Suzan - RESTORED Hope After the Loss of a Child
Suzan is is a 35 year old hard-working mother of nine children. She lives near the Sports Outreach Resource Center (SORC) outside of Kampala. Her children are from three different men. All three abandoned her and the children. She settled down to work and support her family, but the pressure was immense.
Tragedy:
Suzan lost her first born, Mark, at the age of 7 years. He was swallowed by an African python about 10 years ago when she had sent him to go call his dad from the garden. After waiting for some hours without the son and the father showing up, the mother checked on them only to discover the father hadn’t seen the boy. As they searched around, they found blood and the boy’s sandals in the bush where they saw the snake. They screamed and people gathered, They killed the snake and removed Mark’s body.
Intervention:
SOM Uganda’s team at the SORC visited this family in July 2018 after one of the local community leaders approached us. The mother was still suffering much trauma resulting from the tragic demise of her first born son. The children were not regular in schools due to lack of school fees, and the family had food insecurity. The family were lucky to have a shelter from a person in the community who asked Suzan to take care of his village house. Otherwise, they had nothing.
The SOM team took Suzan through a number of counselling sessions intended for her to overcome the past including the deceased son. They rented her two acres of land, cleared the bush, bought seeds and helped her plant maize and beans. They bought her two pigs to start a piggery. They enrolled her children into SORC project programs. They are involved in soccer and chess. They gave the children clothes.
The SOM Team praying for Suzan (in red).
Highlights:
On August 17, 2019, Suzan surrendered her life to Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. The SOM team bought her a Bible as a gift. Through the financial support and agriculture training she received, food is not problem now. Last season she harvested 500 kilograms of maize and 25 kilograms of beans.
Suzan starting her piggery
Through continued counseling, Suzan is emotionally strong and stable. She used to cry every time she remembered the tragic death of her son.
During the team’s intervention, they encouraged the children to work alongside their mother during the holidays. The mother testifies how hard-working her children are. On Saturdays some of Suzan’s children continue to participate in soccer, bible study sessions and chess programs. This has increased their self-esteem and capacity to associate with others. Initially, they were very reserved and couldn’t interact with others freely.