Tanyaradzwa is now out of hospital and looking much better. She loved being in hospital and getting thoroughly spoiled. Can you believe we still don't know what was wrong with her. Not once did we get to see the doctor. He didn't come to the hospital at the same each day and we continually missed him. It was very frustrating. I did hear mentions of appendicitis and kidney infections but nothing was confirmed. Anyway the main thing is that she is back with us and much happier and healthier.
Last week we received a call from one of the nurses at the O.I. (Opportunistic Infections) Clinic. This is the clinic where those suffering from HIV go for medical treatment and ARV drugs. She became aware of a six year boy who was there for his treatment and was obviously being badly neglected. So yesterday Fleur and Portia went to investigate and were horrified by what they found. The little boy is an orphan and was living with his grandparents in the rural areas. After his grandmother died last year his grandfather sent him into town to live with his Aunt and Uncle. It is very obvious that he is not wanted. The child was very dirty and wearing rags. He could not remember when he had last eaten. He is not allowed to sit on the furniture and sleeps on the floor each night. He is regularly beaten and his guardians do not take him to the O.I. clinic for his reviews and medication. We are very concerned and doing our best to get the child out of that home.
Do you feel angry? I do!! I will let you know when we get this little boy. Please pray that it happens soon.
To be quite honest I think the problem for this family is their lack of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS. I believe they are terrified that they will somehow catch the disease from the child. Hard to believe that such ignorance still exists today!!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
January/February 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends
Today I am feeling like a great weight has been taken off my shoulders. I finally had the courage to resign as the National Director. This has been something I have wanted to do for some time and have been praying that the Lord would raise up the right person for the position. I have always felt like a square peg in a round hole and totally ill-equipped for the position. Having no business management skills meant that most of the time I didn’t know what I was doing and if it wasn’t for my amazing staff I think I would have failed long ago.
The new National Director will be Sheunesu (aka Sharky Masuka). I have known Sharky for the past 20 years and he has been sitting on the National Board for the past two years. Sharky has always been interested in YFC and when I first came to Zimbabwe he was one of the volunteer staff. Sharky is married to Susan and they have a 9 year old son called Micah. They attend the same church as me which is the Bulawayo Baptist church.
Sharky is really excited about taking on this new position and I believe he will be a brilliant National Director. Not only does he have the necessary business skills he also has excellent people skills as well.
This does not mean that I have resigned from YFC. It just means that I will only hold one position now - Director of the Sandra Jones Children’s Village.
So how do these changes affect me? Mostly it means that I can now concentrate all my time on the SJCV ministry. There is still so much that needs to be done!!
I have had a lot of pressure from the junior schools around Bulawayo to resurrect Kids Kan. I still believe it is a wonderful program but the thought of doing it without Sandra has always held me back. I believe the time has now come to get back into it again and will be joining forces with Jenny Hensman, a friend of mine from England, who is also single and is fostering 3 children. Jenny is amazing with children and I know I am going to love working with her. Jenny also knew and loved Sandra and will do a wonderful job filling her shoes.
It seems that the Lord may also be leading me back into counseling. I am getting more and more requests from schools and parents to counsel children. I will take it slowly and see how it goes. It is a very time consuming ministry and can be very draining. That’s why I gave it up in the first place!!
The number of children at the “Village” is forever increasing. We reached an all time high recently with 90 children in our care. The need to move the children into town in order for them to be nearer schools and medical services is great. We continue to pray that the Lord will provide the money for us to purchase the Hotel Rio and are also still praying that one day St Josephs will be ours. Our long term vision is to accommodate our girls at the Rio Hotel, and our boys at St Josephs and that St Josephs would also be a hospice for terminally ill children. Big dreams heh! Hudson Taylor said “Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.” And we DO expect great things from the Lord. However the day to day battles can be demoralizing and we wait and wait and wait for these things to come about.
I was recently out at the “Village” doing choir practice with the children. After we finished we prayed as we always do. However this time it was different…the girls really prayed. I had shared how desperate our financial situation was at the time. That evening the Lord blessed us with $1,400. The girls were blown away to see such an amazing and timely answer to their prayers.
I am so grateful to all our supporters who pray and encourage us and just keep on giving.
