| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: DECEMBER 2, 2023 INFANTS KEEP COMING — BABY # 29 JOINED US THIS WEEK Sadly, the mother of 6‑week-old infant Marcelina passed away from postpartum complications 5 weeks after the little girl’s birth. The elderly Granny (mother of the deceased) tried to care for Marcelina, but at the mandatory check in at our baby weigh-in on Thursday our staff found the bottle unwashed and caked in old formula. By a miracle, the infant didn’t have diarrhea. The elderly Granny just couldn’t handle a bottle-fed infant. With 4 orphaned sisters and brothers from the deceased mother now living with the elderly Granny, Social Services agreed to place the 6‑week-old infant in our care. The father abandoned the mother and the 4 children shortly before the birth of Marcelina, fleeing this State to avoid problems. Pray for these children, as the elderly Granny and the orphaned 10-year-old girl are the only females in this family who can care for her brothers. The remaining family is all male and very young, as the 2 uncles in the family are just teenagers themselves. What matters is that this beautiful little girl is now safe with us, PTL!  Sweetie # 29, Marcelina, 6‑weeks-old never had clothes until we received her on Thursday TODDLER HOUSE GETS 20-YEAR-TOILET Digging a “20-year-toilet” or “long drop” as the South Africans call it, is a big job! The septic hole had to be 3 meters wide, 4 meters long, and 3 meters deep! (10 feet wide, 13 feet long, and 10 feet deep).  Digging the pit for the 20-year-toilets That is a HUGE DEEP HOLE that took 5 days for 8 men to dig. We were in a hurry, so when 1 team of men got tired, the 2nd team took over, so the work never stopped. Hauling off the dirt took another team of men plus one of our trucks. BUT WE DID IT IN RECORD TIME TO BEAT THE RAINS! After the hole was dug, the pit was divided in six sections and then the tops were put on each section.  The big pit that makes the foundation of our new bathroom at toddler house  Putting the tops on each of the 6 pits https://youtube.com/shorts/RM10zPBNmgY JESUS HOLDS OFF THE RAINS FOR THE ROOFING WORK TO BEGIN. On Wednesday, I had no plans to try and put in the 6 concrete “pillars” that would secure the bathroom roof to the ground because a large amount of rain was due the next day. BUT GOD HAD OTHER IDEAS! I awoke in the wee hours of Wednesday night with a definite message from the Lord. He showed me I must put in the concrete pillars the next morning, and HE would hold off the rains. Sure enough HE did, as the rain clouds formed over our heads at 6 a.m., but a strong wind high up in the cloud level moved them away from us at hurricane speed! Everyone saw the fast moving clouds and marveled at what was going on. It was not something we have ever seen before in our area. The day remained dry until 3pm, giving the concrete good drying time. The rains started slowly without the huge thunderstorm that was predicted. PTL for that! The carpenters are now busy with the roofing beams that will start going up on Monday if the rains hold off.  Bathroom as of this week with 6 posts to hold the roof Our construction work for the next 4 months is mainly determined by those massive rain clouds that dearly love Balama. There are days we receive 2 inches or 50 mm of rain in 12 hours! MANY BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL FOR HELPING US WITH THIS LIFE-SAVING PROGRAM. It is estimated that our food and orphan programs over the last 23 years have saved more than 20,000 children. The Lord is smiling because those 20,000 little spirits have a great future thanks to all of you. BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Author Archives: Kim Hartman
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 25, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 25, 2023 ESTALESIA HOME, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN Estalesia was finally released on Wednesday this week when all her lab tests returned normal. After her 3rd transfusion, her Hemoglobin was up to a safe 10.3 from 7 (pre-transfusion). Her malaria smear at the lab was negative. Her remaining problem is her distended abdomen, which is causing pressure on her lungs. It will take time to resolve this complication of severe malnutrition. We have cut a wedge pillow from foam to help decrease the abdominal pressure on her lungs when she is sleeping. On Friday, we finally located the portable baby mosquito nets for both Estalesia and 3 week old baby boy, Milagre (the Miracle). This allows these 2 fragile infants and their Foster Mothers to be outside under the cool shade tree at House #7 in the afternoons, but remain protected from mosquitos. Temperatures are averaging 97°F/36°C daily right now, making a large shade tree the coolest place around.  Estalesia foreground and Milagre in the background. Both are enjoying the cooler outdoors and without bugs! PLEASE KEEP ESTALESIA IN YOUR PRAYERS, AS SHE HAS A LONG ROAD AHEAD TO COMPLETE RECOVERY. BBC TAKES ADVANTAGE OF DRY WEEK Reaching children for Christ is a challenge during the rainy season. Thankfully the weather held for the first part of the week and programs were held in 2 remote villages. These videos show teaching as well as enthusiastic games.  Village Bible School lesson for children https://youtu.be/xvULFEK4H4s  Girls gave a great effort, but… https://youtu.be/GEBd1acrlv8  And the girls show their speed. https://youtu.be/_QPzA2f3w7Y Thursday night’s 3‑hour rain put the BBC out of business on Friday. Carlitos and Daniel, the 2 motorbike drivers for the BBC, returned from the mountainous region with bikes covered in mud. They did manage to deliver the food to the 9 orphans living in that remote area, PTL! Keep us all in your prayers, as many challenges lay ahead with the rains coming in full force next week (4 days of rain expected). BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 18, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 2023 ESTALESIA FACING MORE CHALLENGES Due to a reaction to a vaccine, Estalesia’s left thigh became very swollen and hot, requiring hospitalization for IV antibiotic treatment. She was unable to move her painful leg for 3 days. The video shows how improved she is on her 4th day, as this is the first she has moved her leg voluntarily.  