 14 people living in this space.

On one of the wooden structures there were 2 children, I thought they were about 6months and 18 months old - one had a thin nylon top on, with nothing else and the other had no clothes at all. They sat there, inert in the dark. Bear in mind, we are now into November, our crew all had coats on and were shivering as we walked down the track.

Even though the structure they were sat on was covered in filth, I could not stop myself from stroking them and I picked up the smaller child, I just wanted to give her some warmth and love, I have never seen such human squalor .......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJYL9X-cVo&hd=1

this short film was shot using a mobile phone to light up the area, I was later informed that the children were 18 months and nearly three years old.

The baby had no response to my holding her, she just stared and chewed hungrily on the biscuit that had been given to her.

There were a couple of young teenage children there, I did not see the mother, nobody knew where she was.

I carry the picture of what I saw today in my mind, it will not go away. I understand that the mother was previously given a blanket for the baby which she then sold for cigarettes, it seems she does not have any maternal instincts towards these children.

I cannot let this rest, I want to do something, but I do not know what. I know that there are many children like this in the world, but now I have met these two, I cannot ignore them.

My friend Jo has been dealing with such issues for 12 years day in, day out, yet she never gives up, she has faith and such strength......

.........now I have shown you too - we cannot forget these children - they are Paula and Gabriela, they deserve better.

My trip is not just about the Bubbles, it's an insight into how the world is so inequitable.