Family News
Rebecca started pre-school this year. I was very worried about how she would take to it but am happy to say that she is loving it. Christy cries almost every day now and can’t wait to go to school with Rebecca. She hates being left behind every morning. She is only three but is a very bright little girl and recently said to me “I can see your lips moving Mom but all I am hearing is blah blah blah!!”
Stefanie continues to thrive at school. She is still very involved and plays in the school tennis team, plus does team and club swimming. She also sings in the choir and is learning piano and violin.
Maddie has settled down nicely into grade 4. She loves her teacher and is working hard. Maddie is passionate about dancing and does both acrobatic and modern dancing. She is also in the school choir and in team swimming.
As you can imagine I am kept pretty busy with four little girls but it is such a joy to see them happy, healthy and growing up to love the Lord Jesus.
And now over to Fleur
And then came Hope and Joy….When a child dies a piece of you dies with them. I felt as if I had no more “pieces” left to give away after the death of three of our children last year. Maybe if I distanced myself and no longer formed bonds with any of the children my job would be easier…then the call came! Congratulations…you have twins – two beautiful baby girls born on 20 December 2010. Early this month we welcomed them with open arms. I have once again found Hope and Joy!!
And now look at what the Lord has been doing with some of our other babies.
Philip is running around everywhere now. Jacquie and Nothando are back to full health after their long battle with tuberculosis and Susan has firmly entrenched herself as “Queen Bee” in the babies home.
And the good news is that Debbie has now allowed me to name some of the babies. Below is our newest addiction born to an underage mother. Her name is Hannah and she was born on 13 February.
Even our general workers have to help with feeding sometimes. Below is Chris with Michaela. Michaela joined us recently after being abandoned by her Mother.
.
Blessings
Fleur
Now it’s Buhe’s turn
Sponsorship & Fundraising matters
This past month has been challenging and yet very exciting! The One-in-a-Million project towards purchasing the Hotel Rio is progressing well. We have been into 4 primary schools here in Bulawayo and between the four we have raised close to US$2,000. We have now been given permission to go into all the government schools in the region as well so we’re hoping to raise more funds in the near future through the One-in-a-million.
Thank you to all our supporters overseas who have contributed to the One-in-a-Million! Your support is very much appreciated!
I have also come up with “Teas That Make a Difference.” This is a fundraiser which you can do from the comfort of your own home. All it involves is inviting a few friends over for tea and cake and then talking to them about the work SJCV is doing in Zimbabwe. We already have some ladies who have expressed an interest and I look forward working with them on this. If you would like to get involved with these teas please email me: buhe@yfczimbabwe.org
We are very grateful to all our sponsors who continue to sponsor the children month in and month out. Without your financial sacrifice it would be next to impossible for us to take care of these children. We need you every step of the way!
We had some donations from various individuals too that have covered specific needs at just the right time. We’ve had many financial challenges since the beginning of this year but the Lord always provided just on time. And we thank you for your generosity and above all we thank the Lord for His faithfulness in always looking after His children and making sure they are always taken care of.
We do still however, have about 20 children who are unsponsored and this is mainly due to the fact that since the beginning of this year we’ve had children coming in almost every day from the police and/or social welfare. We do however appreciate the present economic climate worldwide.
We have received donations of food and clothes from a local primary school where the children are encouraged to donate food items or clothing on a designated “Missions Day.” We were so grateful for these donations.
A local church, donated boxes of rice and soya meat to SJCV. The church gets the donations from “Feed My Children” in America and then they distribute it where they see a need. We were very grateful for this donation as well.
So all in all it’s been a challenging beginning to the New Year but I trust that as we continue faithfully to provide a place of love, hope and safety for these children, the Lord will continue to provide.
God Bless!
Buhe Pilime
Sponsorship Co-ordinator
And finally Thina’s chance to share!
For some reason we always seem to get a lot more children at Christmas time than at any other time of the year and this past Christmas was no exception. In the past two months more than a dozen children have joined the SJCV family. Each with an incredibly sad story to share! After a while one gets used to hearing about the despicable things done to the children and each time your heart seems to get a little harder. However, every now and then one child really gets to you. Her story is able to break the hard shell we build around our hearts to protects ourselves and we are back to square one – where we feel intense rage and frustration. This is how I felt when 6 year old Panache and her 3 year sister Sipho joined us. These two little girls were living with their mentally retarded mother. She was unable to care for them and the girls were left to fend for themselves. They were repeatedly abused by different men in the community until social welfare was made aware of their situation and they were brought to us. Sipho has not spoken at all since joined us in January. Panashe on the other hand is a bright happy little girl with a smile that lights up a room! She is already thriving now that she knows she is in an environment where she is loved and accepted and safe!!
