Today is a good day - Amina went home to live with her new Adoptive Mummy! Her new Mummy, Babette, is a German lady who lives and works in Sengerema and she is so happy to finally be able to take her little girl home.

Amina was quite upset at leaving the Baby Home today - but it is a huge thing for a 3 year old to fully understand and I am sure a whole range of emotions was washing through her. None the less - I am almost certain that within a week - Amina will be happy, settled and secure in her new family and loved more than she ever has been.

Babette and Amina - Goodbye and Good luck - we wish you a happy life together.
(Babette has promised to send me a photo of the two of them together in a day or so)

We had a nurse visit today and give vaccinations to 18 of the children. All the tiny babies had their DPT injection and a few of the older children had their measles jab. I do feel so mean giving these jabs to the tiny babies!

Speaking of tiny - the new twins are doing fine. They are drinking well, able to maintain a better body temperature today and just adorable!

Baba Mathias came to visit today and he is taking Mathias home to live with him on Friday next week. And on Saturday, ChaCha is taking her baby, Imani home. So although we were at 55 children yesterday - today we are down to 54 and by next week we will be back to 52......unless Social Welfare give us more of course!!

It still seems to the the 'time of year' when people get sick. I had three staff off sick again today and Angel and Anna are both quite poorly.
Elizabeth and Ernest are both doing really well though and I guess with 54 children there are always going to be a couple who are 'under the weather'!?

I went with Social Welfare today to visit the twins in their home. They live in dire poverty - 7 people sleeping in one tiny room with just a single bed. There was no furniture, no clothes or blankets and the Grandparents do not have jobs.

Mamma Misana (the Social Welfare Officer) assessed the family home and then said to me, "If those babies stay here, they will be dead within a few days....but yes, you are right - Forever Angels is full - just give the family some milk and blankets and we will go.....what else can we do?"

.....So - welcome to our lastest Angels - Shalom and Charles! (Ok - so I am a sucker for tiny babies and NOT strong enough to do this job as I have an inability to say no!! It is my sister Zoe's fault actually - I WAS being strong but she kept making 'cute' gestures at me until I was convinced we could 'squeeze them in')

Meet Shalom:



...and her twin brother Charles....



Shalom's Mother and Father both 'ran away' a few days ago and left the twins (and an older sibling of about 1 year) with their elderly Grandparents. The Grandparents do not work, live in dire poverty and have no way to care for the twins.

They are a month old, but Shalom weighs just 1.85 kg and her brother Charles weighs 1.7kg. They have both been fed with fish, Ugali, Tea and Porridge.....their Grandparents obviously care about these babies but have no idea how to look after such low weight babies!

When I found out about these twins, we were already over run at Forever Angels with 53 babies....but to put it bluntly - if we did not take these babies - they would die.

Forever Angels has agreed to take Shalom and Charles until they weigh about 5kg and then, they will hopefully be strong enough to cope with the hardships of village life with their Grandparents.

Shalom has the prettiest little face and is the biggest and healthiest looking of the two. Charles is smaller and more malnourished looking.

We hope their Mother and Father will return for them, but if not, they will be looked after by their Grandparents when they are a little stronger.

So - welcome to our THIRD set of twins in the last 3 months....

Shalom and Charles


Amani and Ashley - who now look so big in comparison!

Today we went to visit Mavuno Village. This is a 'Family Style' Orpahanage about to open about one hour away from town.

http://www.mavunovillage.org/

The vision is HUGE (300 children), but the Directors are wonderful people who I am sure will create a fabulous place for needy children to grow up in. Their setting is just beautiful - right on the lake in acres of unspoiled land.

They have agreed to take some of our older children once they receive their licence - so we are thinking that Bianca and Pili could be the first to move there. The children will live in 'families' of 10 children and a Mother and Father who stay with them always and care for them in a family setting.

With so few adoptions happening - this is the next best option to a 'family' we are going to get for our older children who have to 'move on' when they reach 5 years.

I am very impressed with their ideas and planning and can not wait to see Mavuno Village with children in it.

On the way home we called into Social Welfare as I was told they had an emergency. A set of one month old (but tiny) twins. The Mother has run away leaving the twins in the care of elderly and poverty stricken Grandparents. They have no money for clothes or blankets for the babies, let alone formula milk.

All the Orphanages (including Forever Angels with 53 children) are full - so I was asked to help the family by giving clothes and milk for the twins.

We are more than happy to do this - but just seeing the Grandparents and trying to teach them how to make a bottle of milk made it devestatingly obvious that such tiny twins were not able to survive in their care.
This couple are also caring for a 1 year old baby who looks about 6 months old. None of the babies had any clothes and the entire family smelt so bad.

