Another emotional day........

At 7 am, I got a phone call from Sarah, she is staying with baby Esther in the hospital during the nights. I am very impressed with Sarah's heart and commitment towards baby Esther. I feel so much better, to know that it is not a burden for Sarah, to sit all those nights with Esther in the Hospital. She told me that the baby needed oxygen and she had to go to the children ward. The last week we were in a kind of private ward, where more care is given to the baby than in the children ward, where too many patients are. Deborah and I went to the hospital and found Sarah with Esther in her arms. Esther was doing bad, the saturation (oxygen in the blood) was very low, in spite of being on the oxygen machine and the heart rate was very high. While we were there, suddenly Esther had to vomit a bit and the heart stopped!!!On the monitor there was only a line........It was so shocking, we all had tears in our eyes, but then after some seconds or where they minutes??? the heart started to beat again, we were shocked again, it was so weird. I can't describe what I felt... The doctor came and we could go back to the other ward, they had found the oxygen machine and I was happy, it is so much more peaceful there. So Sarah ran back, with us behind her, and the oxygen machine was waiting for Esther. Up till this time she is still with us, a bit more stable, we have still hope, but we also know that it can still go either way.....

This all made that I was not so much at the Amun week. I came there in the afternoon, when the groups presented their reactions on the morning teaching. Jane had been talking about Family life, which is not always easy, most children lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS and are cared for by relatives. They went into their groups to talk about the challenges they have in everyday life at home and also about the solutions. It was impressive, even the youngest group, with children of 8-10 years old. they were really wise.  I was touched, they shared about the lack of money for school requirements, some of them work at the local market, to save some money to be able to buy pens, pencils and note books. Others shared about the lack of food at home, or that they have to work so much. But there was no negative attitude. The children encouraged each other to appreciate their relatives.

Singing is done several times during the day, it is quite warm and good to stand up and do some actions. David is an excellent leader and they love to sing and dance. On the left picture, our youngest boy, Charles, he is so cute!!

This are all the T-shirts from the previous Amun weeks. 

We started in 2011 with a red shirt: Let children shine again, this was our 10th anniversary.

2012: a green shirt: "plan to give you Hope and a Future

2013: a purple shirt: "I am chosen"

2014: a blue shirt: "Be strong, take the Lead"

2015: an orange shirt: "life to it's fullness"

2016: a red shirt: "I will be you"

Most of the T-shirts are still in use....

There are several children sick, and on treatment. My daughter Helen is also sick, I took her home to sleep. She had asthma and needed IV medication. I borrowed the nebuliser form Amecet and at least she could go to bed with some more air...I hope she (and we..) will sleep well!