Celebrating.....

We celebrated together the birth of Christ, starting with a celebration on Christmas eve, at 10.30 pm on our veranda. We sang together some Christmas songs, read the story about the birth of Jesus and then Ton shared a beautiful story with us, together with very nice illustration via PowerPoint. For the children it was exciting to be out so late and we had a good time together. On Christmas day we had a meal as a family. We had asked the children what would they want to eat and they all said " goat!", so goat it would be.

We had only the half of our team working, but everything went so relax and smooth. Elias bought the goat on the market and he stayed (alive) with us in the garden for 2 days. Then Simon and Elias slaughtered it, under the observing eyes of the children and the camera of Ton! We ate the goat for Christmas and it tasted wonderful.

We have not had much sickness these days, some malaria, some tonsillitis, but no serious things and I am so thankful to God that He gave us a break. We didn't get new babies or children in, there was a phone call from someone in the village about a four month old baby, whose mother had passed away from AIDS, but nobody came with the child.

Yesterday we went with all the older girls to town. We wanted to surprise them as a appreciation for their BIG help in Amecet. And we wanted them to all choose a material and we asked the tailor to come and measure them for making them each an outfit. They were very exciting and they all found a nice material. The tailor brought pictures from outfits and this morning they were all looking and making their choice! It is so nice to see their happiness and their excitement about getting new clothes. When the clothes are ready, I promise to make pictures and show them to you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Cooling down and warming up....

As I wrote yesterday, that the children are quite active during their school holidays. The older girls are helping with the babies, but the next generation has very different businesses.

They are busy with cooling down........... and warming up!!!!!

More CHRISTMAS blessings..........

Every year we have volunteers who come to help us during December and January. This year we had nobody coming and we were a bit worried. Half of our team is free with Christmas and the other half will be free with New Year.

It is the big school holiday, so we asked if the girls from Amun would like to help out sometimes. Amun is our second house, where all our older children live. They go to school and it is our house where children go to when they can't go home after they are stable healthwise. The girls were very enthousiastic, yes, they wanted to start directtly!

~

We have made a rota and they are doing great!! I am so proud of them! The girls are all in the age of 13-16 and they can handle the babies like mothers!! They feed, bath and change the dirty diapers as if they have done it for years.

They cuddle them, play with them, I am sure that the babies are also enjoying them so much. They get a lot of extra attention.

This morning I had to go with five babies to the hospital for immunization. We went with two staff and three Amun girls. They did very well, holding the babies on the right way, under the observing eyes of at least 50 waiting mothers.

~

They are a real Christmas blessing to us!!!

Christmas blessings....

Everywhere in the world, people get Christmas packets, we also want to bless the grandma's who are caring for their HIV+ grandchildren. Our "packet" is more a drum this year, where they can store their drinking water. In the drum are lots of practical blessings: tea, sugar, posho, beans, sweets, cooking oil, 2 new bed sheets, a mosquito net, a basin, salt, soap, biscuits, rice and every grandma gets some money to buy meat on Christmas day. We are giving 52 drums and you can see the last ones under our tree in Amecet, waiting for the delivery in the village. When we packed the drums yesterday, we found that a snake had crawled under one of them, it was a dangerous one, one of our staff killed it.

The people are very happy with the blessings, we have been bringing them around for the last couple of days, that takes hours, because the people live far and isolated. On the picture left, we just brought the drum to Maria Christine and her grandparents and on the right picture you see Naome with her grandmother, receiving the drum. The grandmother had been dancing from joy!!

Don't underestimate the African Grandma's!!!!

It is 9 o'clock in the morning, as a team we sit on the veranda to start the day with a meditation and prayers.

The gate opens, visitors.... It is Alice with her grandmother! Alice comes with big steps to the veranda, they are going to sit.

