Cati's story

Meet Cati from the Widows Mite Project whom I visited earlier today with a monthly food parcel and Christmas gifts.  She is aged just 68 but looks years older.  Her whole life has been so difficult and she told me she has always lived in extreme poverty.  She lives in very poor conditions in one room in a house in disrepair.  She has an earth floor, has to carry water from a well in the garden and has a "Ty Bach" toilet in the garden.

 She has lived in the village of Vinga for 10 years and before that she and her husband,  who died a year ago lived in the Judet (State) of Timisoara.  Her husband had lung problems and had been unable to work for many years.  Both of them had done manual work on local farms until their health deteriorated.  Cati has eyesight and heart problems, high blood pressure and suffers from lack of calcium  Unfortunately the kind of work she and her husband  did is very poorly paid and they were not given a contract so it is not recognised for pension purposes.

She has a son living in Arad but he too is very poor-being unable to work because of a spinal problem.  She said that she is totally reliant on the food parcel provided and wood supplied by the program.    However she is concerned because her wood stock is reducing fast and she may not have enough for the winter.  She also gathers whatever local wood she can find herself.  Her neighbours help to pay for her medication.  

Her life is an existence and all I can say is Thank You Lord that you have called her by name.  She was baptized at Jackie's Church where her husband's funeral was held.