Well my friends this newsletter is now coming to an end. Can you believe I had to do it twice after mistakenly closing the program without saving it!!!
In closing let me highlight some of our biggest prayers needs.
1) Finances (always finances!!)
2) Hotel Rio – we are now desperate to move from Willow Park. Over Christmas we were without power for more than a month. Because there was no electricity there was no water because power was needed to run the borehole pumps. It really was a desperate situation!!
3) The “one in a million” campaign
4) The children at SJCV
5) YFC staff and their families
6) For our new National Director
7) And finally please pray for Tanyaradzwa who is in hospital at the moment. She is only 9 and the doctors are still not sure what is wrong with her.
Thank you again for standing in the gap for us.
In His service
Dear Friends
Today I am feeling like a great weight has been taken off my shoulders. I finally had the courage to resign as the National Director. This has been something I have wanted to do for some time and have been praying that the Lord would raise up the right person for the position. I have always felt like a square peg in a round hole and totally ill-equipped for the position. Having no business management skills meant that most of the time I didn’t know what I was doing and if it wasn’t for my amazing staff I think I would have failed long ago.
The new National Director will be Sheunesu (aka Sharky Masuka). I have known Sharky for the past 20 years and he has been sitting on the National Board for the past two years. Sharky has always been interested in YFC and when I first came to Zimbabwe he was one of the volunteer staff. Sharky is married to Susan and they have a 9 year old son called Micah. They attend the same church as me which is the Bulawayo Baptist church.
Sharky is really excited about taking on this new position and I believe he will be a brilliant National Director. Not only does he have the necessary business skills he also has excellent people skills as well.
This does not mean that I have resigned from YFC. It just means that I will only hold one position now - Director of the Sandra Jones Children’s Village.
So how do these changes affect me? Mostly it means that I can now concentrate all my time on the SJCV ministry. There is still so much that needs to be done!!
I have had a lot of pressure from the junior schools around Bulawayo to resurrect Kids Kan. I still believe it is a wonderful program but the thought of doing it without Sandra has always held me back. I believe the time has now come to get back into it again and will be joining forces with Jenny Hensman, a friend of mine from England, who is also single and is fostering 3 children. Jenny is amazing with children and I know I am going to love working with her. Jenny also knew and loved Sandra and will do a wonderful job filling her shoes.
It seems that the Lord may also be leading me back into counseling. I am getting more and more requests from schools and parents to counsel children. I will take it slowly and see how it goes. It is a very time consuming ministry and can be very draining. That’s why I gave it up in the first place!!
The number of children at the “Village” is forever increasing. We reached an all time high recently with 90 children in our care. The need to move the children into town in order for them to be nearer schools and medical services is great. We continue to pray that the Lord will provide the money for us to purchase the Hotel Rio and are also still praying that one day St Josephs will be ours. Our long term vision is to accommodate our girls at the Rio Hotel, and our boys at St Josephs and that St Josephs would also be a hospice for terminally ill children. Big dreams heh! Hudson Taylor said “Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.” And we DO expect great things from the Lord. However the day to day battles can be demoralizing and we wait and wait and wait for these things to come about.
I was recently out at the “Village” doing choir practice with the children. After we finished we prayed as we always do. However this time it was different…the girls really prayed. I had shared how desperate our financial situation was at the time. That evening the Lord blessed us with $1,400. The girls were blown away to see such an amazing and timely answer to their prayers.
I am so grateful to all our supporters who pray and encourage us and just keep on giving.
Family News
Rebecca started pre-school this year. I was very worried about how she would take to it but am happy to say that she is loving it. Christy cries almost every day now and can’t wait to go to school with Rebecca. She hates being left behind every morning. She is only three but is a very bright little girl and recently said to me “I can see your lips moving Mom but all I am hearing is blah blah blah!!”
Stefanie continues to thrive at school. She is still very involved and plays in the school tennis team, plus does team and club swimming. She also sings in the choir and is learning piano and violin.