Alice is almost 3 years old, we found her 2 years ago, in a far village. Her parents had died of AIDS, earlier that year and the grandmother was left to care for Alice and 3 other siblings. The grandmother is old, when you ask her if she knows her age, she says, that she even could be 40 or 50! She has no idea how old she is. Their little hut was very run down, there was no door and holes in the grass roof. Alice was malnourished and often sick. We spoke with the grandmother and together we agreed that we would take Alice for a while to Amecet.

In Amecet we took her for tests and Alice also had AIDS, we were able to enroll her in the ARV programme in the hospital and Alice started to gain weight and be more happy.

After 8 months she was ready to go back home and I was really scared to bring her back to the village. Would the grandma be able to give her twice a day her ARV's? When you start the ARV's, it is for life, you can't stop. We already had helped the grandma to repair the hut, we were also able to give her a cow, seeds and groundnuts to plant.

And we prayed that everything would go well. When we went to visit her, 5 weeks after we brought her back, we were surprised! When we came walking down the little path (we couldn't come close to the hut by car, so we would walk the last part) the grandma was dancing to welcome us! Alice had gained weight and looked well, the ARV's were given exactly the right amount! We were so happy! Now the grandma comes every two months with Alice to Soroti for new medicines. She always comes first to us and they have breakfast on our veranda, we give her also transport money. Alice is doing great and is hardly sick (only sometimes malaria).

I have seen again that we should never underestimate our African Grandma's!!!!

Moses 4 is welcome......

Moses is born this morning, his mother died, she was only 22 years old. He was born in one of the health centres in the village. He was brought to us by two uncles and his aunti. His father was too weak to come. Because I needed some answers, which the uncles didn't know, I called him (yes even in the villages there is network now!) It was so sad, he was crying on the phone, he told me that the placenta didn't come out and his wife bled to death. He begged us to care for his child, so he would live and he would have someone who would remind him of his wife! I felt for him and we will care for some months for Moses 4.

We call him Moses 4, because we have already some othere Moseses. I wish there were some other names in fashion at the moment. Moses is a big baby, his weight is 3,4 kg. For us that is very big, most of the baby's we get are under 3 kg. I wrote about Patrick before, he is almost 3,5 month old and he weighs now 3 kg! You can see the difference on this picture, at the left Moses 4, just 12 hours old, 3,4 kg and at the right Patrick, almost 3,5 month old and 3 kg.

We will celebrate Christmas together with Moses, we will tell him about that other Child, also born in the village, we will pray for his father.

Moses is welcome!!!

Michel goes back to his family.

Michel was born 7/9/2010, he was born at home in the village. Unfortunately his mother passed away after given birth to Michel and his family asked us to help them by taking Michel for a couple of months. He was a healthy baby, only his cord was infected and we got treatment for that.

Michel was a cute little fellow, ready to smile and laugh to everyone who gave him attention. He drank very well and was gaining good.

Today, after 3 months in Amecet, we brought him back to his family. Michel had a father and 9 brothers and sisters in the village. Some of them has been to Soroti to visit Michel. It was a drive of 1 hour and we arrived at his home. A big change of environment for Michel!!! The brothers and sisters were happy to see him and from every where people started to arrive to see what was happening. Not every day cars are coming so far into the bush! The father was called, he was at a home nearby and we handed Michel over to the family. We gave a mosquito net and some clothes, the medical book and the immunization card.

Then they wanted to give us a chicken, so the boys started to ran after a chicken, which didn't let her catch easily. It was very funny to see all those people run after this one chicken! But the chicken lost the game and was handed over to us, as a thank you!

We drove back to Soroti, thankful that Michel is reunited with his own people and praying for his well being!

Michel's home Michel and his sister

How desperate can you be???

We had just eaten today and finished our singing, ready to go and clean up, when I was called to the veranda. When I came out, I saw a young lady sitting, crying and very upset. Esther, one of our staff, told me her story. The lady had twins, one of them died some time ago, the other one also got sick and was admitted in Soroti hospital. When someone is in the hospital, a family member has to stay with the person to do the caring, cooking and buying medicines etc. So the lady had been in the hospital with her baby (1 year and 2 months).

