Miracles and Medicine!!!

This past week I have been reminded that Amecet is a very special children’s home and we have the ability to care for children in extraordinary ways!!! Yes working with HIV positive children in Africa you expect illness and we’re often treating fevers and making trips to the clinic for malaria tests, however the house (well at least the medicine room) now looks more like a hospital than ever!!!



Evalyn trying to drink from a bottle
but she was to weak

I can’t even tell you how it all started the last week has become a bit of a blurr, so I guess well just start with the smallest! Amecet not only takes in HIV positive children but also babies who have lost their mothers, last saturday Els came bac from the hospital with the tiniest baby I had ever seen (at that point) Evalyn was born at 7months and was already 10days old, her mother has pre-eclampsia and so the birth was enduced to save the life of the mother, fortunately both mother and child survived the birth however the mother was paralysed down one side along with many other illnesses and was sitting in the ward on the floor, the baby being held by her 10 year old sister. Evalyn came into out incubator and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to learn how to feed her. She has a feeding tube that goes through her nose into her stomac and we push milk straight into her tummy by syringe, this quite simple task can go terribly wrong if the tube is in the lungs or you push the milk in too quickly so each staff member is being trained and until more people know how this is a time consuming job.

Putting a feeding tube into Eunice

Since I’ve been at Amecet babies have been like busses we have no new ones for a while and then they arrive in pairs, and this was no exception a  few days later our second prem baby of my stay arrived, Eunice, also born at 7months and 2 weeks old, her mother was in a coma and died just 2 days after Eunice came to us, Eunice started out well and was even able to suck from a bottle however this made her tired and she too went on a feeding tube, A few days later Eunice started having problems with her gut and went from one extreme to the other, currently her dihorrea is so bad she is dehydrated and is being fed ever hour milk or rehydration fluids. She was taken for an IV however after it taking almost 15 attempts to get it in and then only staying right for 45 minuets we had to give up on that for today, her veins are so so small that the IV isn’t taking, tomorrow maybe we’ll try something different and for tonight we’re praying she stays strong and keeps her fluids.

Jesse's first meal at Amecet

Eunice wasn’t the last arrival either, bus number 3 arrived Thursday, another premature baby, born at 6 months and a couple of weeks old, his single mother seemed ignorant to the severity of Jesse’s condition at only 20 years old she hadn’t been aware of the abnormality of how small and weak  he was. Jesse weighed only 780grams (1.7lbs) when he arrived and he was almost starved to death as he was too weak to drink. In 3 days with an IV and a feeding tube he made it to a Kilo, still very small but going in the right direction! I was given the challenge/privilege/scary job of feeding Jesse for the first time through the tube, my hands were literally shaking but he took the milk really well so all is good!!!!

It is amazing babies are alive, they are 3 liiving miracles and each day as they gain strenght all we can do is be thankful that God protceted them untill they came to us, and feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to help them!

All this drama is exciting, scary and sure does keep us busy feeding the premmys (or peanuts) is almost an ongoing job but they really are fighters!!! Still while all this is going on the rest of the house is not immue to sickness!!!
Today rather than taking the children to the doctor, the doctor came to Amecet (luckily the clinic is right next door, we eben have a connecting gate!!) Mary, Musa, Rose, Sarah, Norah and Levi have all come down with Malaria in the last 2 weeks, last Sunday we had 3 children on IVs because of the dehydration the Malaria had caused, Rose made the start of my night shift fun by vomiting up her dinner all over the living room for the second night in a row, she continued to throw up after meals and now has dihorrea. Musa is in a bad way right now, he vomited on me when we went for a Malaria test and I’ve had to clean up pooop galore from him the last 2 days! He has dehydration and is just so weak a boy that would polish off 200mls in a matter of mins only drinking 40 you know something isn’t right and after a few weeks of this and 2 treatments of malaria we’re worried about him, he doesn’t seem to be getting better we can only pray his new medicines work!

As well as the malaria’s baby Benna is also suffering, and has dihorrea and is lethargic and weak, Abai, Mary and Charles have all had fevers, pains, some of the girls have bad coughs and I forget how many children are on antibiotics!!!

