Julie - I was going to suggest that you use your home help to select a family to help and donate old baby clothes through her/him. But if others found out where the donation was coming from, your house might be mobbed - or do you live in a secure area?

If you can find a way to do a positive act like this, though it might seem tiny to you and almost pointless, it might help you to get through it all. You have done rescue work so you know that you have to select one out of hundreds to help because you can't do more. One is many times better than none, I think.

Are you very isolated from other ex-pat families? Aren't there others there that have had to get used to what you are facing now and that you can talk to?

Do, please, keep writing about your experiences here. If we are in a dark mood and can't bear to read it sometimes, then we are fortunate enough not to have to, but it won't hurt any of us to read about what you are experiencing on a daily basis. Knowing that many of the people in desperate need could be helped if there was not so much corruption in the country would fire me into a desperate rage also.