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Ouy
During a visit to the border town of
Osmach, Wendy and I were told a sad story of three orphans who had been
taken in by a local family. The youngest, a 2.5 year old girl had
reportedly been bought for USD$3.75. These poor kids are allegedly
beaten, made to work as slaves, and forced to eat with the pigs. The
authorities have tried to catch this family abusing the children, but
unsuccessfully. I suspect they have not tried very hard, but wanted us to
think well of them. Sadly there was nothing we could do for these poor
children, accept pray that God would intervene. Wendy and I prayed that if
it was the Lords will, that He would deliver the young girl into our
hands. We left Osmach and waited on the Lord's timing and will.
God heard us and moved upon the heart of
the girls aunty. She had sold her niece the wealthier family after the
girls mother had died of AIDS in January. Shortly after we left Osmach,
the aunty went to see how her niece was going and discovered the girl
malnourished scarred from
beatings and often made to sleep on the ground under a tree. She demanded
the girl back but was refused. Returning to her shack of a home, she asked
her husband to take a gun and get the child back. He did and the child was
handed over with no questions asked. I was then notified by a concerned
neighbor that the girl was now able to enter the orphanage.
The motor bike and I had a pleasant journey up to Osmach, stopping in at
some villages along the way to assess a number of orphaned girls. On
reaching Osmach, I sought out the concerned neighbor who had originally
told me of this little girl and he lead me to her aunties home. There I
found a fat bellied, skinny armed girl (brought about from
malnutrition). She was silent, showing no open fear of my presence or my
blue eyes which often bring out shrieks of fear from the brown eyed
children. Her name is Ouy (Oy-ee). Her father was a soldier but died a
couple of years ago, the people said it was AIDS. As is usually the case
with AIDS, the mother died a year or so later, leaving Ouy, an only child,
in the hands of her poverty stricken Aunty. I am sure the aunty had good
intentions when she gave Ouy to a wealthier family, although she may have
feared Ouy was HIV+ and would bring trouble to the family.
Paper work completed I placed Ouy in front of me on the motor bike and we
began the 170 km + journey home. First stop was at a market restaurant for
my lunch. The aunty had assured me that Ouy had already eaten. For a small
girl who had just eaten she certainly downed a lot of food at the
restaurant and continues to down food like every meal is her last. We then
took a slow ride down the mountain to Cher Krom, a village about 20 km
from Osmach where we have a church. The road is such that most of you
would not wish to take your four wheel drive along it should you have one.
Ouy whimpered momentarily twice but otherwise remained silent, choosing to
fall asleep about 3 km from Cher Krom. This created I whole new problem.
It is one thing to travel a four wheel drive track on a off road motor
cycle with a two year old, it is another with a sleeping two year old. I
could not stop as there were large black clouds threateningly coming down
the mountain after us. Saturday morning I preached to a group of 40 and
then proceeded to my next preaching appointment, some 35 km away. This
appointment met, I began the last 110 kms of the journey at 3:30 pm
Sabbath afternoon. I tried several tricks, such as using a scarve to tie
her me like a lap belt in a car, to make steering a motorbike with a
two year old asleep in front of me manageable. Saturday evening with 50 km
left before reaching home, I finally found the solution. I buttoned her
torso and head into my shirt. She slept comfortably and I had both hands
free. We arrived safely home about 8:00 pm, Ouy well rested and myself
thoroughly exhausted. Ouy has now settled down in one of the orphanage
houses and appears to be doing well. She was tested for HIV yesterday and
turned up negative, praise the Lord!
Your Prayers and financial support help
us to provide safe loving homes for children like Ouy.
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