This evening her baby had died, she was all alone with the baby, had no money, how could she get the body of her child home? It was getting dark, to walk with the body, would be too much for her.

My heart went out to her, to be alone in a situation like that. The only thing we could do is to comfort her a little, to give her money for a motorbike taxi, to get her home, where people would be able to mourn with her. I am glad she knew our home, so she could come for help. I didn't know her, but she might have been here for help before. I am thankful we can do a little bit for people who are so desperate and heartbroken.

WORLD AIDS DAY in Amecet

Paul: 5 days old

Rehema: 1 year and 9 months old

Betty: 7 months old

Sarah: 7 months old

Magdalena: 12 years old

Patrick: 2 weeks old

Polly: 6 years old

Peter: 1 months old

Paul: 9 months old

Moses: 3 weeks old

Today we remembered the children who passed away this year. Several staff members shared about them, so we talked about each of the ten children who died this year. It is always an emotional time, our whole Amecet family is gathered for this time, children and staff. We were reminded about the funny things Rehema could do or about how happy Polly was when she was still able to go to school. Also we talked about the suffering of Sarah and the very short life of Baby Paul. The pain of the last days of Polly was felt again, together we gave it back to God and thanked Him for the role we c0uld play in the lives of those precious children.

But then... we looked at the flowers which the children had picked, they were the picture of life and beauty and we had a great time of singing, clapping and dancing, thanking God for all those who came through and are doing well! We were thanking God for ARV medicines and for the life He gave us. Ofcourse we finished with drinking a bottle of soda together, a must at every Ugandan party!

A warm welcome for Lois!!!

Lois went home today, to her great-grandmother!!

Lois came in Amecet in August, her mother died after Lois was born with a cesarean, her mother was only 16 years old and HIV+. Her grandmother was murdered one year ago, so the great grandmother was the one who would be caring for Lois in the future. We went to test Lois also for HIV and we had a party, because Lois is HIV-!!!! She is just over three months old and weighs 5 kg.

This morning the great-grandmother came and we asked her if she was ready for Lois, and she told us proudly that she ready. She has been saving money and had bought a matrass and a plastic so Lois would not damage the new matrass! She was carrying two pieces of cloth in her bag, she had bought to carry the baby in. We were really blessed to see this old lady, being ready to take care of Lois. We gave her some clothes, a mosquitto net, drinking cup and milk money. The lady seems to be poor, so we want to help her and she will come every two weeks for milk money, porridge flour and sugar for Lois. She will also be coming to our "comeback days" (see the previous blog).

We prayed for Lois and her great-grandmother before sending them off. That Lois will become a great blessing to her great-grandmother and that God will protect them and care for them!!!

"COME BACK" days........

Yesterday we had our third "comeback" day. This day is mend for the caretakers of the baby's who have been in our house and are brought back to their relatives. When we bring HIV+ children back, we follow them up with home visits in their villages. But the HIV- baby's who were brought to us because thier mother died after the delivery, we do not visit at their homes. It would be too much for us. Lately we felt that we want to have a follow up for those children as well, so we invented our "comeback" days.

They are held every 6 weeks and we invite the caretakers to come with the children. Some of our staff, Esther, Rose and Agnes are in charge of those days. They have a small meditation to encourage the caretakers spirtually and a medical lesson. Yesterday it was about food and nutrition. They weigh the children and talk with the care takers if there are any problems. We share lunch with them and they go home with a small food supplement. We help the people who come from far with transport money. Yesterday 9 caretakers came (included two fathers!)

The responses we get are very positive, the caretakers are going back encouraged and also for us it is good to see the children again, we cared for in Amecet. When one of the children is not doing so well, we can, together with the care taker, look for a solution.

After a serie of 6 comeback days we plan to graduate the children.

Too small, too short, too sad........

This is the last picture taken from little Moses. He died this morning in my arms, weighing only one kg. and 400 gram.

He was brought to Amecet 3 weeks ago, a small premature baby, his mother was very sick. Both parents were tested HIV+. We took him in and put him in our incubator. There he has been laying, cared for and fed every two hours. He gained 250 gram, we were happy, but then, 3 days ago a mosquitto got him, and he got malaria. he never recovered from it. It was too much for his little body.

This morning I saw that it was going to end. I took him out of the incubator in my arms and we both waited for the moment that Jesus took him from me.

His life was too short, I know Jesus will take care of our little man.

2kg. party for Patrick!!!!

Patrick is over the 2 kg.!!! In the Blog of 24/10/10 I wrote about the little Patrick, at that time his weight was 1560 gram. I wrote that we would have a soda party for him when he was over the 2 kg.

We did struggle with him, even last week he was suddenly very sick, he had to be put on drip and the doctor said that it would be a miracle if he survived.

That miracle happened!!! God has plans for this little man and today we had that soda party for Patrick, he just got milk, we the soda. But as you can see the whole Amecet family was celebrating!


This picture of Patrick to prove that he is really over the 2 kg.

If you are wondering why he is wearing a sock on his right hand, it is just to protect the canulla he still had in for the IV.

African hair styles



It is amazing what they can do with their hair here! I



have mostly to do with the children and I have respect for the saloon ladies who can make such a beautiful creations out of the short curly hair. They put "extensions" in, for the children they braid wool in the with the hair and so they "extend" the hair!

This is how it starts, they have to comb their hair and that is painful, after that they can do many different styles.... 





The hair stays in for 2-3 months then they untie the hair and wash it very good, mostly they leave it "unbraid" for some time so the hair can also rest from the tight braiding. Sometimes the combing is too painful, so they decide to shave it.......

Then they let it grow again and the cycle continues with different styles, with or without beads.

THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!

The arrival of Moses 3.

This morning my phone was ringing at 6.30 am. It was one of the community workers from the village. One of his HIV+ clients had died the previous night, there was a little baby... if we could help??

I told him that they could bring the baby, with a letter of the community leader and at least one family member to sign the papers and to tell the story. At 9.30 am, just after we finished our start of the day with a small meditation and prayers, they arrived. I looked at the baby, it looked big for a newborn baby. The baby was 3 weeks old. The name of the baby is Moses, we have already two Moses in Amecet, so this is Moses 3. I gave the baby to one of our staff members, to bath and weigh, while I was getting the story from the relatives. The mother gave birth in a clinic in the village, went home, but then the baby got sick. She went back to the clinic and the baby was admitted. While the mother was attending to the baby in the clinic, she got very sick and died. The mother was HIV+, the baby got some medicines after birth, but as far as we could read in the medical papers, he didn't get all. Then Josephine called me inside, she was bathing the baby and she got concerned, the baby doesn't react like a normal baby, no crying, nothing. A very lethargic baby you could handle almost like a doll. I went back to the relatives, yes, they told me that the baby never cried, he also doesn't know how to suck and he is very quiet. The relatives went and we took the baby to the clinic next door.

The doctor was very concerned, this baby is half dead, he said. He wrote down the prescriptions and we hurried back with the baby. The temperature was very low, so warm water bottles were put, we started IV medication and after that a drip. We put a NG tube in and gave the first feeding via the tube.Now we are 6 hours later, I just gave the IV medication again.his temperature is fine, but he is still so lethargic.Tomorrow we will go for review to the doctor. I spoke with the relatives on the phone, they just buried the mother. Let us pray that we can see Moses 3 live trough this all.

A Thank you chicken!!!!

This is Yuben, on this picture he is only a couple of days old. He was born on 21/4/2009 in the main hospital in Soroti. His mother needed a Cesarean section, Yuben was born, but his mother didn't survive the operation. Yuben was brought to Amecet, if we could please help for some months. The mother has not been HIV+, so Yuben was also HIV-. He was a cute little baby, but we had struggled with him. He had a very bad skin condition, so dry that it kept on peeling off, he even got wounds with it. One time he was very sick, we had to go to the hospital with him for blood transfusion. He was sick  alot in the first months of his life. he stayed in Amecet for almost 6 months, we wanted to be sure that he was stable, before giving him back to his family. The father came to visit regularly and he found a new wife, who was willing to look after Yuben.

Last week the stepmother came to visit Amecet with Yuben. I couldn't believe my eyes, a little chubby man was walking around, was this Yuben, who had been so sick before???

Yuben is now 1 year and 6 months, he can walk and talk. They came to give me a chicken as a thank you.

I am so thankful that we could help him for those months, now he is a strong little boy, who brings joy to his family! I am glad we could play our small part in his life!!!!

And the chicken????? Tasted very good!!!

Going HOME....

Yesterday at 6.15 pm little Paul went to be with Jesus. I wrote about him in the blog of October 22 and October 30. This little boy has suffered so much. He was now 9 months old and his weight was only 2,8 kg.
Still it was so painful to see this little man, who had been fighting for life so much, dying. At around 2.30 pm, he had suddenly problems with breathing, we put him on oxygen and held him in our arms until he left us very peacefully.

Today we let his little coffin made and we bought posho and beans for the family. We have been trying to call a relative and in the morning we had contact with the family. We left with 5 staff members to bring paul back to his relatives. It was a long and very rough ride! Because of the rain, there were many holes in the roads and it was very muddy at times. We had to use our 4 wheel drive! We had to drive for almost 3 hours, got a downpour of rain, so we had to put the posho and beans inside the car and I sat with the coffin om my knees, so that it was not getting wet. You can hardly see "the road" at times, because they are not wider that a bicycle path.           

When we arrived at the family, I had to give a report about the course of the sicknes and how Paul died. Then we left, because it was still a long way, back to Soroti. The family will burry Paul tomorrow.

Paul's mother has died and I think that God wanted us to serve Paul in his last days. His sister was too busy to look after him, we have cared for him, we have loved him and we have prayed for him.... And now he has no more pain and he is HOME!

John is alive and growing up!!!

John came in Amecet for the first time in 2004. He was 2 years old and very weak and malnourished. His mother had died of AIDS and they had suffered a lot becuase of the rebels form Kony. John was tested and also HIV+, he also suffered of TB.On the picture at the right he weighs just over 6 kg and he is two years old. But he picked up and after 6 months in Amecet, we brought him back to his uncle in the village. All those years we have been visiting him, we helped the family with seeds and cassava cuttings, they received a goat and a cow. But then his aunti got sick and died. We visited him and we felt that we should take John to Amecet for a little while, test his CD4 and give him some good food. His uncle was grateful, because he was also sick and he died while John was with us. We went with John to the burial.

 



John was doing very well in Amecet, his CD4 was not so bad, so he was not started yet on ARVs. But the situation in the village was not good. There was disunity in the clan. We felt that it would not be good to bring John back in this confusion, so we talked with the clan and decided that John would stay a bit longer in Amecet. He is going to school and is a happy young man.

Amecet has two houses, one is for the little and sick children, and the second one is for the older HIV+ children who are going to school. These children are all fysically stable, but for one or the other reason they can't go back to their relatives.

John moved to our second home "Amecet n'amun (Shelter of Hope)". The home is led by Ton and Arja van Koorten Niekerk (Dutch couple). John is happy in his new home and became good friends with Joshua. On this picture John is on the right and left is Joshua. Just coming back from school!

John is one of the children who would probably not be alive today without the help of Amecet. We are so grateful to be able to serve those little ones and see the fruits of our work some years later!

A very sad day.......

Last night at around 11 pm I decided to check on our sick babies, before going to bed. In our night duty room was one baby, Peter, on the oxygen machine. Just that afternoon his tummy started to be paining, hard and swollen. We had been to the doctor, Peter had had malaria, but even after his treatment, he had a lot of diarrhea. He had been on an IV drip. We were afraid for an ilius (obstruction of the intestines). The doctor had given some advise, but there was not much we could do. When I came at 11pm. the breathing of Peter was very difficult. I also saw that two other babies were in the need of an IV drip. We have at the moment 2 medical volunteers, they also came and we have been there the rest of the night.

At 4 am. Peter died. A little boy from one month old. His mother gave birth in their hut, by herself. Later the family found her laying on the floor with the baby. The mother was HIV+, we will never know if Peter was HIV+. 

This morning at around 7.30 am. I went to order a small coffin in the size of 25 x 60 cm. After we had laid Peter to rest in his little box (as Helen calls it), we carried it to our car. Together with a sack with posho and beans for the family, we left to the village to bring Peter back to his family. We had been able to let the family know what had happens, so they were a bit prepared.

The custom is that we have to give a report to the family about everything happened. And we gave the medical papers. It was a sad meeting there under the mango tree around that little coffin. After a little while, we left the family to mourn. There is a believe that when you cry while the vehicle which brought the body, is still there, the vehicle will get an accident. Ofcourse we don't believe that, but the people in the villages do, so we want to give them their time to cry and mourn.
As staff of Amecet, we have seen a lot of death among our children, around 55 children have died in our home since we began in 2001. Every time it hurts, every time is there the question: why ? Every time are there the tears, because of the suffering and death of those innocent children.
Peter is Home and he has no more pain! And we? We are now worrying about Moses, Paul, Mathilida and David. Because that are the children God has entrusted to us!

Days with downs and ups.....

I wrote that life is not boring in Amecet, but yesterday and today I wished that there were some more quiet times in Amecet! Yesterday a new baby was brought by the father. The mother was admitted in the hospital and was very confused and was shouting and it was very difficult to care for her. The baby was only 1,3 kg!!!! We took the baby in ofcourse, where there is place for12 babies, there is place for 13 babies also!

 Last night I was called by the staff on nightduty, one baby had convulsions. We took the baby to the clinic next door and the baby was given sedation. Today we went again to the doctor and right now the baby is on IV quinine drip. She is doing better. Today, I counted: we have 3 babies on IV drip, 5 babies who are fed by NG tube, one baby treated for cerebral malaria and then we still have Paul (see earlier blogs). baby Patrick, who is 1,8 kg and his friend, the new baby Moses who weighs 1,3 kg and is laying in our incubator.
There is enough work to do!

In those busy times, when almost all the babies seems to get sick I have to look at the succes stories. Such like Charles! He came in Amecet only 20/8/2010, very malnourished, his weight was 4 kg and he was 2,5 years old. The first week he only seem to cry! But look at this picture, what a beautiful young man he has become! He is still a bit shakey when he walks, but his smile is so cute and he loves to eat now, while we had to fight with every grain of rice in the beginning.

We have God at our side, so I have hope for all those sick babies and I know that He gives us the strength and wisdom to serve those little ones!

Malaria, malaria and malaria!!!!

           PAUL

The last two days have been very busy, I think we have been at least 10 times to the doctor in the clinic next door and with two children to the paediatrician. Paul, the baby where I wrote about before, was suddenly very sick, we had to put him on our oxygen machine. You have then a lot of worries about the little man!The wounds in his mouth are still not gone. Today he was a little better and we could take him of the oxygen.

Then we had two other babies who were not doing well, both had malaria. One had to go on an IV line and one we had to put a NG tube in, so we could feed her properly. Five other children we took also for malaria test, are ok, we just have to keep an eye on them.

One other baby, Caroline, is also quite sick. Her mother died at the delivery at the beginning of this month. Now she got high fever, we also went twice for malaria test but today we felt the fontanel swollen. We went to the paediatrician and now we have to treat Caroline for meningitis with IV antibiotica. So we are almost a little hospital. With all those babies you have to be so alert, life is for sure not boring in Amecet! If there is any nurse among you who wants to have some challenges in her or his life, please consider to come over and help us for some months!

For check up in the hospital

At the moment we have around 16 children in our houses who are on ART, Anti Retroviral Treatment, that are medicines which slow down the growth of the HIV virus in the blood, so the white bloodcells (CD4) are getting stronger and more. We have our children going to two different clinics. We get the medicines for free, that is such a blessing, they gave LIFE back to our children! Every third month we have to take the children to see the doctor, the other two months we just go and get the medicines.

