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As I saw these dollar figures on the PowerPoint display I was,
of course, glad to hear of this aid that will be available to
Malawi. On the other hand, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of
the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that would have
to be overcome in order to help the people "on the ground"
who need the help. I decided then and there to pray for the Ministry
of Health of Malawi so that they could do the job right.
In very poor countries in Africa it is very hard to see how foreign
aid really helps people on the ground. Unfortunately, there is
corruption and misdirection of funds from the highest to the lowest
level. There are also well-meaning and honest people at all levels
who are doing their best. I am reminded of some of the phrases
from that great hymn "Once to Every Man and Nation"
with the words by James Russell Lowell. "New occasions teach
new duties" in the third verse. "Though the cause of
evil prosper, Yet ‘tis truth alone is strong; Though her
portion be the scaffold And upon the throne be wrong; Yet that
scaffold sways the future, And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth
God within the shadow, Keeping watch above His own."
It is my privilege to minister to a special group of God's own
children, women dying of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the
most common cancer in women in poor countries. It develops slowly
over five to ten years, and it progresses slowly. Once it advances
past a certain stage, there is no way to stop it in a poor country.
Thus, as a gynecologist in a poor country, I am diagnosing and
treating many women with this problem. When there is no hope of
cure, we have a word for the type of care we are trying to give,
palliative care. We are trying to relieve pain and any distressing
symptoms we can.
I am seeing about ten patients who are in this category. I have
a small supply of pain-relieving medicines, non-prescription pills
you can get at any drug store in America. These women cannot afford
these pills. I am happy to be able to give the pills to them at
no charge. They are extremely grateful for the help, to such an
extent it is hard for me to not cry sometimes.
Yesterday, I saw one of my regular patients, about sixty years
old, who has pain every day. We talked for a while, and then I
gave her 120 pills for a month. If she takes six a day, the pills
will not last a month, but my supply is limited. Then she left
to walk on the muddy road for one mile to catch the bus to go
to her home village 30 miles away. She came back in tears after
about thirty minutes. I thought she might be crying because of
pain or because she had a deadly disease. She was crying because
she had lost her pills on the way to the bus. Fortunately, I was
able to give her some more of the same pills. She was very grateful
and blessed me for that.
Sincerely,
Sue Makin
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 39
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