Elicia is 39 years old and has been working at RHFH since 2010. She lived up in the mountains behind Cazale most of her life. She moved down to Cazale so that her children could go to school. The father of the kids left her and she found herself walking for hours each day looking for scraps of wood. She then sold this wood for a very small amount of money so that she could buy food for her kids. It was hard and did not give her much of an income for her family. She came to RHFH and filled out an application for work. She started out by covering people that were taking vacation time. She was a good employee and quick to learn new tasks. She worked for 2 years covering vacation time or working for those that called in sick. This was very helpful to her but each month she was unsure of how many days she would be able to work. She was happy when she was hired full time.

Her dad died several years ago and her mom is still alive. She visits her at least once a month. She is able to take food to her each month due to her having a full time job. She has 2 sisters that live with her mom and care for her. Elicia has 2 children. She rents a room to live in with her kids. She also has a niece that lives with her. She is thankful for her job because she is able to live with her children and able to feed them each day. She has also been able each year to send them to school and this is something that she is very proud of and very important for her children. She hopes one day that she will be able to buy a small piece of land a build a home for them.

Her days consists of feeding the kids mamba, food and drink. Changing diapers all day long. Changing beds sheets, bathing kids, giving medications, holding kids when they are crying, playing with them and making sure their needs are met. She also at times does one on one care with the sickest kids. This is hard at times but she is happy to be there with them. When I asked her what she did not like about work it was working on Sundays (twice a month). When I asked her what she thought were some needs of the Rescue Center she said beds for the bigger kids and more chairs. We adding a rocking chair outside which she really enjoys. When I asked her what she would change in the work if she could she said we needed to take in more kids and that we needed more bikes and scooters because the kids love them.

When I asked her what she would like other to know about her she said she is a christian and attends the Baptist church. She is shy and likes to listen to the news on the radio. She also wanted you to know she changes lots and lots of diapers each day. 🙂 She said the kids bring her so much joy when she is carrying for them. This shows each day in her work and how she interacts with them. She asked that you pray for her and her family.