Wednesdays

As much as spending time at some of the homes and being with the girls and boys is fun and encouraging, there are unfortunately some people and projects that do not have the same sense of hope. I spend every Wednesday at a training center for poor single mothers. They spend every morning at the center and learn to sew and embroider in hopes that they will be able to better provide for themselves and their children. But as I have been talking to them (through an interpreter), it seems like their problems are so extreme, numerous and overwhelming that it is hard for me to envision a happy ending for all of them. Many of them have similar stories. Their parents died young, and they had to drop out of school to support themselves and sometimes their siblings. They have children, but their boyfriends either left them or passed away. Many of them have HIV/AIDS, so their health problems have complicated their efforts to hold consistent jobs washing clothes, cleaning houses, or selling small items on the street. The new skills they are learning will probably allow them to make more money, but it doesn't seem like their lives are being transformed. It feels more like filling the crack in a dam with a piece of gum. I want to be positive about these women and their futures and I wish I could talk about them the same way I can about the girls and boys, but when I'm being honest, I have a hard time not seeing their problems as insurmountable and hopeless. I want to believe that they can get to a place where they are healthy and happy and are easily providing food and housing for their children, but they have such a long way to go.