Thankful Moments

Such sorrow has filled my entirety for Jakeline, the newest Hope List member. Her story is full of deep anguish. I empathize

with each of the Hope List students' stories of suffering and affliction, but Jakeline's story has struck a chord in my soul.

As a mother, I see these students as children. My care and affections go out to them for their desperate needs as a mother gives her emotions and concerns for her own children. Although I am not there to provide care directly for the students. I am in constant prayer over their provisions.

Attending the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Gatagara, Jakeline had aspirations to provide for herself and her family. Months ago, Jakeline tripped and fell. Initially she only felt numbness in her arm, but without money she was unable to visit a doctor. Her symptoms progressed from numbness to complete paralysis in her arm. The numbing spread through out her body and left her paralyzed from the neck down. Early intervention may have left her with an improved prognosis, but when she found herself in the hospital she was beyond recovery.

The burden of hospital care costs led the family to abandon Jakeline and leave her to die in a hospital bed. Once we learned of Jakeline's case, we immediately sent funds to cover a month of care for her hospital stay. Consequently in Rwanda, when the hospital does not see money coming from a patient, the hospital will not provide care for that patient.

Since Hope in His Vision has been sending funds for Jakeline's care, she has a nurse that helps feed her and care for her. She is learning to drink from a cup by herself, using only her teeth to hold the cup and tipping her head back for a drink.

Listening to the pitter-patter of my young children running across our hardwood floors breaks my heart. I have these children, healthy and full of hopeful futures ahead of them. How blessed we are to walk, how blessed we are to see, how privileged to receive emergency medical care!

I can't help but wonder if there is more to Jakeline's paralysis, if there is more to her blindness. Is there care she could receive to glorify our God in all His power, that would give Jakeline the opportunity to walk again? Is this paralysis a simple fix for the medical world? I don't know. Maybe she will live her entire life blind and unable to move on her own. But she is alive. She is living and she is receiving care. For now. Hope in His Vision is doing what we can to make sure she is not left alone. Manzi, our Financial Director, visits Jakeline and took these pictures of her on his last trip to the hospital.

Jakeline suffers from such unique circumstances, but how much more does that lead her to depend on God in her daily life! If you have a desire to learn more about Jakeline and how you can help, even if that is writing her encouraging letters to lift her up in heart, please contact us! You can also sponsor Jakeline at our Hope in His Vision Sponsor Page.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Jakeline and her desperate needs. Thank you for thinking of her during this tragic time of her life, newly abandoned by family because of paralysis she has no control over.

I encourage you to take this time to reflect on your own health, wealth, and blessings. Most of us are far better off than Jakeline, but she is not giving up--she seeks hope in her future, and her faith in our God will bless her beyond all measure.

-Aurora