Maddie has settled down nicely into grade 4. She loves her teacher and is working hard. Maddie is passionate about dancing and does both acrobatic and modern dancing. She is also in the school choir and in team swimming.
As you can imagine I am kept pretty busy with four little girls but it is such a joy to see them happy, healthy and growing up to love the Lord Jesus.
And now over to Fleur
And then came Hope and Joy….When a child dies a piece of you dies with them. I felt as if I had no more “pieces” left to give away after the death of three of our children last year. Maybe if I distanced myself and no longer formed bonds with any of the children my job would be easier…then the call came! Congratulations…you have twins – two beautiful baby girls born on 20 December 2010. Early this month we welcomed them with open arms. I have once again found Hope and Joy!!
The twin’s mother died 2 days after giving birth to them and unfortunately no-one knows who their father is. Since their mother was HIV positive the babies are currently on the ARV drugs as a precaution, while we await the result of the HIV test.
 |
| Hope and Joy |
 |
| Fleur and Joy |
Philip is running around everywhere now. Jacquie and Nothando are back to full health after their long battle with tuberculosis and Susan has firmly entrenched herself as “Queen Bee” in the babies home.
 |
| Philip |
 |
| Jacqui |
 |
| Nothando |
 |
| Susan |
And the good news is that Debbie has now allowed me to name some of the babies. Below is our newest addiction born to an underage mother. Her name is Hannah and she was born on 13 February.
 |
| Hannah |
 |
| Chris and Michaela |
Blessings
Fleur
Now it’s Buhe’s turn
Sponsorship & Fundraising matters
This past month has been challenging and yet very exciting! The One-in-a-Million project towards purchasing the Hotel Rio is progressing well. We have been into 4 primary schools here in Bulawayo and between the four we have raised close to US$2,000. We have now been given permission to go into all the government schools in the region as well so we’re hoping to raise more funds in the near future through the One-in-a-million.
Thank you to all our supporters overseas who have contributed to the One-in-a-Million! Your support is very much appreciated!
I have also come up with “Teas That Make a Difference.” This is a fundraiser which you can do from the comfort of your own home. All it involves is inviting a few friends over for tea and cake and then talking to them about the work SJCV is doing in Zimbabwe. We already have some ladies who have expressed an interest and I look forward working with them on this. If you would like to get involved with these teas please email me: buhe@yfczimbabwe.org
We are very grateful to all our sponsors who continue to sponsor the children month in and month out. Without your financial sacrifice it would be next to impossible for us to take care of these children. We need you every step of the way!
We had some donations from various individuals too that have covered specific needs at just the right time. We’ve had many financial challenges since the beginning of this year but the Lord always provided just on time. And we thank you for your generosity and above all we thank the Lord for His faithfulness in always looking after His children and making sure they are always taken care of.
We do still however, have about 20 children who are unsponsored and this is mainly due to the fact that since the beginning of this year we’ve had children coming in almost every day from the police and/or social welfare. We do however appreciate the present economic climate worldwide.
We have received donations of food and clothes from a local primary school where the children are encouraged to donate food items or clothing on a designated “Missions Day.” We were so grateful for these donations.
A local church, donated boxes of rice and soya meat to SJCV. The church gets the donations from “Feed My Children” in America and then they distribute it where they see a need. We were very grateful for this donation as well.
So all in all it’s been a challenging beginning to the New Year but I trust that as we continue faithfully to provide a place of love, hope and safety for these children, the Lord will continue to provide.
God Bless!
Buhe Pilime
Sponsorship Co-ordinator
And finally Thina’s chance to share!
For some reason we always seem to get a lot more children at Christmas time than at any other time of the year and this past Christmas was no exception. In the past two months more than a dozen children have joined the SJCV family. Each with an incredibly sad story to share! After a while one gets used to hearing about the despicable things done to the children and each time your heart seems to get a little harder. However, every now and then one child really gets to you. Her story is able to break the hard shell we build around our hearts to protects ourselves and we are back to square one – where we feel intense rage and frustration. This is how I felt when 6 year old Panache and her 3 year sister Sipho joined us. These two little girls were living with their mentally retarded mother. She was unable to care for them and the girls were left to fend for themselves. They were repeatedly abused by different men in the community until social welfare was made aware of their situation and they were brought to us. Sipho has not spoken at all since joined us in January. Panashe on the other hand is a bright happy little girl with a smile that lights up a room! She is already thriving now that she knows she is in an environment where she is loved and accepted and safe!!
 |
| Panashe |
In closing let me highlight some of our biggest prayers needs.
