IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR SONS
Poor street children in Mexico have benefited from a £500 donation in memory of Luke and Marcus.
Following his tragic death, Luke’s bereft mum Susan was overwhelmed with a desire to care for underprivileged children. So, accompanied by Marcus’ mum Marilyn, several years ago she joined the Bishop of Wakefield’s group trip to an orphanage in the troubled former Soviet Union country of Georgia.
It was to prove inspiring though heartbreaking as Marilyn recalls:
“Zeme Bodbi orphanage was a former school for the mentally disadvantaged which the Soviet regime had put outside the village so pupils were not ‘visible’. After the breakup of the Soviet Union many children were left orphans and this building was taken over for their care.”
It was in an extremely dilapidated condition with bare wires, broken stairways and missing windows. Yet the children and their carers were happy and generous in spirit.”
“One 14-year-old girl Maria kept close to Susan and was always smiling. She wore a headscarf all the time, and when we asked why she explained ‘because I have no hair’. She’d been so traumatised after seeing her mother kill her younger brother and then commit suicide, it fell out. We understood there were many similar stories following the break up of the Soviet Union.”
“After providing fuel for the winter, we returned determined to do more and began raising funds to refurbish the school rooms. But less than two years later Russia invaded Georgia and the school was in the part of Georgia in dispute. The building was abandoned and some of the lovely people we met had to flee. One young man lost his life. By this time we had raised £2,000 but with no orphanage to give it to…”
“It was decided that we’d use the money to give to charities that do not have a high profile for fund raising and to give it in small amounts. We heard about the work going on in Mexico through a colleague of Susan’s whose daughter is involved in a project out there through The Guide Association.”
“We are delighted to have just handed over a cheque for £500 towards refurbishment of classrooms for the school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in loving memory of our sons.”
