Two sad stories....

A free Saturday, I was cleaning up in my house, and I was called. There were two new children on our veranda.

This is John Peter, only 7 hours old in this world. His mother died after the the placenta didn't come out and she bled to death. Very sad.... But it is not the end of the story, he was brought by the family of the mother and they told us that they were looking for the husband. The couple had not been married, so the husband didn't pay the dowry. This was their first baby together and the mother passed away. The family of the mother now wants the dowry!! It is almost like marrying a dead person. The father of John Peter has to pay cows or goats to compensate the family of loosing their daughter. The baby looks lethargic and dehydrated, he is not fed since he was born. He is just over 2,5 kg and still dirty from the delivery. The grandmother will look after him after his stay in Amecet. We took him in and will care for him, the family went home, to settle the problems and hopefully burry the mother in the next two days.

Rafael is not a new child in Amecet. He came the first time in July 2010, when he was 2 weeks old. His mother is mentally ill and even his grandmother is a mental case. His uncle brought him that time and took him back after 3 months of stay. Later we heard that the great grandmother now looked after Rafael. Two weeks ago we met Rafael and the great grandmother in the feeding centre in the hospital. I hardly recognised him. I was shocked, where was the little cute baby we brought home?

We asked if the grandmother could ask the uncle to come to Amecet. And today he came, together with another clan member. There are a lot of problems in the family. And nobody wants to care for Rafael. They found his father, he was put in jail, but came out, now they want to sue him and let him pay for all their expenses they made on Rafael. To me, looking at Rafael, is that not too much! We called the Probation officer (child protection) and we had a long talk with them. Next week we will go to Katakwi where they come from, and have a talk with the father. We want a good place for Rafael. The family of the mother can not use him to make money and the father needs to take on his responsibility. Rafael will stay in Amecet till everything is settled and also until he is healthy again. His weight is only 4,7 kg. he had a sock on his hand, because he was biting himself there all the time. So sad, we pray we can help him and make him smile again! On the picture under, you see him sitting next to Catherine. They are the same age, Catherine is one week older, both 10 months old. Rafael can not even sit by him self. Catherine weighs 2 kg more! Hope they will be friends!!!!!