1) Finances (always finances!!)
2) Hotel Rio – we are now desperate to move from Willow Park. Over Christmas we were without power for more than a month. Because there was no electricity there was no water because power was needed to run the borehole pumps. It really was a desperate situation!!
3) The “one in a million” campaign
4) The children at SJCV
5) YFC staff and their families
6) For our new National Director
7) And finally please pray for Tanyaradzwa who is in hospital at the moment. She is only 9 and the doctors are still not sure what is wrong with her.
Thank you again for standing in the gap for us.
In His service
Debbie
Director
Sandra Jones Children’s Village
Friday, December 3, 2010
Lots of new kids!!
The last few weeks have been such a rush. For some reason we also seem to get lots of new kids around trhe Christmas season.
On Monday we were the given the sweetest little girl. We have named her Kerri (after my sister) and she is estimated to be about 6 months old. She has not given an ounce of trouble since arriving. Kerri was left on a bus. Her mother asked a stranger to hold her while she got off the bus to do something, and she never returned. The best part is that Kerri is healthy, no HIV and no TB. We don;t get many like that these days.
Another new arrival is Lee. Lee is a screamer. The quicker we get her out to the Sandta Jones Children's Village the happier we will be. She is staying with us in our offices at the moment!! Lee's teenage mother left her in the house by herself. The lodger came home in the evening and found Lee screaming. After waiting hours for the mother to come back she finally took Lee to the police station and they eventually phoned us. They say that Lee is about 10 months old. As you can see by her photo she has a serious squint and will need surgery to correct it. Fortunately we know an eye specialist who comes from the USA every year. So when he comes next we will ask him to look at Lee.
On Monday we were the given the sweetest little girl. We have named her Kerri (after my sister) and she is estimated to be about 6 months old. She has not given an ounce of trouble since arriving. Kerri was left on a bus. Her mother asked a stranger to hold her while she got off the bus to do something, and she never returned. The best part is that Kerri is healthy, no HIV and no TB. We don;t get many like that these days.
Another new arrival is Lee. Lee is a screamer. The quicker we get her out to the Sandta Jones Children's Village the happier we will be. She is staying with us in our offices at the moment!! Lee's teenage mother left her in the house by herself. The lodger came home in the evening and found Lee screaming. After waiting hours for the mother to come back she finally took Lee to the police station and they eventually phoned us. They say that Lee is about 10 months old. As you can see by her photo she has a serious squint and will need surgery to correct it. Fortunately we know an eye specialist who comes from the USA every year. So when he comes next we will ask him to look at Lee.
Another little girl was so supposed to join us yesterday but was identified for adoption so she will not come after all. If only more people would adopt abandoned children!!
Stefi and Maddie finished school yesterday. They are so happy to be on school holidays. So am I. No more getting up at 5.30am every morning. They start school at 7.20am....ridiculous time!!!!
We have put up our Christmas tree and now we have to find a way to stop Christy from pulling off the decorations. She has definitely hit the terrible twos. Yesterday she told me to give her a sweet or she would keep being naughty. I did give her something...and it definitately wasn't a sweet.
I am also going on a leave for a month and really looking forward to spending some quality time with the girls. I have been so busy this year and at times have neglected my daughters. It's awful to come home at the end of the day and to be asked "Mommy are you staying home now, you're not going out again are you?" It's the first thing Rebecca asks when she sees me after work. So for the four weeks we are going to paint pine cones, bake christmas cookies, and make christmas decorations and I can't wait!!!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tribute to Lisa
For those of you who keep up with my blog you will remember me writing about six year old Lisa. A very sick little girl who was suffering from HIV, TB and heart disease. Sadly Lisa passed away on Friday 19 November. One of my staff, Fleur has written a letter to Lisa whilst sitting with her in hospital. I was deeply touched by what Fleur wrote and with Fleur's permission would like to share it with you.
Dear Lisa,
Today you are in hospital. As I watch you sleep struggling for each breath, I wonder if you’ve ever had a happy day in your life, a day free from all the pain and misery. How tiny you look, even though you are six years old, your wrist is just slightly thicker than my thumb. What unimaginable pain you must be in. I wish I could do something to ease your pain, but for now all I can do is sit with you and hold your hand. Even though we cannot communicate and we’ve only known each other for a little while, I want you to know that you are so special and for as long as I live, I will never forget you”.
