Baby Eamon is now at peace. We held a lovely service for him at Forever Angels on Saturday morning and I was amazed at how many people turned up to say goodbye to this little boy. All of my 30 staff came, as well as all of my Baby Home volunteers, other volunteers who have been coming to Forever Angels once a week, my friends and some Doctors from Bugando hospital who cared for him when he was first born. It was a very sad day for everyone - but this truly was a loved little boy.
Thank you to everyone who loved Eamon and touched his little life.

All the other children at the Baby Home now seem to be getting over their Sickness bug, although I have now picked it up! We celebrated Molly's 1st Birthday yesterday afternoon with a BBQ, and today I have had a quiet day with my family.

We have just had some Builders round to the Baby Home to give us a quote for building an extension. Since we have now reached capacity - we have decided that we would like to extend the Baby Home to care for an additional 15 children. The cost of this is going to be approximately £4,000 so if any of you know anyone who would like to help us to pay for this - please pass on the Forever Angels details. It will mean almost doubling our capacity - giving more abandoned and orphaned children a chance at a future and a life of love.

We now have internet at home again so I will be able to work on the computer in the evenings again instead of wasting my days in internet cafes achieving very little!

I am hoping for a less eventful week next week.....

I am afraid that I have not written for such a long time and now have so much to say - but none of it is really good......

I mentioned that little Eamon was sick last week. Last night, at 6pm, 6 week old baby Eamon died.

Everyone here at Forever Angels is saddened by his death even though Eamon was a very sick little boy. He was almost definitely HIV positive and his life was therefore compromised.

He had a couple of nose bleeds last week (which in a 5 week old baby is quite worrying). I took him to hospital 3 times last week and we gave him 2 injections of Vitamin K (which is given routinely at birth in the UK but not here in Tanzania and which helps with clotting, I believe?)
Anyhow - on Thursday afternoon he had a very slight fever and was off his milk. I checked him that evening at 10pm and his fever was gone and he seemed a bit better. None the less, due to the nose bleeds and pervious fever I was still worried, so asked my staff to be on extra alert for him and call me if they got worried.

At 3am on Friday morning, Eamon started to have difficulty breathing and my staff called me. At 3.20am, he was gasping for breath. I rushed him straight to Casualty at Bugando Hospital. By this time he was really struggling to breathe and going blue. Eventaully we got him on oxygen...but by now, he was giving up.

On Neonatal Intensive Care they put Eamon in an oxygen box quickly where he seemed to perk up. Around 8am he had an IV line put in and received antibiotics and throughout the day he did seem a lot better. I went home to deal with Mathias (another story) and returned at lunch time. When I arrived the nurses were preparing papers for him to be transferred to Neonatal Unit because his condition had improved. I argued this (as you are not allowed to stay with your baby on neonatal Unit and this is where Nyanda died due to complete negligence in February) - so it was agreed I would pay for a private room for him.....but none of this happened......

I left him with Mwanaidi one of my staff members and went back to Mathias. At 5.50pm I received a phone call from Mwanaidi to say that he had stopped breathing suddenly and they were resuscitating him. I dashed to the hospital where it was decided to stop efforts to keep him alive as they were having no effect. Eamon died in my arms just moments later.

The nursing staff were very kind and allowed me to cuddle Eamon and be with him and Mwanaidi for an hour. We then left him to go to the Mortuary.

When Eamon got nosebleeds last week, I had a hunch that we were going to lose him. I didn't think it would be so soon though. I know the staff at Bugando are overworked and under resourced and I do not blame them. I do not think any of them thought Eamon's illness was serious and he did take a very sudden turn for the worst.

Eamon is now at peace with him Mum and I can find happiness in the fact that for his 6 short weeks, he touched the lives of many and was loved by us all at Forever Angels.

Today, I have been very busy arranging his funeral. Social Welfare managed to find his Uncle and Aunt and they agreed to carry out Eamon's funeral. I washed him and dressed him in a lovely pair of blue dungarees and then drove him and his family back to their village.
I have arranged a memorial Service at the Baby Home tomorrow for my staff and volunteers to say their goodbyes to Eamon.

The rest of my news blends into insignificance in comparison, but I guess I should tell it anyhow. We have had a sickness and diarrhoea bug going round the babies and volunteers and staff. Still, 7 of my children have fever and diarrhoea - but they are all on treatment and doing fine. Mathias however - has also been very sick this week and only came out of hospital today.

