Rest in Peace, little one...

Last night, 11.40 pm, Asianut Helen passed away into the loving arms of Jesus.

She got difficulties in breathing in the evening, the staff rushed her to the clinic next door, they tried to suck out her lungs, put her on oxygen, but it was all in vain. They called me at midnight that it was all over. She still looked so beautiful, I was so sad this morning. Because there are no relatives known, we couldn't bring her home to be buried. We contacted the Police and they also told us to ask permission to bury her in the Soroti Municipal Burial ground. It was quite a process, a death certificate from the clinic was not enough, it was a criminal case, so a post mortem was done. And Asianut had died because of soil in her lungs......

 We gave her a simple burial with a prayer and the knowledge that she is in the arms of Jesus. Her life was too short, just 1 day. we were all shocked about the whole thing and how fast it went

Asianut's bed is empty, life goes on, if you want it or not. We are organizing to  go to Kampala tomorrow morning at 5 am, with three children to different doctors. Please keep us in your prayers....

Buried alive.........

This morning, Simon got a phone call from the Police; a baby was found, buried alive!!! Elias and Simon drove to the village and and found the Police and other people gathered together in a certain home. The baby was found in their maize field. Last night, around 9.30 pm, they had heard a baby crying. They got concerned and went to the local leader, together they went to see what had happened, they were thinking about children sacrifice. which still happen in secret places. It is really amazing, that in that big field, they came across the place where it looked if someone has been digging there. Carefully they tried with a hoe...and they found the a new born baby, buried alive..... They later saw the evidence that the mother gave birth there and dug the hole and buried the baby with the placenta.

The Police is investigating, because this is a criminal act. The people of the home nearby, cared for the baby during the night, but now the baby was handed over to Amecet.

We checked the baby, there are some little wounds, but it is a miracle that she is alive!! Being completely covered with soil!! The weight of the baby is just 2 kg. We took her directly to the doctor, because of the dirty place where she has been in, she was in need of  medical attention.

After medicines, a bottle, a bath and warm clothes she is sleeping peacefully. The people named her Asianut Helen, Asianut means Grace in the local language Atesso. God must have Grace  upon this little girl..... What a way to enter this world!! But God's grace is upon her, she is alive and cared for!!

And again, another adoption.......

 Today Emmanuel went to his new parents!!! 

Emmanuel was born on 25th of May 2017. He was left at the side of the road. We don't know the situation, but to lay a new born baby at the side of the road....you must be very desperate!!

The Police brought the baby to Amecet, they tried  to investigate, but they found no relative of the baby. We also went to the area and asked around, his picture went in the local newspaper, but all in vain, nobody came forward. So Emmanuel was in Amecet and we got the permission from the police and the Probation office, to look for a family for him. And we found a lovely couple, who were so excited to get Emmanuel in their family. After all the paper work and inspection of their home and interviews, the court gave them their Care order, to foster Emmanuel for one year, after that they will adopt him. The baby got the name: Emmanuel, God is with us. For sure we can see God's hand in Emmanuel's life. He will be loved and cared for......`

Two boys went home........

The difference between these two pictures are 2 months and 5 kg!! William came in Amecet because he was malnourished. He was cared for by his grandparents, but this was not going well, William amused us, he is a master in getting himself dirty, first thing in the morning, after his bath...

As you can see on this picture. I don't know how many times he got a bath per day... He gained 5 kg. in two months. Loves to play and he was ready to go back home. But back to his grandparents would not help him, he would be back soon, in his old state. So our Social workers, Elias and Simon went to look for his parents, who were separated. They found the father and he was willing to take him into his (new) family. Today, it was a good reunion for the two, and his father took him home!

The second boy who went home is a different story,  this is Moses, i have been writing about him several times (see the blog of  30/6, 6/7, 13/7 and 31/7) He came into Amecet very weak and sick. We took him to different places for tests and consults from the doctors. At first he started very well, he ate good and he started to gain weight. He even went to pre-school, but then he started to change, he didn't want to eat anymore, he didn't want to take his medicines, he was against everything, he only wanted to do his own thing. Sleeping during the day and sitting up at night etc... We also had the feeling that he was homesick.. We decided to bring him home for 2 weeks. So here he stands, ready to go to his mother, very happy with his nice clothes and his shoes (very important for him) and his schoolbag. Please pray for Moses, that this visit home will do him good, that he will take his medicines and that he will eat!!!!!!

It is hard to let him go home this way, but we have to think what is the best for him, we tried, but it had not much effect... The relatives were happy to see him, they said they saw a big change.....???

CELEBRATIONS!!!!!!!!!!

 Today, two children were given to their new, forever families!! They were handed over to the new parents by the Probation officer, reason to celebrate!! The families have been visited in their homes, their places were inspected, papers were filled and the Magistrate gave them the care order, to foster their new child. The real adoption will be in one year time.

