The cost...

I wrote a few weeks ago about the cost of being here..in the DR Congo. Well i did not expect to experience that cost so visibly and powerfully, only 3.5 weeks after arriving.

On saturday i recieved some heartbreaking news from home. My sister was due to give birth in just 5 weeks, but on Friday, on a check up at the hospital, she and her husband were told that the baby had died. She has still had to go through the trauma of giving birth, and so in the early hours of this morning, alexander luke was born. Devestating for my sister and her husband, and terrible for the rest of my family too.

I have experienced a mixture of emotions since hearing the news. Shock, anger, confusion, sadness. im sure that all pales in comparison to what my sister and her husband are feeling right now. My feelings have been exacerbated by the fact that im so far from home.

Medair have been great, very supportive. They offered me the chance to fly home. I have spoken to the family a lot over the last 48 hours and we have decided the best thing is for me to stay in the DR Congo. I need to settle here and there are already so many people supporting Jude and Jonny. i think if i had returned home, it would have been more for my benefit than theirs. We will speak on the phone and on skype, and i am OK with that for now.

A colleague said to me yesterday that you really make a big sacrifice whn you leave for the field. Not only does that apply to me, but for the people you leave behind as well. I have had that truth rammed down my throat.

Please pray for my sister and her husband if you get a chance. i would appreciate it.