The Child Center was very busy today. We started out slow but by the end of the morning we had seen 59 children. Of that number there were seven sets of twins. One of the new mothers brought a new set of twins. This is her second set of twins. Wow, that is like having an instant family. The twins are not her only children; she also has an older daughter. The twins were small so we gave them some preemie clothes.
A young first time mother brought her baby girl to see us. She was very worried about the baby because she was born without her left hand and lower arm. Steve and the workers tried to encourage her that the baby would be fine and learn to do almost everything that children with two hands can do. She said that people talk about her and just come around to look at the baby. Many times these babies are killed because some of the people do not think that they are real people; they believe that they are witches or evil spirits. Steve encouraged her be strong and not to let anyone make fun of the baby.
We got word this morning that the child with Down’s syndrome died. Mary, one of our interpreters, met the mother in town and asked why they had not been coming to the Child Center and she told her the sad news; most of the time no one knows for sure what is wrong with the children that die.
This afternoon Hero, the guy in Tamale that we buy formula from, stopped by to introduce us to a nutritional officer, Mavis, from Savelugu. Mavis is presently taking care of a baby boy whose mother was not able to take care of because she was very sick. The mother had a set of twins but when the first baby died Mavis decided that she needed to intervene and take over the care of the remaining twin. A few days ago the mother died. None of the family is interested in helping take care of the baby. The baby is 13 weeks old. He is very small but seems to be vigorous. Mavis contacted Social Welfare and they referred her to Accra. The department in Accra is swamped with such cases and have not been able to give any assistance as of yet. Mavis contacted Nestles who makes the formula and asked for help. That is how she met Hero. Hero in turn introduced her to us. Of course we will supply the formula the baby needs but the problem is that Savelugu is a long way away from Yendi. It is 100 miles one way. There is no way this woman can make a trip to Yendi every week. Since she is a nutritional officer we decided to sent a month’s supply of formula with her so she will only have to come to Yendi once a month. She was so happy to have some help feeding the child. Steve also gave her money for the child health insurance and we gave her some baby clothes.
It has rained almost all afternoon. We needed to mix paint so the guys can start painting the apartment. We usually mix the paint in the yard so we do not get it everywhere but this afternoon we had to mix it on the veranda. We put down a big sheet of plastic but somehow we still managed to get it on the floor. It is water based paint so we were able to get it cleaned up before it dried. Timothy Niligrini needs a little extra money so he is going to come and help with the painting.
Take care and thank you for all you do for us and for the work! We really appreciate the help.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