Seeing Lisa through God’s Eyes
Lisa was referred to Yfc through the OI clinic (a clinic which deals counsels and treats HIV / AIDS patients). The message we got was “if you do not take this child, she will die. So I thought then, “of course we will take her”. It was so obvious.
“I was not prepared when I first saw her and to be honest, I was terrified. So many questions popped into my head. Is she contagious? Why is she coughing so much? Will she give me TB and will I get sick? What about my child, and the other babies in the home, the mothers and the other staff members? Her uncle had already been to other places, including a social worker at the hospital and the Social Welfare. He had been turned away from both of them. I asked around for referrals to convalescent homes but there were no answers - no one was prepared to help. All I heard was “We cannot deal with such a sick child” and “we are not qualified to do this”!
I hesitated, I apologised to her uncle and told him we were not in a position to take her. I saw the despair in his eyes as they grew moist. He opened the car door, grabbed her and walked away without saying a word. I turned to Portia. “What do we do?” “No one wants to help this man”.
Together we try to reason. “Open all the windows”, “did you hear the way she coughed”? We can’t risk taking this child! We’ve already had 2 babies die this year and two seriously ill with TB.
I had a nagging thought in the back of my mind. “What would Jesus do?” We went back to the office to talk to Debbie. She confirmed she would fully support whatever decision we made, but I knew she would never turn a child away. Portia got on the phone to tell her uncle to get out of the taxi”.
I asked Buhe to please go and collect Lisa and her uncle. She hesitates, she’s also afraid!! Pull yourself together Buhe! “What would Jesus do”?
“We do end up taking her into our family. Des, wonderful Des, accepts her immediately, but the rest of us still hesitate. She is so sad, so angry, so sick. She fights us all the way. I promise $10 to the first person who makes her smile. Everyone comes to me of course, all claiming to have made her smile, but I don’t believe it. Let me give it a go! I get the camera. “Smile Lisa” I say. ...... she looks at me like I’m crazy. I take the photo anyway. I say to her “look at this dudla mafehlefehle” (fat person) and then she smiles. I get the picture I wanted and show it off to the rest of the staff.
The doctor tells us she has heart failure, her lungs and liver are damaged. She is coughing up blood. To make matters worse, the TB treatment she has been given before she came to us was the wrong medication (her uncle had to walk 7 kms every day to collect it). So now she has to restart the treatment. The doctor also immediately starts her on antiretroviral drugs (ARV’s). We pray it is not too late”.
In her 6 years of life, Lisa has been through what many of us will never go through in a lifetime. She was an HIV orphan, with twin brothers who are also HIV positive, and both have TB.
Her uncle took them into his care when his brother and sister-in-law died. Lisa considered him as a father. Although they lived in abject poverty, their uncle is so attached to them. What pain he must feel.
Many of you reading this may never give Lisa a second thought, but to us she is now a part of our family.
Why does she have to suffer for the mistakes of her parents? Will Lisa ever know what it feels like to ride a bicycle, run a race at school with everyone cheering her on, shouting out her name? Will she ever jump on a trampoline and imagine she can touch the sky? Will she ever get to play dress-up? Will she get to blow out 7 candles on her birthday cake in December?
I don’t know the answer to these questions BUT what I do know is that we are better people for having had the privilege of caring for her. She taught us that mothering a sick child - a child who is HIV positive and has T.B is just the same as mothering a healthy child.
We nourish them and shelter them, we hold their hands for safety and protection and sometimes to just let them know we are by their sides.
“God Bless and protect her Lisa, I will always remember that “first” smile. (dudla mafehlefehle)”
To the two wonderful women Des and Debbie it is an honour knowing and working with them.
How blessed we all are!
Lisa is now safely in the arms of Jesus.
Dear Lisa,
Today you are in hospital. As I watch you sleep struggling for each breath, I wonder if you’ve ever had a happy day in your life, a day free from all the pain and misery. How tiny you look, even though you are six years old, your wrist is just slightly thicker than my thumb. What unimaginable pain you must be in. I wish I could do something to ease your pain, but for now all I can do is sit with you and hold your hand. Even though we cannot communicate and we’ve only known each other for a little while, I want you to know that you are so special and for as long as I live, I will never forget you”.
