HOST FAMILY EXPERIENCES

Nathalie Shillito – Chain of Hope Host Family Volunteer

Why should one want a complete stranger in their home for up to three weeks?

The mothers or carers who accompany a sick child for surgery in the UK are overwhelmed, frightened and nervous and need someone to guide them through the confusion of arriving in an unknown country with a foreign language and ultimately, through the life-changing surgery their child will receive. Many of these ladies live in remote African villages and have no access to labour-saving kitchen devices, let alone the advanced medical care the child requires, so as a host mother, it is my job to welcome our visitors at the airport and to make them feel at home.

I do not have a big house, I don't live in London, nor do I always speak the language of our guests but all these are minor issues because as fellow human beings and with the shared experience of motherhood, there is a bond. It is a chance for my family to learn about new cultures and to be accepting of other people, whatever their background.

Not only is the child transformed post-surgery but also the carer, as the huge burden of caring for a sick child is lifted. Of course many children die of curable heart conditions around the world; indeed my own son would have died at birth had he not had the privilege of being born in England, but the Chain of Hope medical teams can make an otherwise impossible wish come true for children around the world. To see a frail, under-sized child with delayed physical development become a hungry, active and inquisitive person is priceless! Without the Chain of Hope, the future would be bleak.

This is not to say that caring for another couple of people in one's home is always easy. There are more impressive than usual meals to prepare, additional washing, time spent travelling into London by tube and hours spent waiting around in wards (remember always to carry a good book!). One's life is on hold to a certain extent, depending on how much help one's own family can offer, but it is for a relatively short period and there is a pause in the middle of the stay when the mother will sleep at the hospital with her child. Other Chain of Hope volunteers can help out, either or by babysitting or by visiting in hospital, and the wonderful ladies in the Chain of Hope office are only a phone call away.

So, why welcome strangers into one's home? Because relationships develop and some people become friends, meaning that at the end of their stay, they are no longer strangers.

December 2010