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Monday, September 06, 2010- More Sad StoriesBugando Hospital is always shocking. Every time I go, I come out mortified at how unfair our world is. But some wards are harder for me to see than others. The Hydrocephelus ward, is just tragic. I think it effects me more because of our own little girl Elizabeth, here at the Baby Home.... .JPG) Elizabeth was born with Hydrocephelus but tragically, it was not treated until he head was huge and her eyesight was lost. Elizabeth has had 5 shunt surgeries since she has been in our care and after the last one, the Surgeon said 'no more'....so going on past experience, I believed we were bringing her home to die. Amazingly - this has not been the case! Elizabeth has been healthy now for many months and she is a happy and content little girl. She is blind and has brain damage, but she smiles each day, is starting to babble and is generally a happy little girl. I am so sad we could not have helped Elizabeth before she suffered brain damage - but we did not know her at this time. BUt she is now doing so well - Because we paid for her to have a shunt put in which costs
£125. Sadly, at Bugando right now, there are 27 babies who can not afford to have this surgery so they are just waiting in hospital....as every day passes, more fluid builds up on their little brains and their little brains become more damaged. Some are already blind and deaf...and in just a few months, all of them will be. And they will be the lucky ones. Every day I am on this ward....the mortuary trolley is waiting outside to collect one more little angel who didn't make it. Heartbreaking? Yes. Unfair? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes! If babies with Hydrocephelus are treated within their first few weeks of life....they could go on, would normally go on, to lead normal lives. It is only when no shunt surgery takes place that the head gets so large that brain damage, blindness, deafness and even death occurs. Take a look at the photos of some of these babies who have been in hospital waiting, sometimes for months, for a life saving surgery. .JPG) .JPG) .JPG) .JPG) .JPG) .JPG) Just
£125 could pay for the surgery which could save one of these babies lives......and just
£125 could pay for the surgery of a newborn with Hydrocephelus so they never have to endure this.
£125 sounds like a lot of money. But it is LIFESAVING money. Money which means these babies wil stop suffering and be able to go home and lead somewhat normal lives. Money which means their Mum's can leave the hospital and return to their other children who they have left at home for many months, often alone, through necessity. Money which these babies need more than you or I do? If you know anyone who would like to help pay for a Hydrocephelus Surgery - please contact Amy on amy@foreverangels.org |
| Posted @ 9:23 PM
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Thursday, September 02, 2010- An Amazing GiftToday, the Baby Home received an utterly amazing gift! I am still speechless. The story goes like this.... Joya, one of our current, returning volunteers, asked me yesterday..."If I could do some fundraising and could buy the Baby Home a car - what kind would you want? Do you have any preferences?" I basically said, "One where the doors stay closed when you drive along....as the current one doesn't and I am afraid about losing a child along the road!!" I thought nothing more of this converation. Many Volunteers have promised to try to fundraise for a car, but to me, having a better car has always been a pipedream. Then today, I went home at about 4.30pm to do some computer work and heard a very loud, persistent horn at our gate. I may have even cursed a little at their impatience and wondered who was bothering me when I had some work to complete!! When I went outside - this is what I saw:   OH MY GOODNESS! Joya handed me the keys and told me her and her family had bought the car for the Baby Home! I am still astounded!! It is a beautiful car - perfect for our needs....and it even has the Forever Angels Logo on the side! It is an automatic so I was a little nervous about driving it....but Joya and Castro gave me pointers through the window!  .JPG) All the big kids came out to see their new car and were SO excited. Abdalla had to be literally prised away from the driving seat and steering wheel!  Joya, and her amazing family - I do not have the words to express how greatful Forever Angels, and I am for this truly amazing, generous gift! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. .JPG) .JPG) Joya - you were an amazing volunteer last time and I will always remember the time and effort you spent with Jennifer. I always hoped you would one day return....but didn't in my wildest dreams think you would return and do this! Thank you. You are one of life's true angels.  |
| Posted @ 10:20 PM
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010- Comings and Goings of Twins.....Today, we had another sucess story....our beautiful twins, Anna and Ben, went home to live with their Dad, Aunt and big sister! They have lived at Forever Angels for 13 months, and now they are eating solid food and almost walking, their Dad is able to care for them.  Although they don't look particularly happy in this photo - I think that is more to do with the fact that they are both suffering with flu. Their Dad is a wonderful man who truly loves his babies and I am thrilled that he is taking his babies home.   Anna and Ben - we will all miss you soooooooo much. Nothing stays still at Forever Angels for long....within an hour of Anna and Ben leaving, I had a phone call from Social Welfare to ask me to take a set of newborn twin girls! One set of twins out....another set in!  Maua and Sabina Richard are 6 days old and their Mum tragically died in childbirth. They are THE most beautiful babies I have ever seen (and the Dad isn't so bad either!!??)  Their Dad wants to take them home again in about 6 months once they are eating solid food. He is a lovely man and is obviously devestated to lose his wife....and then give his babies up, albeit tempoarily. Meet Maua (which means 'flower') and Sabina.   Sabina was even clever enough to smile for the camera!!!  And (it was a busy day!) Mathias came back to visit us and to get his medication for the next few months. He is happy and healthy and looking great! He brought me a chicken as a gift! Wonderful!   |
| Posted @ 8:10 PM
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Saturday, August 28, 2010- Paranoia or just plain scary!?In the last two days I have heard of two VERY SCARY news stories relating to Tanzania, both with huge concerns for our Baby Home children.