I also wish I had time to tell you about our adventures to the villages yesterday however I’m gonna let Els do that, check out Amecets blog: http://amecet-soroti.blogspot.com/

Once again i'm sure i've forgotten to tell you so much stuff, maybe i need to write more often, then my posts wouldn't be so long!!! And please continue to pray for all of our children and al the aunties who are dedicated to okoing after them!

That one is my prayer

Jesus,

Give me grace, give me Wisdom, give me love unfailing
Open my eyes to give and not grieve
To seek without ceasing
To serve without payment
 
Free my heart to strive and not stumble
To fly without falling
To release, not from repentance and free form resentment

Hallelujah my king my lord and my saviour,

 My comfort and shelter, protector triumphant
 
Teach me your ways Lord,
To shine in the darkness, to hear from your greatness, to see without judgement and speak fourth the kingdom.

It's all an adventure!!!

This week a few of us took an adventure up Soroti rock, it wasn’t as hard to climb as we’d expected, it only took 1 hour from leaving Amecet (at 7 am) but it was a lot of fun, when we reached the top we didn’t encounter ghosts or snakes like we were warned about, however we did meet some breath taking views! Despite how easy it seemed, there was some pain along the way (Yay for my feet growing this year and my shoes giving me blisters) ad we did feel that we deserved the treat of ice cream when we’d finished!
 

Now you might be thinking Durrrr life’s an adventure for you, NEWSFLASH you’re in Africa idiot. But I was thinking last night about how even everyday things are an adventure!!!

As I mentioned in my last couple of blogs, our awesome toddlers are all on their feet, we now spend endless hours chasing them around the compound! Those of you who are parents or older siblings will know the excitement and worry that comes from walking toddlers! This week rose decided that she likes the slide, now we don’t have one of those little kids plastic slide and there’s no soft ground if you fall off. This week I’ve anxiously watched Rose climb the steps and panic as she comes to the top and doesn’t know how to make it onto the ledge at the top, as she practiced more and more she was able to do it. For her it was an adventure, that slide was her rock and she was determined, I sat and watched her and panicked every time she wobbled almost waiting for her to fall (funny how we always expect the child to fall rather than make it?)

 

I think life is like that rock of that slide, when a door is opened we walk through it, despite the pain we are aiming for the success, and sometimes we aren’t aware of or ignore the dangers so that we can make it. At the end of the day in both these situations I knew that even if an accident happened, it wasn’t going to be life or death (unless those snakes on the rock were poisonous) despite the pain and the fears we make it to the ice cream or bottom of the slide.

 

Ever thought of God as the Auntie (well uncle) or Parent watching you struggle with the slide? Ever wondered why he didn’t come and carry you? If I had gone running to Rose every time she panicked on the slide she never would have learnt herslef. I was watching her and I was ready to catch her and give her medical attention if she fell but I also had to trust her and believe in her, I knew she could make it even if she didn’t. Sound like God yet????? Many times we wonder where God is, why we aren’t flying on his wings, but he’s there ready to catch us when we fall, when you don’t notice him, it’s because you didn’t fall, we should be thankful rather than angry really!!! He was believing in us!

Many times this year I’ve felt like I’m walking into the unknown, I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t know what’s at the top of the rock or even if I’ll make it, I’ve been scared to step onto the ledge at the top of the slide because I don’t know that it’s safe and whether I’ll wobble and fall, how many things have you failed to step out do due to fear??? I’ve been reading ‘Making Jesus Lord’ By Lorren Cunningham, he talks about laying down your rights, now you might think I’ve done that, I left the comfort of my own home, culture, comforts and language and came to a foreign and different land, however you can travel and still hold onto almost everything. Laying down your rights is the ultimate test of your sense of adventure and trust that God is the loving parent watching over you. I realised I have to lay down my right to be afraid, because fear stops me doing things, it is a barrier, stopping God calling me into places I don’t want to go. Fear is me holding onto my plans instead of following Gods adventure!

Now I’m not saying this because I’ve got it all sussed, I’m not ready to walk in front of the firing squad,  I’m challenging myself, and I’m asking you to join me in the climbing the mountain to lay down your rights, because with every step we take; our burden becomes lighter, our God provides our strength and we get to see God using us in amazing ways!!!! I CAN DO ALL THINGS IN CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH. (I just have to let him!)

