Sarah, may you Rest in Peace

Gepubliceerd op 19 juni 2019 om 06:52

You have not been able to read our Blog for almost 2 months, my excuses for this. I also do not use this blog to write about my own family, but today I will. In the beginning of May, I left with my 4 adopted, Ugandan daughters to the Netherlands. We were invited by the Stichting de Figurant, to join them for their 20st anniversary with a benefit concert for Amecet. De Figurant has helped Amecet a lot and we were all very excited to go and see family and friends.  I also used that time to go with my second daughter Sarah for a second opinion to a cardiologist, because she was not doing well, health wise. While being in Holland, Sarah went worse, she was confused at times, was very tired, could not walk much and I became very worried. I was able to see a neurologist and he advised me do go for a MRI and a lumbar punction. Because of the short time, it was not possible to do this all the Netherlands, but I was able to set an appointment in Kampala for the day after we arrived back in Uganda. You understand that this visit went very different then we had expected.

This picture is made during that time, we didn't know that this would be our last family picture. Left is Helen, than me, Mary with Catherine and Sarah is standing at the right. When we arrived back in Uganda, I went with Sarah to Kampala for the doctor, the MRI and the lumbar punction. The others stayed in Entebbe and the next day we drove all back to Soroti. We had a good trip, Sarah was happy to be back in Uganda, she was cheerful..... We arrived in Soroti on Saturday evening and she went to bed, happy. I found her in the morning, unconscious in bed. she never regained consciousness until she passed away on Sunday evening in Dokter's Plaza clinic. She had only said something in the morning: He is coming, don't mind........

Sarah was the first child in Amecet. God had used Sarah to give me inspiration to start Amecet, when I found Sarah in the village, nobody thought she would live.... and I am so privileged to have enjoyed her life for 21 years!!!! Sarah was HIV+, she had AIDS, she also had a very serious heart defect and now at the end she got a viral infection in her brain. But this little village girl, went to  pre-school, primary and secondary school, after that she did a course to be a pre-school teacher and she worked in the pre-school!! She travelled by airplane and many people knew her. She was loved by many.   She was truly my inspiration to start Amecet and I am so thankful that we were able to walk those 21 years together...;. even I miss her so much today.........

There were more than 500 people attending the service, which was held in the compound of Harmony Primary school. Many people recognized Sarah as the face of Amecet. She was truly honored and after the service, we laid her to rest in our own garden. We, as a family have been so blessed by the love and support of so many people. We know that Sarah was loved and we feel loved as well. We try to find our way as a family of 4 instead of 5. Sarah is with Jesus, she saw Him coming.... her suffering is over, no more pain, no more ARV's, no more injections, no more confusion and we will meet her again....

I hope you understand why the blogs stopped for a time, there was too much going on. I wanted to let you know what has happened, because Sarah was so connected with Amecet.. Check the blog out in the coming week, I promise also in Amecet is still a lot happening. Amecet continues, there are still so many hurting children. When I was in the starting phase of Amecet, many years ago, there were times that it was too much, that I wanted to quit, but God always told me: don't give up, you do it for all the Sarah's..... there are still so many more Sarah's out there..........

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Reacties

Truus van Middelaar
5 jaar geleden

Denk elke dag veel aan jullie. Ben zo blij dat Sarah is overleden op haar geboortegrond. Dat ze daardoor dicht bij jullie is in geest en lijf.
Hoop Vlg jaar haar grafje te bezoeken.
Veel sterkte samen.

Marianne Sturm
5 jaar geleden

Sterkte Els, samen met je andere dochters, om met het verlies van Sarah om te gaan!
Bijzonder om Sarah bij het benefietconcert nog gezien en gesproken te hebben.
En haar laatste woorden: He's coming, do not mind!
Zo is ze tot zegen geweest voor de mensen om haar heen.
Zegen voor de toekomst. Zijn eeuwige armen zij onder jullie.

Linda van der Knaap
5 jaar geleden

Ach Els, gecondoleerd met jullie verlies. Wat een verdrietig nieuws. Wat ben ik blij dat ze bij jou een moeder en familie heeft gevonden en dat ze geliefd was. Ik wens jullie veel sterkte.

Annieke Loor
4 jaar geleden

Hoi Els,

Wat intens verdrietig om te lezen dat jullie nu al ruim een jaar Sarah moeten missen.. Voor Sarah is er geen pijn en verdriet meer, maar bij jullie misschien des te meer. De pijn van het moeten missen en het verdriet van de leegte die niemand kan opvullen.. Ik kan me Sarah (10 jaar geleden) herinneren als een eigenwijs, vrolijk, optimistisch meisje die heel goed wist wat ze wilde.
Ik wil jou/jullie heel veel sterkte, kracht en vertrouwen toewensen.. Ooit komt er een dag dat jullie elkaar weer in de armen kunnen sluiten..