Too Little

Last week, a dear girl from MRCH was admitted to hospital with heart trouble. Three days later, five-year-old Gracie died. The shock and sadness felt by the community has been bone-achingly sad.

Gracie’s house Mama cared for her beautifully, refusing to leave her at the hospital without having settled her right to sleep first. The next morning she rushed back to the hospital before dawn to comfort Gracie as she woke.

Gracie has been living at MRCH from babyhood when she was abandoned (probably at the same hospital where she was recently admitted). She was severely malnourished – a possible cause of her congestive heart failure.

A simple, reverent service was held for Gracie at an infant burial ground on the outskirts of Epworth. A circle of stoic Africans sang Gracie to sleep, offered prayers and shed tears. I never want to see such a small coffin again.

 If you read statistics about Zimbabwe’s infant mortality rate or the health budget or the HIV infection rate you get a sobering picture. Of course, children are not statistics and I struggle to make any sense of Gracie’s loss.