Big relief for all of us as our Sitty is back from her short break back in the Philippines. It's so good to have her back and the kids are all very excited. But unfortunately her daughter and nieces are still not recovered and remain in hospital.
About three months ago Sitty's two children (10 & 12 yrs) together with their cousins and other children from the village went for a swim in the river. All the children got very sick and 4 of the children died that week. The kids had been poisoned by phosphorous put there by another villager. Sitty's family took their children to the closest city with hospitals (a 45 mins ferry ride away) and they have been in and out of hospital since. Thankfully her eldest son recovered very quickly but her daughter is still there. A few weeks ago she had an operation to remove part of her intestine which was badly infected. That was when we sent Sitty home. She is now doing better but is still unable to eat and lapses in and out of a daze.
The very sad part of the story is that it has cost Sitty and her family thousands of dollars to treat their children. We have helped her out but she has also had to borrow from other relatives and sell of a piece of land. It's a big blow to a family who never had much to start with. What she has borrowed will probably take her nearly a couple of years to pay off. But where they come from they are the lucky ones. Sitty earns a decent wage here and she also has a sister working as a nurse in Saudi. There are many more families there without access to medical care and because they can't afford it, these very poor people die.
As for the man who left the poison, he very quickly left with his family and are in hiding. And in a society that adheres to an eye for an eye and gun culture, even his relatives have left for fear of revenge. That's life there.
