| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: August 26, 2023 HIDDEN MALARIA DETECTED IN 2 OF OUR INFANTS  Baby Madelina with Foster Mother Felicina  Almeida and Foster Mother Angelica Babies Madelina, 5 months, and Almeida, 9 months, were both taken to the hospital for testing after their foster mothers reported weakness in both infants. Hidden malaria is when a person is found to have a low count of malaria larvae from a simple finger stick blood smear that is viewed under a microscope. No outward malaria signs such as fever, lack of appetite, or irritability are evident. Hemoglobin levels were normal in both babies, PTL, so no hospitalization was needed. Only the normal malaria treatment over 3 days, vitamins, and a high protein diet were needed. Both are recovering well, but this situation clearly shows us how vigilant we must be with these infants. This is the 3rd such case we have dealt with in the last 4 months, so it does keep all of us “on our toes”. Catching it quickly is vital before the malaria larvae increase in number and begin destroying the infants blood supply, thus causing life threatening anemia. Your prayers for our continued discernment of this deadly disease are much appreciated. AND THE ROOF GOES ON! Thursday found our 6 carpenters and 13 brick layer teams working together to load the 8 heavy wooden trusses onto our 6‑ton truck, 4 trusses at a time. We had to work quickly in the early hours of the morning (4:30 to 6 a.m.) to get the trusses onto the brick walls before normal traffic begins at 6 a.m. This home is on a very busy dirt road, but PTL that it is school holidays which means the traffic is greatly reduced. School classes begin at 6:30 a.m. for many, so this road is full of children walking to school by 6 a.m. on a normal school day. Our timing was great as the last truss went up as the first car drove by our truck. The videos show both the outside and inside views of what it takes to get a truss onto the roof. Being able to drive the truck very close to the back of the house allowed the men to lift from the back of the flatbed truck. This made the job much easier than when we must lift from ground level. Roofing will take 7 to 10 days, and I will show you the finished product in next week’s blog.  Roofing trusses going up at dawn on new three-bedroom house for toddlers https://youtube.com/shorts/am_2Pp90i68  View inside the room putting up the trusses https://youtube.com/shorts/dcp1k4w8L8A OUR OLDEST HOME BITES THE DUST Taking down a large mud home may look simple, but not when it was built in 2005! Mud homes don’t usually last more than 10 years due to cracking and rain damage, but this old home had 10-inch-thick mud brick walls making it very sturdy.  Eighteen-year-old dorm as it looked Thursday morning Our brick layer team struggled for 5 hours on Thursday to break it down to ground level as the roof was attached to the walls, making it more difficult. When our team built this home 18 years ago, we gave no thought to how difficult our very well constructed home would be to destroy!  Taking down the old dorm with 10-inch-thick mud brick walls https://youtube.com/shorts/oOKqZZbprS0 The video clearly shows what it’s like when those mud walls come tumbling down. WHY DID IT NEED TO COME DOWN? First, the roof beams had rotted, making it very dangerous for anyone to stay in the house. The widow living there was moved to another home. Second, it was next to our Victory House of children, making it dangerous if high winds ripped off the roof. The only solution was to destroy it.  After 5 hours of hard work, the job is almost complete WE THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR LOVING KINDNESS TOWARDS OUR CHILDREN EACH MONTH. YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE GIFTS KEEP US MOVING FORWARD TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE FOR THOSE CHILDREN GOD PLACES INTO OUR CARE. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Monthly Archives: August 2023
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: August 19, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: August 19, 2023 BABY JUMAIDA FINALLY HOME!  Baby Jumaida and Foster Mother Estivania much happier now that they are home At Noon on Monday, August 14, the hospital released this sweet 7‑week-old infant girl, but the thrush in her mouth continues to be a problem. We are changing treatments in hopes that making her mouth less acidic with a super diluted bicarbonate of soda will kill it out. Otherwise, she seems fine as she now weighs 4.1 kg/9 lbs. which is amazing! (Her admission weight was 3.5kg/7.7 lbs.) An infant that gains weight in hospital while ill is not something I have seen before. Keep praying for her immune system to strengthen, as that will take care of the thrush problem and give her a safety shield. AUGUST FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS NOW COMPLETED This week found our food distribution teams in 3 locations giving out the last of the corn that these orphans will receive this year.  Orphans really happy with their food and soap gifts  No matter how young, these children know the value of this sack of corn and are making sure no one takes it while Granny is fetching their beans The September distribution will be rice, along with the much needed beans, soap, and salt. It’s a different world for all of us, as we switch gears at the end of August from corn to rice. With worldwide food shortages, I am thrilled that we can provide our family of orphans with good, nutritious food, even if it is not exactly what they are use to. Typical scene with the orphans helping their Aunt who divides corn while her own infant sleeps https://youtube.com/shorts/1AiFlkYMKDc  Granny divides the corn sack so her orphaned grandsons can help carry the load back to their mud hut https://youtube.com/shorts/LFJqsiVh78k THREE BEDROOM HOUSE NOW AT ROOFING LEVEL The empty lot I showed you a few months ago now holds a 3 bedroom house with walls up to 3 meters/9.75 feet!  