Today we had to go to the doctor in the main hospital with 9 of our children. With the help of the Figurant (from Holland) we were able to help the hospital with building a special clinic for the HIV + children. The building is a very busy place, I heard that they are planning to expand the two clinic days to 5 clinic days. They have around 1000 HIV+ patients! The waiting room is very nice decorated by 3 visiting Dutch teachers and in the middle of the waiting room stands a playtable with beets! Probably the only one in Uganda!!!

We were waiting for 4 hours, people are so patient, men are coming around selling biscuits, another one bananas and again another one plastic bags with a little bit of juice in it. Then we can see the doctor, we always go to the peadiatrician, Dr. Florence, who is very gentle and kind for the children, we have a very good relationship with her, I can always call her when I have a serieus sick child in Amecet. She has been coming to our house to see children who were on oxygen. She took enough time for each child, there were no real serieus complains. After that we went to another place for a DNA HIV test for Paul. You can see him in his little chair on the picture. I wrote about him earlier this week. We need to know for sure if Paul is HIV+ or not. There is a special test for children below 18 months, we know the results in 2 weeks!
It was almost 1.30 pm when we came back in Amecet, hungry and thirsty, the water we took was long finished, and I didn't trust the juice in the plastic bags, so now the posho and beans were tasting great!

Born in Captivity

Every monday morning, one of our staffmembers, Esther, goes with one or two other people to the local Prison in Soroti. Maybe one year ago we were visiting one mother, who was put in jail because of trying to burry her baby alive. It sounds terrible and it is terrible, but after talking with the lady we could understand a little bit why someone does a terrible thing like this. We always took her baby with us when we went to see her and you saw her eyes lightening up, when she saw her baby. She really loves her child and feels very sorry for what she did. She is still in jail, her baby is now together with her parents, waiting for her release.

By that time we talked with the prison officer and he told us that there are often mothers in jail with small children, that there is not much what they can offer these little ones.

As Amecet leaders we talked this over and we decided to help those little children. From that time, Esther goes every week to visit those mothers with small children in jail. We bring them porridge flour, sugar and soap. Sometimes some clothes, sometimes we help with medicines. We provided some potts, to cook the porridge.

                                                                                                                           

Last week we got a telephone call from the prison warden. One of the pregnant ladies was about to deliver, if we please could help. Josephine and Els drove fast to town, to buy the nessesary things they need to bring to the hospital for delivery. And after that we drove to the prison to pick the lady and bring her to the hospital. When we came there, we heard that we were too late. The baby was already born! We went to see them, in one of the rooms, in the middle of bunkbeds the little boy was born. Surrounded by a group of female warden, a medical person was busy with the lady and we saw the little baby. Born in the prison, how sad.  On the picture you can see the baby, laying in the towel we brought,  on the prison blanket. We pray that he will receive all the love and care he needs. That he will not have to stay too long in prison and that it won't effect his personality.

120 gram in 5 days!!!!!!

This is Patrick, he is the second baby of triplets. When he was born, his weight was 900 gram! His brother and sister weighed much more. We think he must have been squeezed in between his brother and sister.

But Patrick is a survivor, instead of being put in an incubator, his mother took the 3 babies to their hut in the village. And Patrick survived!! When the babies were 7 weeks old, the mother came to Amecet asking for help. She didn't have enough breastfeeding for the three and she was too busy with the three of them + the 6 other children at home. When they came, Patrick was 7 weeks old and his weight was 1560 gram.

Today, it is Sunday, and that is in Amecet: Weighing day. All the children are being weighed and recorded on the list. Patrick has gained 120 gram in lees then 5 days! We are happy. He is our smallest baby, but he has a loud voice!! He lets us know when he wants to drink!
When he is 2 kgs, we will celebrate it in Amecet with a soda at supper time!! (I'll let you know!)