Badra the Widow Mar 14/11

Badra sees me one day(she is the beggar woman that I know). She looks terrible, really gaunt.

I take her to the brothers' shop and get him to find out what she wants. Her husband (also a beggar) died 8 days ago and she wants me to search a room for her and get some treatment for her hand.

Through the brother I ask her to get a bill from the clinic for the treatment and I will see about paying...but she is not willing to do that.

I phone Maiti Nepal but they don't take widows. The brother tells her that as a foreigner, I will not be able to find a room for her...(especially since she makes her living by begging). We part ways.

I meet a woman who finds a phone number for me for a widows' shelter. I get a young woman at Flavours to phone for me. Initially there is a mis-communication as the woman thinks that I want the bed for myself. When she phones back she is told that the shelter is full, to phone back in a week.

I search the Internet but don't come up with another shelter. I ask some people I know but they also don't know of any. I get the girl to phone again but this time she is told that they only take widows through referrals from an agency.

At this point I haven't seen Badra around so I think that maybe she has went to the village where her mother lives.