Naemeka, the child we took to the hospital over a month ago, was joined here by his older sister. We tried to save their mother, but after a week in the hospital she was released. Then a few days later at home in the village, she suddenly died. Because of his condition, we felt it would be best if we could bring one of his two siblings to be around him. Juliet is 15 and will continue to go to secondary school here in the village. But she will help us with the special care that is needed for him. He has seizures from time to time and though he is about 12 yrs. old, his mind and body function at around 7. He has to be bathed, and has to have help with taking medicine and trips to the bathroom require supervision as he might “make a mess”!
Three of the new ones came by way of the hospital we usually deal with when we need medical assistance with the children. The USAID program that provides free HIV testing and HIV drugs is operating there and Hope gets her treatment there. The coordinator of the program called us a few weeks ago to ask if we could take three children he had heard lost their parents. After a delayed process of communication with the family that was overseeing the children, we finally were able to rescue them on Sunday. Their mother died 3 yrs. ago and the father’s second wife was caring for them, but when he was put in prison, the stepmother no longer wanted to care for them and they were sent back to their home village, which is about 25 miles from our place. They don’t speak IGBO as they were raised in the Northern part of Nigeria and their family doesn’t speak much English, so you can imagine their emotional condition. The children became ill after arrival and the family took them to see the doctor at our local hospital. They were tested for HIV and two of them are positive.
Chioma (Blessing) is 7 yrs. old and a beautiful girl. She is still very shy, but Hope is helping her to get used to the new accommodations and routine. Chukwuneso (Martin) is 5 and a very energetic boy – he is free from the virus. Then there is sweet Ugochukwu (who has no English name yet). He is a very sweet boy who loves to help and he is only 3. The two with HIV will have further tests this Friday to determine treatment.
Sunday afternoon, while away picking up those three, a visitor came by the house to tell us about another orphan child. When Bev and I returned, we called the phone number that was left with us and found out that a mother had died in child-birth leaving behind 5 children. She had not lived with the husband for many years and he was not a part of the picture. The extended family just could not cope with the newborn’s need for formula. It is expensive and they could not care for all five and tackle the baby’s needs. They heard about what we are doing and asked if we would care for the child! So we now also have in our care a 12 day old infant girl. Her name is Chidubem (Joy) and she is a doll! It has been a long time since Bev and I bottle fed a baby and changed diapers in the middle of the night!
Obviously, we have a full house now. Kyrsten and Brittni (volunteers from the USA) have been so helpful! Both Kyrsten & our son Jordan go back to Texas next month. We will miss the extra hands! Brittni doesn’t go until June. We will be looking to hire an additional supervisor to help with all the duties.
Our very tight budget is now getting stretched and there is much still needed in terms of our project. We hope to lay some foundations next week, but rain has started and the bulldozer hasn’t come. We are having to remove stumps by hand and try to level the land also by hand. This is slow and we have to pay day labor. Since we are “white people” we must pay the highest wage, which has to be negotiated and finally an amount is agreed upon.
We encountered some additional costs that we had not budgeted for as we learned even in the villages there are Local Government Development and Planning commissions who require nationally approved building plans to be registered and approved by them. Not required for wooden-thatched roof structures, but for “public” type buildings it is required! This meant our Architect now had to secure the seal of the National Architecture Group (this has a price) and then we had to submit five copies to the Planning Commission also at a cost. We also are paying two guards to watch over the supplies and block we have accumulated.
We decided to lease our compound for another year, as we cannot move into the property until a house is built and that means additional funds for that. However disappointing this may be, we are still very happy that we have been able to bring change to the 9 orphans we now have as well as help improve the lives of many of the villagers we have given or secured medical treatment for.
Please know that we appreciate your support. If you are or want to become a financial contributor and have not sent your support in, we do need it! Also don’t forget to tell others about what we are doing and how they can get involved in making a difference in the lives of children who might not have any hope without our help.
A Place Of Hope
P.O. Box 242
Nsukka, Enugu State
Nigeria, West Africa
From USA: 011.234.803.678.3696
A Place Of Hope – Africa
US Address:
P.O. Box 833
Hurst, TX 76053
817.319.9096
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Tags: Beautiful Girl, Emotional Condition, Few Days, Free Hiv Testing, hiv, Hiv Drugs, Hiv Positive, Local Hospital, Medical Assistance, Mind And Body, New Additions, Older Sister, Orphans, Process Of Communication, Second Wife, Secondary School, Seizures, Siblings, Stepmother, Taking Medicine, Usaid Program
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