Yes, there are loads of others doing similar selfless acts here in Malawi and across the world, but Veronica is the one I've just met and who is most on my mind at this time
Veronica is 42 years old although she looks like she is in her late 60s or 70s. Life has really taken its toll on her and it shows in the wrinkled skin, gnarled hands and tired look in her eyes
A widower of several years, Veronica has five children aged 16 through to 26
She lives with the two youngest, and also cares for five grandchildren from her older children. Having said that when we visited Veronica she had at least ten children under the age of 8 years hanging around her, so I suspect she actually cares for more than just her five.
Her youngest child, a lad age 16 years is at primary school in standard 3. The fact that he is so far behind where he should be is evidence either that it took several years before the family could afford to enrol him at school, or that they can't afford for him to take the required exam to progress to the next year, or that he is academically struggling and so has to repeat the year many times
Whatever the reason, he is a 16yr old in the same class as 9 yr olds, and that can't be easy.
I don't know much about the next child up, but I do know that the oldest child is a son who lives in Tanzania, and the other two are girls.
Both of them have been married, had children (the grandchildren Veronica now cares for), are divorced or widowed from their first husband and have married again
In Malawi the norm, particularly in the rural areas, is that when a woman marries again the new husband does not take on the care of any previous children. As a result Veronica has been given the long term charge of all her grandchildren and those children will grow up not really knowing their natural mothers. So hard for all three generations and clear evidence of how little voice the females have in this society.
Veronica doesn't have a reliable form of income. Three days a week she is up at 4am to collect charcoal and be at market before other vendors to try and get the best sales. So to say that her income is meagre at best and very unstable is certainly no overstatement.
Food comes from the garden, and occasionally she will sell a chicken if money is needed for school fees or some other bigger cost. The house was built by her son before he went to Tanzania but is now in some state of disrepair to say the least. Termites have attacked the roof and the mud walls need a lot of patching up.
Veronica is certainly up against it but despite everything she remains positive and cheerful. She trusts in God to provide for her and the children, and hopes that she will be able to stay in touch with her children
She really is an extraordinary lady, quietly living in an extraordinary way - selfless, caring, there for everyone, endlessly giving.
An inspiration to meet and one to pray for as she continues to raise up the youth of today
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