A. is 81 year old. He lives in a village called Beliac. This is where he was born and where he has lived his whole life. His wife died many years ago, to long for him to remember. They had 4 children. Three of those children died. All had fever and were ill before they died. He has one living son and 4 grand children. He and his son live together in their 2 room home. The home is made of rocks and clay. It has a tin roof and a small porch. They do not have running water at their home. To get water he walks with his horse for 45 minutes to the nearest source. He said when he was younger it did not take him 45 minutes. He takes 5 gallon buckets and fills them up. He has someone help him load them in pouches that are on the horse to carry home.
A. has been a farmer his whole life. His papa was a farmer and now his son is as well. His wishes that he would have been able to go to school and learn how to read and write. He also wishes he would have been able to send his kids to school. All his farming in done by hand. It is hard work to plant and harvest crops this way in the hot sun each day. He also has to depend on the rain each season. One bad crop can devastate a family and whole village. A. has lived his whole life this way. He knows no other way. He plants many types of crops. His most common crops is a grain called pitimi. He also plants beans, roots, bananas and sweet potatoes.
When the crops are ready to harvest he works hard to gather his crop. When he was younger he went twice a weeks to different open markets to sell his crops. Now his son does that for them. A good bean or grain crops can provide for the family for 4 or 5 months. Bananas are grown and staggered when they can be harvested. This provide a small amount of money during the month as well.
A. has been coming to the clinic for many years. It takes him 5 hours to travel on his horse to arrive at the clinic. RHFH provides him with a box of FMSC rice each month. We also make sure he has any medications that he is in need of that month. We are proud of him for providing for his family all these years and are happy to call him our friend.