Seeing Lisa through God’s Eyes
Lisa was referred to Yfc through the OI clinic (a clinic which deals counsels and treats HIV / AIDS patients). The message we got was “if you do not take this child, she will die. So I thought then, “of course we will take her”. It was so obvious.
“I was not prepared when I first saw her and to be honest, I was terrified. So many questions popped into my head. Is she contagious? Why is she coughing so much? Will she give me TB and will I get sick? What about my child, and the other babies in the home, the mothers and the other staff members? Her uncle had already been to other places, including a social worker at the hospital and the Social Welfare. He had been turned away from both of them. I asked around for referrals to convalescent homes but there were no answers - no one was prepared to help. All I heard was “We cannot deal with such a sick child” and “we are not qualified to do this”!
I hesitated, I apologised to her uncle and told him we were not in a position to take her. I saw the despair in his eyes as they grew moist. He opened the car door, grabbed her and walked away without saying a word. I turned to Portia. “What do we do?” “No one wants to help this man”.
Together we try to reason. “Open all the windows”, “did you hear the way she coughed”? We can’t risk taking this child! We’ve already had 2 babies die this year and two seriously ill with TB.
I had a nagging thought in the back of my mind. “What would Jesus do?” We went back to the office to talk to Debbie. She confirmed she would fully support whatever decision we made, but I knew she would never turn a child away. Portia got on the phone to tell her uncle to get out of the taxi”.
I asked Buhe to please go and collect Lisa and her uncle. She hesitates, she’s also afraid!! Pull yourself together Buhe! “What would Jesus do”?
“We do end up taking her into our family. Des, wonderful Des, accepts her immediately, but the rest of us still hesitate. She is so sad, so angry, so sick. She fights us all the way. I promise $10 to the first person who makes her smile. Everyone comes to me of course, all claiming to have made her smile, but I don’t believe it. Let me give it a go! I get the camera. “Smile Lisa” I say. ...... she looks at me like I’m crazy. I take the photo anyway. I say to her “look at this dudla mafehlefehle” (fat person) and then she smiles. I get the picture I wanted and show it off to the rest of the staff.
The doctor tells us she has heart failure, her lungs and liver are damaged. She is coughing up blood. To make matters worse, the TB treatment she has been given before she came to us was the wrong medication (her uncle had to walk 7 kms every day to collect it). So now she has to restart the treatment. The doctor also immediately starts her on antiretroviral drugs (ARV’s). We pray it is not too late”.
In her 6 years of life, Lisa has been through what many of us will never go through in a lifetime. She was an HIV orphan, with twin brothers who are also HIV positive, and both have TB.
Her uncle took them into his care when his brother and sister-in-law died. Lisa considered him as a father. Although they lived in abject poverty, their uncle is so attached to them. What pain he must feel.
Many of you reading this may never give Lisa a second thought, but to us she is now a part of our family.
Why does she have to suffer for the mistakes of her parents? Will Lisa ever know what it feels like to ride a bicycle, run a race at school with everyone cheering her on, shouting out her name? Will she ever jump on a trampoline and imagine she can touch the sky? Will she ever get to play dress-up? Will she get to blow out 7 candles on her birthday cake in December?
I don’t know the answer to these questions BUT what I do know is that we are better people for having had the privilege of caring for her. She taught us that mothering a sick child - a child who is HIV positive and has T.B is just the same as mothering a healthy child.
We nourish them and shelter them, we hold their hands for safety and protection and sometimes to just let them know we are by their sides.
“God Bless and protect her Lisa, I will always remember that “first” smile. (dudla mafehlefehle)”
To the two wonderful women Des and Debbie it is an honour knowing and working with them.
How blessed we all are!
Lisa is now safely in the arms of Jesus.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The four children that joined us yesterday are just too sweet. Four year old Nompilo came into my office for a visit in the afternoon. She can't speak a word of English and my Ndebele is very limited but we just chatted away anyway. It didn't seem to be too important that we understood each other. She is a lovely happy little girl. There is no doubt that these children have been well loved. Their father phoned Fleur last night to see how they were doing. He must be really missing his kids. The three old is called Thandi (which means "love"). She is also very sweet but is shyer than her older sister. The twins are a boy and a girl. The boy is called Sipho and the girl is called Siboninkosi. Unfortunately their father is not well which means the children could be with us for a long time. Whilst we can give them all the love and care they need it is never the same as being with your family.