There’s a plan and a bigger picture, Jeremiah 29:11!!! “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, not for disaster but for hope and a good future.”

The world tells us we have to make the plans, God tells us he already has, which path do you want to take? What’s holding you back?

 

We can make our own plans

But the Lord gives the right answer

People may be pure in their own eyes

                But the Lord examines their motives

Commit your actions to the Lord

                And your plans will succeed.

And for those of you who read my last post.... We survived the night shift, the kids with Malaria recovered quickly, I even managed to make porridge, and get the kids dressed, medicined up and ready for school on time, PTL!!!!

A bit of a catch up

So the last week or so has been busy and exciting.

Kids wise they are progressing so much, Rose is standing by herslef lots not and  is even taking a few steps here and there, Rafael has finally made it to standing solo and Nelson is the happiest little boy!
The toddlers all love the swings and often will crawl of of the veranda over to the swings to give us the hint that they wanna swing- the beauty of swing is that often the kids smile and laugh and then fall asleep! rather than be cared for,
In the last blog i told you a little about Apio Ruth, she is doing so well, sitting without support, eating proper food at meal times, the other day she drove me crazy. Every mouth full she would shake her head viciously, then when i fnly got the food in her mouth she would put her hand into her mouth pull the rice out, look at me smile and then drop the rice on the floor!!! I've never seen so much rice all over her- however although she annoyed me, i was also incredibly proud of her fighting, it shows her growing up and taking initiative, being cheaky is massive because it shows so much brain development!

We have a new boy, he is very weak and very sick, he has HIV and TB and wasn't being looked after, we are really praying that he grows and gets strong while he is with us so he can return to his uncles. We also have 2 new babies, i don't know if i told you about Benna and Sarah, they are both too cute! They are doing really well! Unfortunatly we found out this week that one of the babies we have is probably deaf and blind- this is major, it is also scary, children here are often expected to be the carers not cared for, this little boys will need lots of time and money, his futuer is scary and he ned lots of praying for! Another sad note, is that one of the babies who went home 3 weeks ago has died, little patrick had malaria and wasn't given medicine, it's sad but it is the reality for many babies, medicine is money so they just don't get helped the way they need to be!

On a happier note, i spent the weekend back in Jinja it was good to see the girls and rest hve a screaming/crying free weekend, Friday night was fin night on the base, Me, Tss and Naomi did a tongan dance i learnt 30 mins before and had done twice, it was pretty funny, i guess i realised that beng at Amecet i had started to run on grown up sensible mode ( i didn't think i had one) so crazy dancing was a breath of fresh air! I'd missed the girls lots, but i also missed the children while i was away! The cries of "Auntie, Aunite" as i walked throug Amecets gates made me pleased to be back!

And now, i'm working a night shift, we had 2 children with malaria, lots of babies who don't want to sleep and 3 white girls who don't know how to mke porrige! I'll let you know how it goes!

A love i don't deserve

Boom.
As i was reading this is 2 Timothy 2:11-13, all i thought was BOOM!
Sometmes i think i've got it all figured out, i understand it, somehow i've made sense of it and then BOOM. i realise actually i don't get it at all....

For some of you, you will have been asked to imagine your whole life, everything you've done wrong, every thought, action, word being played in the movie of your life, and everytime you CRINGE! If judgement really was like this i would never want to die. The truth is we've all messed up and done stuff wrong, and if the people around us new everything we had done wrong friendships, families and relationships would probably  be very different. At least i don't think i would choose to be friends with myslef. But the truth is even without a movie of my life, God knows it ALL, and if there is one person that will never leave us it's him, now try and make sense of that!

But not only does he continue to love us, he continues to forgive us...
"A thousand times i've failed still your mercy remains, should i stumble again still i'm caught in your grace...."

Have you ever been really mad at yourslef? When you do something stupid, you weren't thinking, you just got caught up in it all? Sometimes it can be realy hard to forgive yourself. But God forgives us freely, unconditionally and eternally, he doesn't sit there are think hummmm nahh i don't think i want to forgive you this time, or well maybe you just went too far today. He forgives us over and over and over again. And the reason that he can do this is becuse he sent his son to die, for me, for you, for every person who ever walks this earth, he paid the price. How someone tell me how that is fair or how it makes sense?
It doesn't. But it happened, because God loves us that much.

We've all messed up and done stuff wrong, which means we can't go looking the creator of the universe in the face for every long...

I don't understand it, sometimes i find it hard to accept it, if i've let myslef down, i sure have let God down, and i don't want to face that. But the truth is i can beat myself up about it or i can let it go and experience the truth and the freedom that comes from the mystery, and it comes with 2 small words... I'm Sorry.

38 hours and 3 hours sleep!

The last couple of days has really been about a reality that i think unless you see it, it's so easy to deny....

So, on Saturday I was working the night shift, this means that I had the day to relax and do nothing until 6pm, so I was lying in bed writing some e-mails when Rachel  comes and asks if I want to go with them to the villages (4 of the children were being taken to visit their families) at first I said no, because I didn’t want to miss out on lying in bed. But as I thought about it I was like, “really you’re gonna miss out on this because you’re lazy? How many times in your life are you gonna get to go to remote African villages?” So I grabbed my bag and ran out of the door.

Funny how being lazy can stop us from so many opportunities!

It was amazing to see the kids re-united with their families, they were all so excited to get to spend a few hours with uncles, grandparents and siblings! It also bought the harsh reality about where these kids come from though, we drove down dirt ‘roads’ ( more like footpaths) which were miles from anywhere and would take the families hours to walk to markets or main roads, and when we got there the house? Well a mud hut with a grass roof was what me us as most of the houses, but the kids didn’t care about that, it was home and that’s what was important!

As we were travelling we were asked if we could go and visit another house because there was a baby that they thought we could help. We arrived at the house, it was smaller than my bedroom and home to 9 people, lying on a mat by the door was a skeleton. Well actually it was the mother, she was dying of AIDS because she had stopped taking her ARVs (Medicines which help maintain your immune system) she really was nothing more than skin and bones, most of the time she was unconscious and she had no awareness of anything that was going on around her, her husband had also died of HIV and 8 children were left to look after themselves. In situations like this the oldest girl becomes responsible for caring for the family, in this case she was 14. She had not been in school for over a year because she was caring for the mother, baby and the other 6 children (2 of which were older boys) She was exhausted! The children, neighbours and grandfather agreed that it was best if we bought the baby (Nelson) who was 1year and 4 months old, to Amecet at least for a few months, this would enable the daughter to care only for the mother and bring her some peace and relief, when (and I say this because it seems inevitable) the mother dies, the children will receive support from other families who will help care for them, but unfortunately while the mother is still alive the children must struggle on alone!

We made the journey back to Amecet with a frightened Nelson (who had probably never been in a car before) 2 excited children and 2 chickens (presents from their families) John’s grandmother had been so excited to see him and was so grateful that we had taken him to visit, it was a beautiful, yet short time but it was amazing to be part of that experience!

After that long day I proceeded with the night shift! Nelson had a fever of 40.2 which is very high and we were preparing ourselves for a long night! Luckily it was pretty quiet and power was there however I dionly got 3 hours of no contiunous sleep and so I was exhausted I lay in bed on Sunday morning unable to turn my brain off! I was lying in bed thinking about magic stars, jam doughnuets, cheese toasties and mac and cheese! Things I still have to wait 3 months to eat! And as I lay there I thought wow mothers really do have it hard! They go through the sleepless nights having o get up every 3 hours to feed screaming babies and they have over 9 months of not eating certain foods and getting weird cravings, so I guess it’s something like how I’ve been feeling and mannn it sucks! Sorry mothers!

At 3 I headed back to work and even though I was extremely tired it was an amazing afternoon! Rose managed not only to stand up by herself but also to take her first (and only) step towards me! I was so excited and so proud of her! Rafael also stood by himself for a few seconds and Apio is starting to sit by herself and hold her cup! We also had the new shape sorter out and Rose really worked out the cylinder shape and both children loved clapping when they got one in, I was really enjoying my time until Charles bit me! Now all of these children are underdeveloped and should have started doing these things months ago, but we finally have hope that they will make it! Nelson was tested positive for Malaria and had to go on a drip which meant he was stuck in a chair for most of the day!

We had a crazy worship session after dinner which is always an amazing time! The kids were all singing, dancing and going crazy Rose and Apio were clapping along and even Nelson was out with a smile on his face!

