Esperanza is a pretty, energetic young girl who lives in Angola (West Africa). She is eight years old and stays busy helping her mom and going to school. Every morning she gets up early to get dressed for school. After she is ready, she must help her little brother get dressed -- he's almost five.

After breakfast, both of them must walk to school. This is her third year of attending school. Her little brother goes to a nursery program nearby. Actually all the children in their village walk to school. There are no buses.

What makes this different or unusual for Esperanza is that she must walk to school on crutches. It takes her a lot longer to get there and it's hard for her to keep an eye on her younger brother who always likes to run ahead.

Esperanza has to use crutches because she is missing one of her legs - her right leg. One day Esperanza went with her mom to their field where they grow vegetables. Esperanza's mom always warned her to be careful when they were in the fields. She taught Esperanza how to use the rake to carefully pull aside tall plants and weeds to look for items buried in the ground.

Esperanza was very good at doing this. Sometimes she found broken pieces of plastic. Other times she found dull, rust covered metal. Her mother had carefully explained to her that the metal and plastic were left over from the war and that it could hurt her.

Some Angolans who have lost limbs to landmines.

Like Esperanza, these Angolan women have lost legs to landmines.
They will receive artificial limbs through a United Methodist program.
Credit: Raj Arole, Health and Welfare Ministries, GBGM, UMC.

That day, when she lost her leg, Esperanza found something different. It was plastic, round in shape and it was red. It looked pretty. Esperanza remembered what her mom always said: "DON'T TOUCH anything. Come get me and let me look at it." However, as she turned to call her mom, she accidentally brushed up against the bright red object. Bam!

That's the last thing she remembered - a big noise. When Esperanza awoke, she was in the clinic in the village and she was hurting and crying. Her mom was by her side and looked very sad. Her father and brother were there, too. They told her that she had stepped on a mine.

When Esperanza realized that she no longer had a right foot and leg, she cried and cried. She didn't know what would become of her. She was scared for her mom who continued to go the fields. Esperanza's mom prayed with her and asked God to make Esperanza better and help her not be afraid.

The clinic gave Esperanza crutches and, after a few months she was able to move around on her own. It is still hard for her. The crutches hurt her arms. Sometimes she doesn't want to go to school. It seems too far.

Esperanza's dream is to one day have an artificial leg. In Angola, many women and children have lost legs because they stepped on a mine. A mine is a type of weapon used in wars. A mine (not the cave type) is a metal or plastic object that is buried in the ground. If a person - a soldier or a child - steps on it, it might explode. If it explodes it will seriously hurt or kill a person.

The United Methodist Church has a project in Angola to help women and children get artificial limbs (they are also called prostheses). In Angola, it is believed that nearly 200 people a week lose legs and arms because of mines. Men can often get new arms and legs through the army.

This program by the church helps women and children get artificial limbs. Some people from Jaipur, India, have come to Angola to help the people there learn how to build limbs for the children like Esperanza who need them.

Let us pray for Esperanza and other children like her. Let us pray for the church so they will be able to help everyone who is hurting because of mines.

Activities to Do with the Story

Prayer

God, the Bible says that the world you made was good. Yet some people use their minds to create things - like mines - which hurt others. Teach us to do things to help people and not hurt them. Amen.

Map Search

Click on Small Map of Africa for Larger Map - 3268 Bytes

Use a world map and find the two countries mentioned in the story: Angola and India.

Make a Poster

Look in magazines and cut out pictures of people using canes, crutches, or wheelchairs. Also, cut out or draw pictures of other things that will help Esperanza and other hurt children get around (hint: bus or wagon).

Tell a Story

Think about a time in your life or someone you know who has been hurt. Perhaps they were hurt in a car or playground accident. Maybe you know a child who is very sick with a disease such as cancer. Talk to someone else (a friend or a teacher) about what is hard about being sick or hurt. Try to think of something positive that happened even in the midst of the pain (perhaps the child that got hurt received a favorite toy that helped her forget the pain).

If you prefer, instead of telling your story, write a story about a child who has been hurt. You also could draw pictures of what happened.

Photo Captions

Midpage: A technician from India (left) instructs an Angolan (center) on how to shape the calf of an artificial leg. Credit: Raj Arole, Health and Welfare Ministries, GBGM, UMC.

Bottom: Many countries that have suffered war have landmines. This girl from Iraq lost her hand in a explosion. UN/DPI Photo by J. Isaac.

Don't Touch!!!

By Faye Wilson

Memory Verse: Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind ... and he cured them... (Matthew 15:30)