I was trying to teach them about sterilising bottles - but as I was doing it, it seemed so pointless. I can imagine this family have not even seen a bucket of water to wash in for weeks.....let alone have the capacity to boil and filter water?

So the dilema starts. We are now full. This is the first child that I have been asked to help and we just do not have room for.

So does Forever Angels get a little squashed....and we care for these twins even for a couple of months until they reach 4kg and could survive....or do we send them home with their Grandparents knowing they have minimal chance of being alive by the end of the month?

Where did all this responsibility come from and how am I suddenly able to 'play God'?

Of course it is NOT just this set of twins. Tommorrow there will be a more desperate case and each day after that......but how do you NOT help when you have the capacity and ability to do so?

Playing God? I think the 'Big Man Up There' has a very tough job and not one I am interested in!

So - here are some photos of our new bathroom and the children's first ever showers! They had so much fun!!

Just a quickie today to let everyone know that Elizabeth has started to have seizures this evening. It is not a very good sign and very surprising as she looked so well when I saw her this morning. She was actually due to be discharged today but the Doctor couldn't come so he postponed until tomorrow. Now I am happy that he did as, for once, it seems the nurses were very good and gave her anti-seizure meds quickly.

Please keep her in your thoughts.

Ernest has now been diagnosed with an enlarged heart, TB in his lungs and Malaria. I am not sure if I believe all or any of those diagnoses so will get a second opinion.....but either way he is still doing fine in hospital and is enjoying the one to one attention.

The children are all loving the new bathroom and watching them shower is SO cute. My camera is broken so photos will have to wait until tomorrow.....

Elizabeth had her surgery today and I gather it went well though I have yet to speak to her surgeon.

I saw her a few minutes afterwards and she was not really awake but obviously in a lot of pain....and according to the nurse had not been given any pain medication! Sometimes I dispair.

Anyhow - as I left she had some medication and was a little more settled.

She was very cold and looked so sick poor thing. I hope we made the right decision to give her one last chance?

Please keep her in your thoughts.

I also was given another baby in hospital. I heard about her yesterday but told the nurses we are full and to contact Social Welfare to have her placed in another Orphanage. Anyhow - it appears they didn't - and also didn't feed her as she was very dehydrated. I gave her milk and left some with the nurses and told them to feed her 3 hourly........I am not sure what will happen to her - but we also have to declare ourselves full one day? 53 babies is a lot!

It has been a long day.

Well Ernest is doing much better today - he was eating lots more cake when I went to visit him this morning, and again this afternoon. His chest x-ray was done and the Doctor very cleverly diagnosed him with ....... scholiosis! I explained that we knew that already and that wasn't the reason for his hospitalisation! Anyhow - he does have pneumonia so is on the right medication. I think he could actually come home now - but he is on IV drugs so it is better he stays in until they are finished.

We also took Neema, Georgie and Elizabeth to hospital today at the Surgical Clinic. Neema's rectal prolapse has come out again but we were advised to leave it for now and keep an eye on it. Georgie's colostomy has also prolapsed a little - but we were given the same advice.
Elizabeth however has been admitted and is having a final shunt surgery in the morning. The Surgeon warned me that this was the very last time this would be carried out and if it does not work this time then we have to give up. Please all keep our little angel Elizabeth in your thoughts this week.....

The bathroom is finished! Finally it is done and is looking great. I will take photos tomorrow and then I will spend some time getting all the children's towels and toothbrushes and soaps arranged and then do some staff training on how to use a shower on Saturday! So by Saturday evening the children should be using it!

Well I have just arrived home to Mwanza, unpacked and been up to the Baby Home - apart from Juma (who seemed to want to party at midnight!) - the children were all fast asleep and dreaming away.

It is good to be home and I would like to thank Zoe, Jade, Amy, Lilian and Josephine for doing SUCH an amazing job of keeping the Baby Home running whilst I was away. They have had quite a lot to deal with with Elizabeth being ill, Neema's rectal prolapse returning, unfinished bathrooms, and a bout of diaoreah and vomiting among the children - but they did a wonderful job and I am SO greatful.

Sadly, Ernest has taken a turn for the worst today and he was admitted to Bugando this afternoon with suspected Severe Pneumonia. He has been started on strong antibiotics and will have a series of X-rays tomorrow to properly diagnose him. Elizabeth and Neema are both going to need surgery again - so it seems we will be busy in Hospital over the next few days.
Please keep Ernest in your thoughts - he is a wonderful little boy but has suffered so much in his short life and this sort of severe illness really knocks him back.

Today we received our 100th baby at Forever Angels Baby Home - bringing our current total in care to 53.