The first is that the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) has suspended the importation, distribution and use of NAN 2 Infant Formula Milk, after it has discovered that the product is counterfeit. This is the third time in two years that this has happened. The first time, there were huge quantities of melamine in the milk, then excessive amounts of fat and now, who knows what is inside the milk? So far this week, 2,261 tins of Nan Milk Formula have been found in Tanzania and are known to be fake...but we are not yet sure of the actual danger? We feed this to our babies EVERY single day. And we have no way of really knowing if it is Baby Milk or poison? It is frightening. Read these pages to find out more.... http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=19856 http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=20041 And then, Meghan sent me this article today. This is not public on Tanzanian news - but it is again - VERY scary. This week, NINE tonnes of fake medication has been confiscated in East Africa - including Tanzania! The confiscated loot included anti-malaria drugs, vaccines and antibiotics. We give our children these vaccines and antibiotics daily and we HAVE to be able to trust that they are safe. Now how can we ever be sure? http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/08/26/africa.counterfeit.medicine/index.html?iref=allsearch Today I have 24 babies with fever at Forever Angels. Probably the highest number of sick children at any time we have ever had. Here they are lying with wet blankets trying to reduce their fevers....  They have no other symptoms and I am guessing it is just flu as I myself as suffering a little with it. But how can we know? How do I know they have not all been poisoned from their latest vaccination which could have been a fake and poisoned them? How do I know they have not all drank poisoned formula milk? I don't know how we can adequately care for these babies unless we can trust a few reliable constants....milk and medical care are both utterly essential and now I find myself severely doubting the safety of both? And even more ridiculous is that last month, we had the Health and Safety Officers come to the Baby Home and write a list of criticisms and things to change within 30 days, or they will 'close us down' (apparently!) or fine us. I happen to KNOW that my Baby Home is cleaner than any school, hospital, clinic, shop or other building in Mwanza. Every surface is cleaned with dettol numerous times each day. The floors are bleached 5 times a day. Our staff put hand sanitiser on their hands after every nappy change and every time they enter the Tiny Baby House. I am very strict about Health and Hygiene....and yet they still managed to find things to criticise us on. Firstly, they said that our cooks, have to wear full chef's outfit (hat and all!). Why? Most restaurants here do not have chefs wearing anything resembling this!! So here is Peres (9 months pregnant!) and Bertha with their new uniforms....  And my favourite one....all staff working with children have to wear all-white clothes and hats at all times, so that they are not hiding dirt?! Seriously!? Have they ever worked with children? The other reccomendations, I will do - but I will fight all the way not to have my Mammas wear white! Ridiculous. And when you think that this country is currently struggling to know whether its Baby Folmula Milk, Vaccinations and Medicine are poisoned or not....you'd think Health and Safety Officers country-wide would have more important things to do with their time? |
| Posted @ 9:59 PM
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010- A New AngelToday we received a new child named Sara Ngeta. Sara is about 18 months old. .JPG) Her mother sadly ran away a few days ago and left Sara's father with her, and her 3 year old sister. Her father does want to care for his children, but he has no female relatives and cannot care for Sara while she is so young. He hopes to take her home again in a few months to join her sister Sara is quite malnourished and underweight for her age - but she is clearly a loved little girl and was not happy at all when her Father left her at the Baby Home. We hope that Sara will gain weight quickly and soon be able to return home to her Dad and sister. In the meantime - she will be loved and cared for at Forever Angels. |
| Posted @ 8:50 PM
