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.