On Tuesday, he had sickness and diarrhoea that came on very suddenly. He was losing a lot of fluid and not taking much in, but I left him in the evening with no fever and looking quite well. By 8am on Wednesday, he was not well at all. He was so dehydrated that his fontanel was sunken and he was losing consciousness. Hannah and I rushed him to hospital where they finally managed to get him on a drip. He has been in hospital (at the Hindu Union) until this afternoon when I brought him home and the nurses and Doctor Kocher have been amazing - thank you so much.
He is now smiling again and doing well. He is weak, but drinking lots and not in any danger. It has taught us all a huge lesson about dehydration - which babies die from every minute in Africa......don't wait! I wish my staff had woken me in the night and he would never have gotten so sick. Then again, he became very ill so fast. Again - there is no point in blame - my staff are WONDERFUL and I adore them all. They are not nurses and are not trained but they generally do a wonderful job of noticing illnesses in the children and they react upon them appropriately.

So - I have had to get staff covering the Baby Home as usual, ICU for Eamon and the Hindu Union Hospital for Mathias - 24 hours a day - and they have all been so helpful and loving and hard working. Thank you all for putting in that extra mile when it is needed.

On a positive note, Gracie is not deaf! I think she is in depression or maybe some form of shock? I am starting to think she saw some horrific sights at the hospital with her Mum and she shut herself into her own little world. I thought she was deaf as she didn't even flinch or blink when I made very loud noises right next to her....though over the past few days, she has been talking and responding and coming out of herself. I hope that in time, she can forget any earlier trauma and live a happy childhood. My volunteers have been spending a lot of time with her and helping her to some out of herself.

I am hoping that life will calm a little over the next few days. We are having a service for Eamon in the morning and in the afternoon I am having a little Birthday Party for Molly, which I considered cancelling in the light of things; but decided against as the other children were very excited about it.

Sometimes I feel like I am in too deep at Forever Angels and not being able to save every child is heartbreaking. I wish I was a Doctor so I could save these babies myself. But tonight, as I read a bedtime story to Haji and Sarah and Mwita, I realised what a wonderful thing Forever Angels is to these children. I guess I have to learn that I can not save them all?....

Well it seems to have been a few busy days with sickly children this week!

Salum has been diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia and he is not well. He has got a constant fever and we can't seem to reduce it. He has been treated for malaria twice now, but I still think he is suffering with it?

I realised today that Gracie is deaf. I had my suspicions when we first got her a couple of weeks ago - but back then she was quite sick and very neglected so I didn't pursue it too much. Today though, Hannah and I crashed about behind her in an effort to make her hear or respond in some way - but she did nothing - not even blink?
I do not know of any hearing tests available in Mwanza - but will take her to see a Peaditrician next week. In the mean time I am busy downloading some simple sign langauage signs to teach her and my staff so that at least she is able to communicate her basic needs.

Eamon has also not been well. He suffered from a nose bleed yesterday morning and then again today. I thought it may be a Vitmain K deficiency so took him to hospital this morning where the Doctor agreed with me. In the UK, babies are given a Vitamin K injection as soon as they are born (at least I think they are?) but this is not done here. I drove round about 6 pharmacies before finally finding the Vitamin K injection and he had it this afternoon. I hope it works.

Haji is fine in himself but his ear infection is back. It is a rare infection which is resistant to most antibiotics so he needs to have gentamyacin which only comes in injection form here. He needs a course of 2 injections per day for 5 days bless him - but it should get rid of his infection for good (we hope!)

A few of the other children have got sickness and diaoreah - but I think there is a bug going round as a few of my staff have been ill as well as my husband, Ben, and my son, Barnabas.

We are lucky to have Monica, a nurse, at the Baby Home for a couple of weeks. She is doing a First Aid training course with my new staff and a course on HIV Prevention and Care to all my staff which we are all very greatful to her for.....and also thanks to Lisa (my best friend) who wrote the training courses for me in the first place before she moved to Australia in March. Thanks wewe.

I returned to visit Yohana and his grandmother yesterday. Since they were thrown out of their house by her abusive husband - they are living in a mud hut with no possessions at all. I bought for them:
* 3 mattresses
* 3 mosquito nets
* a large blanket
* a large pan
* 3 wooden spoons
* 6 plates
* 6 dishes
* some plastic containers
* a water jug
* 4 mugs
* biscuits and rice
* and some of our old clothes and toys and books

This all cost less than 40 pounds. It certainly makes you think about money and how much we all waste each day. This family now has all the basic necessities to set up home and we hope they will all be happy and safe away from the Grandfather.

