I can’t even remember her name. That is what bothers me the most. I don’t know if anyone does. I took this photo in 1998 at an Eastern European orphanage when DirectConnect Humanitarian Aid was first established. She was dying before our eyes.
The one thing I remember was the orphanage director telling us through our interpreter that her condition was completely curable, but they did not have the resources to help her. They buried her in the graveyard in the back of the orphanage that is also pictured. They didn’t even put her name on the marker. She is forgotten except for this picture that I look at often. Friends, there are way too many grave markers there.
My oldest child was six months old at the time. I knew I could not go back and just enjoy my idyllic life while pretending that these children did not exist. DirectConnect sent this orphanage what they needed so we could help stop this from happening. We can do so much when we come together.
Submitted by: Matt Hartford, DCHA