A star in heaven

On the 9th of December Malita Jasten delivered tiplets at Nkhoma hospital. This was her 6th pregnancy which means she had a total of 9 children now. The triplets were born pre-term and with a very low birth weight. Malita stayed almost 2 months in the Kangaroe care room but requested to go home after as she also had to care for her other 6 children. Unfortunately she was discharged without follow up appointment and without additional support.

A month after discharged we managed to find the mother and babies in the village to see how they were doing. A conclusion was quickly made; she couldn’t take care for all children herself. Her husband left her so she has to take care for the children and to make sure everyone in the family has enough to eat.
We agreed with her to come to the hospital frequently so we could support her. I started providing maize, likuni phala, blankets, clothes and money for transport. Now there was more food available we were hoping her breast milk would increase however reality was different.

On Tuesday April 14^th we agreed with the mother to take the smallest baby into the africare house. Trinity is the third born of the triplets and was born with a birth weight of 994 grams. She was suffering from severe malaria, severe anemia, severe pneumonia and severe malnutrition. I moved with Trinity into the hospital and prayed for her. After a few days she started recovering from the malaria and anemia however the doctor found out she also was in heart failure. The combination of all diseases was too much for her and on the 23^rd of April 2015 at 11pm Trinity died.

I stayed with Trinity for almost 10 days. I cared for her and loved her as much as I love my other daughters. I slept with her in the hospital and watched her day and night. The pain and cold I felt while she was dying is something I cannot explain. When Trinity died she took a piece of me with her. I will never forget her and always love her. I know she is in a safe place right now but the pain I feel is difficult.
Today she was buried in her home village.

Forever in my heart, a star in heaven.



 

Easter

Today is Easter. I woke up at 5 am the house is quiet, everyone is still a sleep. I have to think about a picture which I posted on facebook a year ago. Diana just started living with me; she was very sick, stunted and malnourished. I had no idea why God wanted me to take care for her. Now a year later her recovery is amazing, both physically and mentally she is doing so much better.  I often still think about the number of nights I was sitting next to her, checking her temperature every hour. Caring for her as most nights she would wake up many times crying and screaming. Today she is a happy almost ‘normal’ child. My prayer for Diana is to grow up in a stable and loving environment, to learn about the love of God for her.

Two weeks ago Katie and Tiwonge moved into the Africare house. Both of them were physically abused for years and urgently needed a save home. My first priority for Tiwonge was to go and visit her family.
A few days ago she returned from her family visit, we found out she had not seen them for seven years! Tiwonge was sent to her uncle when she was only 5 years old. Her family is very poor however life with her uncle wasn’t much better. Tiwonge is still processing everything she saw the last few days, when she arrived in the village she didn’t recognize her parents and sisters. She also discovered she has a little brother which is 9 months old.
My prayer for Tiwonge is to build up a strong relationship with her family. To know God is helping her while she is learning and growing every day. To receive healing for the pain she had to go through.

Both Katie and Tiwonge will start English classes next week. I found a teacher who is going to teach them three times in the week.
Hopefully their English will improve soon so communication will be easier.

 

Fenalli (left on the family picture) is a babysitter who is living with me. She fell pregnant when she was 15 years old. She had to stop secondary school and went back to her home village. She married the father of the child however never lived together with him. In May 2012 she delivered a baby girl called Tryness. In October last year Fenalli started working for me. She is attending secondary evening school and is a great help in the Africare house.

Love,
Nicole