I will continue to visit Yohana regularly and will keep you updated.

Yesterday I also took my 4 volunteers out to Tumaini Children's Home (where Aaron was transferred to). I promised the Manager, Rob, a while ago that I would 'loan' him some volunteers to paint the Home.
They stayed all day and did a truly wonderful job.
Take a look at some photos on the Tumaini website: http://mchungaji.typepad.com/tumaini
Well done Hannah, Chrissi, Liz and Rowena - you did a great job and Tumaini really has been transformed.

Our children are all doing well. Salum now has so much more energy and is putting on weight well. Gracie is getting better slowly and Eamon is gaining weight too.
Dotto and Bahati are both adorable and they love to see their Mum each day when she comes to work.
Haji is still getting into mischief - but is is wonderful to see!
Maggie is becomming a truly beautiful little girl. Someone from her family visits her every week - but yesterday the entire family came - her Father along with her 6 adorable sisters.
Sammy has not been well this week - but we have had a sickness and diaoreah bug going round and I think it just hit him harder than most. He didn't seem to notice he was ill though and still smiles a lot!
Yunisi is growing so big, she talks none stop and always has a new hair style!
Joseph still continues to be the life and soal of the Baby Home. He is the cutest, most happy. helpful, kind and funny little boy I have ever met.

The other children are all wonderful. Once we get internet back at the Baby Home - I will update the website with photos and information about them all.

We had a shipment of DHL boxes this week - so thank you to everyone who has sent items to our UK trustees, or to Jim Grant. The parcels all arrived safely and the contents are all FABULOUS! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The children LOVE the sea-saw and the nappies are so lovely.

I will update the website shortly - but we do NOT currently need any more calpol, ibruprofen or handwash. We have got lots (which is wonderful) but I could soon start a second job as a chemist if we get many more!

Thats all for now - have a good week...

Today I went with my volunteers to visit Yohana in his home. He was looking well and seemed happy depite everything. His Grandfather has thrown him and his Grandmother out of their house so they now have a small hut close by. The Grandfather is a drunk who has abused the family badly. The Police are now supposedly involved but so far they have done nothing.

The family now have nothing at all except the clothes on their backs and a tiny hut - so I will return next week with some clothes, a mattress and some blankets for them.

On a good note - Yohana is now attending school and says that he is loving it!
He was looking thin, but in the circumstances, that is not surprising. He is happy at home though so that is the main thing.

Gracie and Eamon have settled in well. Poor Gracie has malaria, a UTI and a stomach infection and she HATES taking her medicine! She has slept a lot since she arived but I hope she will soon be feeling better and we will see the real Gracie emerge.

The new volunteers are keeping busy with all of the children and are a great help to me.

Chloe has returned to the UK for a well earned holiday for 5 weeks.

Well - the internet cafe screen is flickiering so I will post this before I lose it for good!

Well - not only do I still not have internet - but the programme to write my diary has
stopped working - so I am a few days out of date.....and Ben is now writing this for me! I hate computers!... prepare for a long one....!

Today we got the 2 new children from the hospital. Hannah and I have been to collect them (unsuccessfully) for the last 3 days - but today we succeeded in getting the necessary discharge papers and letters from Social Welfare....and brought them home.

We have named the girl Gracie and the baby boy, Eamon. They are both quite healthy and have settled in well. Please read about them on our 'Meet the Children' page. They bring our total at Forever Angels to 20 children which is the number we have always said we can cater for. However, I can not see that the need for a Baby Home will suddenly end so I think we will be able to offer a home to a few more babies yet.

Whilst we were there waiting at the hospital, we gave a few toys and books out to the children on Children's ward. Mum's and children came running down the corridor to get their 'gifts', as did nurses and cleaners! Word soon got out that weird 'Muzungus' (white people) were giving away toys! It was amazing how grateful people were for an old cuddly toy or a plastic car with 3 wheels! However, many of the children were petrified of the cuddly toys and it reinforced to Hannah and I, that they had probably never seen a toy before.