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010- Happy 4th Birthday Forever Angels!On Sunday - we had a BIG Birthday Celebration at Forever Angels. Sixteen of our children have birthdays in July or August - so we were celebrating those .... and the Baby Home itself was celebrating it's 4th Birthday!!  Four years ago on Sunday - we welcomed our first child - Yunisi - to the Baby Home, and now, four years later - we have cared for 122 babies at Forever Angels and have managed to place 55 of those children back into their existing families or into new adoptive families! Of this fact alone - I am proud and immensely thankful to every one of our Staff, Volunteers, Trustees, Friends and Supporters for making this possible. Thank you ALL. It's been an exciting, tiring, fun, emotional and eventful four years! The Baby Home has grown 'physically' beyond recogntion and has added not only an extention to the main Baby Home, but also a Pre School, a Tiny Baby House, Solar Power, a Sensory Room and some Managers Accomodation. Along the way, there have been smiles and laughter, tears and heartbreak - I have wept tears of joy and tears of sorrow. I have met some amazing people and witnessed such generosity it has overwhelmed me. I have cradled babies as they breathe their last breath, and watched children who I thought would die - fight and survive. Over the past four years, we have seen so many children reunited with their families or placed into new families. We have seen so many children emerge from sick, malnourished, abused children - into sociable, happy and healthy toddlers. Every day I have marvelled at the utter resilience of children. Nothing about running Forever Angels is easy - but I would also not choose a life any different. It's been, without a doubt, the hardest four years of my life - but also the most rewarding. I can only do what I do each day because of these amazing children.....they manage to bring joy into even the most devestating day. Heartbreak can diminish with just one cuddle of these truly wonderful little people..... Happy 4th Birthday Forever Angels......and HUGE kisses and hugs to every one of our Forever Angels babies - all 122 of you.          |
| Posted @ 12:23 PM
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Friday, August 20, 2010- I have GREAT MammasIt's quite a positive title for what has been a devestatingly hard few days - but it is true.
My Mamma's at the Baby Home are such wonderful people and they TRULY care about out babies. They were all totally devestated to lose baby Stella and have all been so kind and thoughtful these last few days. Lilian, my Manager and Emma, have been AMAZING too, as has Cosmos and all our Groundmen. It is wonderful to have a bunch of staff who all pull together and really help in such tragic times. Thank you all. Stella's Mum was a psychiatric patient at Bugando - but it appears she has been discharged without any contact details being taken. We were therefore unable to locate her or any members of her family, so we buried Stella on the hill behind the Baby Home and then did a service on Forever Angels grounds for all the Mammas to attend. All our Mamma's came, sang beautiful songs for her and cried many tears for baby Stella. If funeral service's can be called 'nice' - then this one was. And it is strange - but a baby dies, and without wanting it too - life just carries on. The other babies still need food and milk and bathing, bills still need to be paid and shopping still needs to be done. Life here doesn't leave you much time to question or ponder or even grieve. But I am still trying to understand why this had to happen......losing a child likes this makes you question so much.....? Stella's autopsy showed that she died from Pneumonia - apart from that, her health was excellent. Everyone, even the mortuary workers, questioned why such a healthy looking baby would die. The Doctors think she must have picked up an infection from the hospital (like MRSA) which just made her too weak to fight. And she was wrongly diagnosed on admission to the hopsital (and her medication for pneumonia was stopped) and the new medication she was given, didn't help her. We were basically told that if she had stayed at home at the Baby Home - she would have been ok.....I guess we will never know? Losing Stella, again, has reinforced just how hard it is to live here when the medical services are so poor. Deaths, every day, are totally unnecessary. And that is heartbreaking. And, there is not a single thing I can do about it? (Meghan - hurry up and qualify as a nurse in America. I need a Forever Angels Hospital and you are the person to run it.) |
| Posted @ 12:34 PM
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