Walls almost completed on 3 bedroom home for toddlers These bedrooms are 6 X 6 meters/19.5 ft square, so there is plenty of room for our ever-growing little ones. The roofing will begin next Wednesday if all goes as scheduled. Doing our best to get it finished as soon as possible, as our little ones are fast out growing their junior beds! WE APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE GIFTS, FOR OUR STAFF AND THE BUSH BUNNY COULDN’T DO THIS JOB WITHOUT YOU! BLESSINGS AND MUCH THANKS! BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: August 12, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: August 12, 2023 JUMAIDA RECOVERING AFTER MINOR SURGERY  Baby Jumaida just after minor surgery Saturday night, baby Jumaida didn’t sleep and cried most of the night due to the pain from the abscess in her shoulder as it began to “ripen”. The head nurse of the emergency room, who is a very fine man, agreed to open the abscess as it was now ready. Once opened, as is usual, all pain stopped, and Jumaida fell asleep instantly. Poor thing was totally exhausted. She is just 7 weeks old, but thankfully, is now on the road to recovery. The infection she has is slowly being wiped out by the IV antibiotics that she is receiving. She will remain in the hospital until the doctors think the infection has been cleared from her blood. This “hand me down sickness” from her mother has given this sweet baby a rough start in life. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS ASKING FOR A COMPLETE AND RAPID RECOVERY FOR THIS LITTLE ONE. FOOD GIVE OUTS BEGIN IN THE REMOTE VILLAGES  Our very strong men loading our truck with these 132 lb. (60 kg.) bags of beans for village distribution Monday found our team loading the 6‑ton and 7‑ton trucks with TONS of corn, beans, plus soap and salt for the orphans and widows living in the Mavala area. This program was repeated on Thursday in Tuaune (Ti-whanny) village, and Friday in Kwe Kwe village. The corn harvest was limited this year, so we purchased additional tons of the very nutritious, locally grown rice to make up the difference. After the August give-out, the orphans will receive bags of nutritious rice instead of corn. Rice is considered a treat in this culture, so this will bring smiles to many faces.  Super balancing act does not go unnoticed in our first give-out Tuesday Enjoy the photos, as it clearly shows how grateful the orphans and their grannies are to receive our helping hand.  Granny spilled her beans and is making sure that all of it gets back in her bag. Food is super precious to these people as they are the poorest of the poor  Orphans helping grandma divide up the food they wil take home BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: August 5, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: August 5, 2023 BABY JUMAIDA IN HOSPITAL WITH SERIOUS INFECTION  Baby Jumaida in the hospital Baby Jumaida, now 6 weeks old, has had a very rough start to life. First, coming from a mentally challenged mother who rejected her and would have killed her if the grandmother had not whisked her away and taken her to Social Services for help. Secondly, suffering through a week with the elderly grandmother who tried, but was not able to care for her. Then finally coming to live with us when just 10 days old. When Jumaida was received, she had small sores all around her scalp, but an oral antibiotic and good hygiene cleared it up with a 7‑day treatment. Just after her 30th day of life, Jumaida developed a new abscess on the back of her head that did not respond to 2 different kinds of oral antibiotics. When she spiked a high fever on Tuesday, August 1st, followed by a hard swelling at the base of her neck, the Balama Doctor put her into the hospital for IV antibiotic treatment. She is showing a slow response to treatments so far. PLEASE PRAY FOR JUMAIDA, as she needs a miracle to pull out of this. Remember that she had no Colostrum milk from her mother, and that has greatly decreased her resistance to disease. Will update next week, as her story progresses. FOUR DAY SEMINAR ON CHILD CARE…  Child Care Class Attendees …has kept us hopping this week! With our staff and 7 principal mothers in the conference, it has been a whirlwind of activity this week for me to keep our orphanage operating smoothly. The materials used to teach our principal mothers (flip charts, exercise books, etc.) will be left behind by Guilherme and Alifo, the 2 Social Service Instructors who gave the course. We will then hold small group teaching programs for the other mothers who had to stay at home to care for our 25 infants and 30 other children in residence. With so many new mothers, this Child Care Seminar was a must to assure the best care is given to all our children.  Child Care Seminar was a great success! BABY ORLENCIA, 5 MONTHS, NOW SITTING!  Orlencia with Foster Mother Gilda sitting close by Orlencia is the 2nd youngest infant in our care. (Jumaida at 6 weeks is our youngest.) I was totally surprised last week when I visited the 2 infant homes at noon to find Orlencia SITTING UP INDEPENDENTLY outside on her play mat. Those big eyes are beyond words, as she tries to take in all the new sights around her. YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS ARE SO MUCH APPRECIATED! THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS LIFE-SAVING PROGRAM A HUGE SUCCESS! BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |