Blog by Barbara Adams

Today one of our team members Sarah told us that her future son in law has a great-grandfather who was one of the slaves who was taken from Benin in the early 1800’s. The reality of this young man being a descendant of the village we are here to help gave me goosebumps. It made the trip that much more special. A breast cancer surgery patient who was only 25 had a massive tumour which they removed, but there will be no chemo or radiation so…..her future is grim. It is so frustrating knowing that in Canada, she would likely have been diagnosed earlier and would have had access to life-saving medication. Another gentleman needed surgery but he has no family, so he cannot have surgery. Why not. Well, family here provide the postoperative care. They stay and sleep with the patient and feed them. Without that help, they cannot be operated on. So many cannot afford the medical or surgical care to go without. To keep our hearts from breaking we have to focus on the good we can do and pray for them all. In the end, we receive far more than we give.