A very special person I have met on one of our feeding scheme rounds is a Gogo – who will forever be a mother. I still do not know her name as her English is limited to "God Bless you", but I do know that she has a heart that has imparted many blessings. She lives in a tiny house – a 2-roomed house in fact.
One side is the kitchen / Bathroom / "lounge" (with no furniture) and the 2nd room a bedroom for 5 people. There is no running water in the house – just an outside tap; and electricity gets bought when they have the odd Rand or two. Her daughter died while giving birth to twins and thus left behind a young boy of 6 and twins (a boy and girl). The daughters' husband is never home as he is permanently on the road looking for work. Which leaves the Gogo to act as mother to the children. Often one will arrive and she will be sitting on the floor with the twins on either side of her – feeding, dressing, changing (the twins are now about 6 months old) – and the young boy also sitting at her feet "learning his numbers", as they could not afford to send him to a pre-school. She also looks after Ashley – an abandoned brain-damaged girl – from another family member. Ashley spends her days rolling around on a blanket – is wearing nappies and needs to be fed, changed, calmed down at regular intervals – and is basically an adult baby.
Have I ever heard a word of complaint from this Gogo who herself should be spoilt and enjoying her twilight years? Never. Just expressions of thankfulness; praise to God for seeing her through yet another day and noticing a woman caring when she herself needs caring.
The photo is of the young boy enjoying his daily bath. Isn't life wonderfully simple? Who else can brag about having a bath in the beautiful sunshine?
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