After dinner Nelson had to go back on the drip and... it wasn’t working, nothing seemed wrong but the IV wasn’t flowing properly, there is a doctors surgery next door and we managed to get one of the doctors over to insert a new catheter, I could feel the boys pain but on the second try  it was successful and the IV worked fine! Nelson is now so much better and has been walking around with the stroller and really loves the swing!

It amazing how if you put time and love into a child they can really progress, it makes me wonder why even more isn’t being done to help them, how much is a child’s life and progress worth?

By Monday night I was certainly ready for bed, with a lot to think about!!!

p.s I still haven’t caught up on sleep and so if this makes no sense sorry! And I’m sure I’ve misses something!

It's the small things that make life so spectacular

This past week the children have been so beautiful, it’s blown me away to see such gentle, caring and loving hearts from these kids in so many situations.

On Saturdays the older children go to a HIV/AIDS support group, for going each child receives 5,000 shillings (which is a decent amount of money) to pay for transport and a snack, so Auntie Els buys all the children Soda afterwards. This weekend and lunch time both me a Rachelle were told by the children to go and get cups and they each poured a some of their coke into our cups until we had a full cup each! Now 1. As a 6 or even 12 year old I wouldn’t have thought about sharing my drink with an adult and 2. If I got a treat once a week I wouldn’t want to spare any of it! But these children willing shared out of loving hearts!

In the past couple of weeks a few more westerners has arrived on base and we have been trying to work more with Apio, she has experienced extreme trauma, neglect and abuse, and as a result is so underdeveloped, where other children her age are starting to walk she cant even sit! However this week she not only managed to sit on her own for a little bit, she also started to use her arms to pull herself up, and even by herself from a half lying down position she managed to sit up all by herself! This is so much progress because she is so weak and previously would just be propped up in a chair! This week she even took her cup from my hands and tried to feed herself although she wasn’t strong enough to old her cup for a long time her determination to progress and the smile on her face when she succeeded was nothing short of beautiful!

We’ve also been trying to get the kids off the veranda more and so we’ve played in the swings and on the trampoline lots this week. However Rose went from peacefully sleeping in the swing to projectile vomiting! I had to lift her out of the swing, getting vomit over me and the take her and wash her off which was easier said than done due to the lack of water. Now that doesn’t sound like a spectacular event, but for me it said a lot, these children are innocent and helpless, and the work here shows caring hearts off the Aunties who clean up vomit, diarrhoea, and work their butt off for these children. There’s such a beauty in the way that God breaks your heart for what breaks his! 

Us girls had a nail painting sesh! They were so excited by a small thing, that made them feel spectacular! We had hour of fun choosing the colours, painting, decorating their nails and stopping Rafael eating the bottles of nail polish! The children weren’t bothered about perfection, they were just excited about having something that was them, that was individual and they could be proud of! Something I feel like we’ve lost, it’s all about perfection and opinions for us in the west, we almost stopped caring about our own dreams!

The outward beauty of the children was shown by a massive photo taking morning, which was so much fun as we thought of lots of crazy poses and generally loved on each other!

Yesterday Julius (one of the babies) got to go home, to his young, widowed, innocent father who clearly didn’t have a clue how the look after a baby! This boy has the opportunity to bring joy and healing to his father’s life, but he’s gonna need a lot of prayer that his father has wisdom and help in bringing him up!

In other news, 2 very important girls have entered and re-entered my life this week, Rachelle (Rachel) is my new room-mate, she is Dutch but her English is amazing and we’ve already spent a lots of time laughing and getting sunburnt! She’s already thrown up all over the floor, so she sure is my type of girl! Haha! Double trouble were reunited this week and Becca arrived in Soroti, our team work has already gone to use and we have the kids making a wall display of Noah’s Ark!

Becca and Beatrice enjoyed stabbing my toe with a needle to see how many different liquids they could get out of it! (No I don’t know what I’ve done, but it hurts and is red and swollen right next to my nail, any ideas?)

And I was awake for a while last night chasing the world’s biggest mosquito round my net, I haven’t worked out their role in making life spectacular yet! However I am now fully recovered from my Malaria, Thank you for your prayers.