Sera is back with us. The family that took her had second thoughts and returned her for a weekend. However they decided after that, that they did indeed want her. I was furious and refused to give her back to them. I feel that if they have had second thoughts in the past they could have them again. Fortunately I had social welfare's support on my decision. I am still very upset. This has never happened before and we must be more diligent to make sure it never happens again. Sera is a little girl that seems to adjust well to whatever situation she is in but that is beside the point. It has to be confusing for her!! My heart aches for her.
Siboninkosi, Nompilo, Thandi, and Sipho
It's been sometime since I last wrote on my blog. Over a week in fact!! Where have the days gone?
This afternoon four children from the same family joined us. There are 5 month old twins, and three and four year old girls. Their mother died about a month ago and their elderly father is unemployed and unable to care for the children. All the children look healthy and well looked after. There is also a five year old boy but I believe he is staying with his maternal grandparents. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for the father of these children to have to hand them over, particularly after losing his wife so recently.
This afternoon four children from the same family joined us. There are 5 month old twins, and three and four year old girls. Their mother died about a month ago and their elderly father is unemployed and unable to care for the children. All the children look healthy and well looked after. There is also a five year old boy but I believe he is staying with his maternal grandparents. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for the father of these children to have to hand them over, particularly after losing his wife so recently.
Little Lisa whose photo I posted recently is doing much better. She was a very unhappy little girl for a long time but seems to have come to terms with the fact that she has to stay with us until she well. Now she is smiling and much happier.
We were supposed to fast as an organisation last week but so many of my staff, including myself ,were hit hard by a terrible flu that has been going around Bulawayo so we decided to delay the fast until this week hoping that everyone would be feeling much better. If anyone would like to join us in our fast for the Hotel Rio please feel free to do so.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The little girl I mentioned last week in my blog, 6 year old Lisa, arrived on Monday. She is much sicker than we first anticipated. We were able to take her to the peadiatrician yesterday who confirmed that she has HIV and TB but also said that she is suffering from pulmonary heart disease. Her damaged lungs have put so much stress on her heart. Now apparently the treatment for this heart diseases is sildenafil (aka viagra.) Yep that's right, viagra, which is very, very expensive. So I'm at it again. Always asking for money I know. But if anyone would like to sponsor the medication for Lisa that would be great.
Next week the YFC staff will be having a week long fast for the Hotel Rio. It will start on Monday and finish the following Sunday evening. Feel free to join us as we come together before the Lord and petitiion for the Hotel Rio.
Just had a call from Social Welfare to pick up a seven year old litte girl. She is an orphan and she is also HIV positive. It is becoming more and more obvious that we will need to establish a small hospice for our sick children. A place where they can receive good treatment and lots of love. We need a full-time nurse. Our mothers don't have the time or the expeience to meet the needs of some of ur sicker children.
Des is fantastic with the kids. They come to us sick and usually very dirty and smelly with ringworms and sores and yet Des looks at them through the eyes of Jesus. She sees a precious child who is beautiful in His sight. She picks up the children and cuddles them and calms them down. She brings little toys for them and she makes them feel loved and wanted. What a pricless gift she has.
She is really unhappy at the moment and just wants to go home to her Uncle. The reason he brought to us is because she is too sick for him to look after. Please pray for Lisa.
Next week the YFC staff will be having a week long fast for the Hotel Rio. It will start on Monday and finish the following Sunday evening. Feel free to join us as we come together before the Lord and petitiion for the Hotel Rio.
Just had a call from Social Welfare to pick up a seven year old litte girl. She is an orphan and she is also HIV positive. It is becoming more and more obvious that we will need to establish a small hospice for our sick children. A place where they can receive good treatment and lots of love. We need a full-time nurse. Our mothers don't have the time or the expeience to meet the needs of some of ur sicker children.
Des is fantastic with the kids. They come to us sick and usually very dirty and smelly with ringworms and sores and yet Des looks at them through the eyes of Jesus. She sees a precious child who is beautiful in His sight. She picks up the children and cuddles them and calms them down. She brings little toys for them and she makes them feel loved and wanted. What a pricless gift she has.
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