 Jackson was more than 2 years with us, he became three years in August. We tried to resettle him with his grandparents, but it was all in vain. Now he is taken in this beautiful family and he has even a baby sister, Emma! His new parents work as missionaries in the North of Uganda. We are so happy for them!!!

The second child is Grace, she was resettled back with her relatives, but we had to go back to pick her again. It didn't go well. But also a family stood up for her!! Both of her parents are teachers, so she is at the right place for her education!! She will be loved and cared for and she is very wanted in her new family!!!

Some updates on the children...

It is still holiday, but the children play well together, they have their holiday packet and they have fun together... We still have an (almost) full house, with lots of baby's. Some have gone home, but there are others who filled the beds again...

Today we said goodbye to one of the two sets of twins (blog of July 6) Last week Rose and Michel went home and today Suleiman and Rashid left us. Are they not beautiful little men!!!  It is a joy for us to give two healthy baby's back to the family. The children are going back to their own people (and we have two free beds :))

In my last blog  of September 3, I wrote about Patrick, a little boy who was found in Soroti town, we have been busy with him, his hand was very swollen after an IV injection, and the swelling only increased, it was very painful for him. But today he is very much improved, he can smile, walk a bit and the swelling is gone. We only heard that he has a heart problem and we were advised to go to the heart institute in Kampala.

This is William, a boy who enjoys life!!!! Playing in the mud is his favorite game and we have had some rain lately, so he does enjoys that! We are trying to find his parents, William came in Amecet, malnourished, he was with his grandparents, but he can't go back there, he would end up the same...Now we are searching for his parents, they are separated. We hope that they can help William.

In the blog of August 15, I wrote about the 3 mini baby's, all three do well, they are growing and well on their way to the 3 kg. We are thankful for that!

In the blogs of August 11 and August 22, I wrote about Michel. He is operated and walks around now with big metal screws in his leg. last week we went back to the doctor and we had to make an X-ray. We were very curious how it was going  with the growth of the bone. The Doctor was very content, there is new bone growing and the bones are in the right position. So he walks all over the compound with his crutches and is doing great!!

 We ask your prayers for Moses (blog of July 31) at first he did well, then he just didn't want to eat he lost weight and we even had to give him a NG tube, that helped a little time, but now he is just dropping again. It is hard to see it, we are trying all we know and can.......

Then I end this blog with some exciting news, we are working with several families who want to adopt one of the children. There are several children who don't have a home to go back to, because they were abandoned and we failed to find any relatives or the relatives can not or do not want to care for them anymore. We were able to find a family for three children..... I will share more when everything is cleared with the Probation officer and the court!!!

(almost) Full house....

 When we renovated and we ordered the new beds to be made, we made 20 small beds and 8 toddler's beds. We have 8 small beds in the first baby room, where we keep the smallest, just new born baby's. Then we have 12 small beds in the middle room, where the bigger baby's are sleeping. I never thought all those beds would be occupied at one time..... But it is.... This picture is from the middle room, and there are 12 baby's sleeping in them... In the room for the small baby's, we have one empty bed. And from the 8 beds in the toddler's room are 5 beds occupied. At the moment we have 19 baby's, 5 toddler's and 5 bigger children: that is 29 in total!!! I think it is the most we have had ever at one time..

This week Lazarus was picked by his auntie, he had stayed with us for 2,5 month. And he is a healthy cute, handsome looking boy!! His mother passes away after the delivery and now his auntie will take him in! We were happy to release him, back to his family, it also created a new place, but as one left, we got three new children in Amecet, this week. Two baby's of 1 and 3 months old. One of them lost her mother and the other one, his mother had a mental problem and the child was in danger. 

The third new child was a small, sad boy, he was brought by the Police on Saturday morning. He was found on Friday evening, abandoned in Soroti town, at around 10-11 pm. He spend that night in the Police station and the following morning they brought him to Amecet.His health is in a bad state, he is malnourished, has oedema and looks so sad. Who can leave a little boy like that in town, at night??

We also do have good news!! Look at those two little ladies, left is Jennifer and right is Maliamu. They were both really struggling with their health, they didn't want to eat, they were loosing weight and we almost were giving up. Jennifer has been long with us, we didn't know what to do or how to get her eating. The last thing we had left was a NG tube. So we put the tube in, what was a dramatic event for Jennifer. We started to give her special feeding by tube, next to the normal feeding by mouth. And it worked!!!! Her weight was today 21 kg!!! 6 weeks ago her weight was 14 kg..... Maliamu gained this week also 1,5 kg!! So the girls are our heroes today!!! We have some children due for going home, they are stable and ready for the village life. We do have problems sometimes, to give them back to their families, they often ask for extra time...but at this moment we do need empty beds again, in case new children will come....