Nothing that gets donated to Forever Angels goes to waste - even things which we do consider 'rubbish'! I learnt a lesson very quickly in Tanzania - that my rubbish is another person's luxury. Broken toys, ripped books, holey clothes - all of them are not considered rubbish here. If things get broken or damaged at Forever Angels, or clothes and toys are donated which are not age appropriate - they ALL go to a good home. Either my staff take them for their own children, we give them out to children in near by villages, or we take them to the local hospital. What I would have thrown in the rubbish bin back home - today made about 50 children very happy indeed.

Today we also welcomed 3 more volunteers from the UK. Chrissie, Liz and Rowena will be volunteering at Forever Angels for one month - and the extra hands will come in most useful now that we are so full.

It was very rewarding to see a full Baby Home today and to know that we have also helped 8 other babies and children who have now returned home or to other Centres. This is quite an achievement for less than one years' work of Forever Angels.

I'd just like to say THANKYOU to everyone who helps us to give these wonderful children a chance at a future. Thank you to my staff and volunteers who make the Baby Home a wonderful and loving place to live. Thank you to our Donors, Sponsors and Fundraisers which, without their support, Forever Angels could not do the wonderful work it is doing. Thank you to Social Welfare for all their hard work in the face of an impossible job of helping everyone who needs help here in Mwanza. Thank you to Doctor Schmidt and all the staff at Bugando Hospital for looking after these babies and bringing them to our attention.

Thank you to our UK Trustees for their immense hard work back in England.

And a few great big personal thank yous (I can do that since it is my diary!) to my Mum and Dad and all my family who have supported this 'crazy' venture of mine and have become such a HUGE part of Forever Angels. Without them, the work we do truly would not be possible.

And also to my good friends, in Mwanza, the UK, and my best friend in Australia - you know who you are - for being supportive, loving and for generally being such great friends and believing in us as we set about creating Forever Angels.

A huge thank you must go to my wonderful family - my incredibly supportive husband and my three wonderful children who have to share me and my time with so many others. You are the best things in my world and are so kind and loving - I am a very proud Mum.

Lastly, thank you to the children at Forever Angels for making each and every day a wonderful one and allowing me to see what life really is all about. Each and every one of you are amazing and I have such high hopes and dreams for your futures.

It never fails to astound me how adaptable children are. Some of these children come to us from hardships, abuse and circumstances I do not even want to imagine - and yet within a few hours - they are smiling, loving and wonderful children. These amazing little bundles are what Forever Angels is all about - and they also make me incredibly proud. I am a Mamma to 22 children and it truly is the best job in the world.

The Christmas Cards are now ready to buy! Thank you so much to my Mum, Val Lithgow, who has worked tirelessly printing, folding, chopping and packing them!

To purchase them - please click on the latest 'News' item on our website, right click on the Christmas Card 'Order Form'. Download it, print it off, fill it in and follow the instructions on where to send it.

Please tell your friends and family about these cards - they are really lovely and all proceeds go directly towards helping our 'Little Angels' at the Baby Home.

Yesterday we had three important guests at the Baby Home. Mr Philip Parnham - The British High Comissioner, Dr. Raphael Chegeni - a local MP for Busega in Mwanza and Mr Stephen Kasaga - a City Planning Officer - all came to see the Baby Home and meet our children.
I think they were very impressed with Forever Angels and the work we are doing, and it was very useful to forge links with such influential individuals in Tanzania. Thank you very much to you all for your visit.

This morning I have been to visit two orphaned children at the Government Hospital. One is a baby in Special Care Baby Unit called Amon. He is about 4 weeks old and his Mum died just after birth. He weighs just 2.5 kg but seems alert. His head, eyes and neck are covered in pussy spots so I suspect herpes - but apart from that he seems well.

The other child is a toddler called Violet. Her mother also died and they have been unable to trace any other family members. She looks well fed and seems healthy.

I will return to the Hospital on Monday and will work with Social Welfare to hopefully get them placed with us as soon as possible.
I am hoping that Social Welfare will be quick with this and hope they are slowly realising that once these babies are out of any immediate danger in terms of their health, they really are better off with us at Forever Angels than in the hospital where there is no one, and no funds or time to take care of them.

Salum is slowly gaining more energy and is often playing with the other children. He has a beautiful smile!

Dotto and Bahati have settled in brilliantly - they are both loveable, happy children. Their mother and siblings have been to visit a number of times and their mother will begin working for us on Monday.

Hannah (a volunteer) is doing an amazing job of transforming the Front Entrance and 'Pre School Room' in the Baby Home....pictures of her artwork will follow shortly....