Estralesia moving her left leg for the first time since the reaction https://youtube.com/shorts/mT6rzZXRbYg We were expecting her release on Thursday morning but received bad news instead. MALARIA HAD RAISED IT’S HEAD AGAIN! Thursday a.m., Estalesia tested POSITIVE FOR MALARIA . Her red blood cell count was already down to 7 (from 10), meaning she needed a blood transfusion immediately! This is her third transfusion in 4 weeks! She is only 6 months and 3 weeks old as her birthday is April 22, 2023. PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS, AS THIS IS VERY SERIOUS WHEN ANYONE HAS TO FIGHT MALARIA TWICE IN ONE MONTH WITH 3 TRANSFUSIONS! Note: The hospital staff explained that this 2nd malaria is not a new case, but the same case as before. Seems it wasn’t totally eradicated after the last 5‑day-treatment, even though it didn’t show up on the malaria test. Round 2 of treatment is a must! That means another week in the hospital at least. HEAVY RAINS CAUSE FLASH FLOOD DAMAGE TO OUR WIDOW’S HOMES November 15 is officially the beginning of the rainy season in northern Mozambique. On November 13th, the first heavy rains were predicted, but few took it seriously, since it is usually a light rain. SURPRISE! IT CAUSED A FLASH FLOOD! (Gully washer to my fellow Texans.) Our orphan homes were prepared, but several of our widow’s homes were damaged, and needed emergency repairs as soon as the 2 days of rain had passed.  Foundation repairs done with cement to protect the mud brick house foundation of blind widow, Madelina The road in front of our church, which was rendered useless last year by flash floods, was unharmed because of a large ditch we dug the week before this 2 day rain. The large ditch extended across the road, and redirected the river of water that wants to use the road as a river bed. A road engineer taught me many years ago that a dirt road is only as good as the ditch next to it. So I learned to dig ditches BEFORE the rainy season begins. He was right, and our road is unharmed as you can see in the photo. We have filled the ditch portion crossing the road with large rocks so that our pick-up trucks can use it during the rainy season.  Church road ditch on our 40 acre mission station All construction on the 3 meter/10 foot deep septic system for the new 3 bedroom toddler home is on hold, as the hole must dry out before it is safe to go down into it. I was thrilled that the men finished digging the tank just a few hours before the heavy rains began! Rainy season and outdoor construction don’t mix. BBC SLOWS DOWN BUT NEVER STOPS! Both the motorbike and bicycle teams had to curb their village teaching programs until Thursday of this week. But were the kids ready when they did go out! Enthusiastic games and loud shout outs at devotions reveals how happy the children were to see our BBC Teams when the mud had dried up!  Short but shows the children’s excitement https://youtu.be/xS-WUcuLk_E KEEP YOUR PRAYERS COMING, FOR THE RAINS MAY DAMPEN OUR PLANS, BUT WILL NEVER STOP THEM. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 11, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 11, 2023 PTL! EVERYONE’S HOME! It has been a super busy week, but thanks to your prayers, both 6‑month-old baby Estalesia and 5‑year-old Santos were released from the hospital this week. Santos regained his mental health from the severe malaria case he suffered last week and was released on Monday afternoon to continue his treatment at home.  Santos back to his sweet self, PTL! Estalesia was found to have a soft skull due to her severe malnutrition (not receiving milk, thus lacking in calcium). She was finally released after all doctors agreed that with good nutrition and careful handling, the skull should harden. This little girl is making a remarkable recovery as she gained from 2.5kg/5.5lbs. to 3.6kg/7.9 lbs. in the 10 days that she was in the hospital. Keep your prayers coming for her as she has a long way to go to reach a normal weight for her age.  Estalecia, after getting to her new home yesterday THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FERVENT PRAYERS FOR OUR 2 LITTLE ONES WHO WERE ILL. BABY #28, “THE LITTLE MIRACLE BOY”, JOINS OUR FAMILY On the 4th of November, Milagre (means Miracle) was brought into this world. In severe distress, Milagre’s mother was transferred to 2 different hospitals to try and save her and her unborn baby. Only Milagre, the infant, survived. Milagre’s mother was the only daughter of a very ancient Granny, who was deemed by hospital staff to be unable to care for a newborn. There is one Uncle, but his wife has 3 little ones already, and can’t handle a newborn. The father abandoned the mother during pregnancy. So Milagre will be in our care for the next few years. Our hope is that he can be reintegrated into his family once he reaches 2 to 3 years of age. Coming to us as a 2‑day old infant, he was placed with Foster Mother Clara, who is excellent with fragile newborns. We PTL that Milagre is healthy, and eating and sleeping like all newborns do.  Baby boy, Milagre signaled that all his traveling has him tired. Time to nap.  Milagre went right off to sleep after getting to his new home. As you can imagine, this week has flown by with all this activity, but our staff has done an excellent job seeing that all the infants’ needs were met. Our thanks go out to the hospital staff for the excellent care they provide for our children. THANK YOU FOR COVERING US WITH YOUR FAITHFUL PRAYERS. IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE AS ONLY JESUS CAN TRULY HEAL. THE LORD JESUS NAMED US “ORPHANS UNLIMITED”. NO MATTER HOW MANY CHILDREN THE LORD SENDS OUR WAY, HE WILL ALWAYS HELP US MAKE ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL LITTLE ONES IN NEED. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 4, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2023 BUNNY IS BACK IN BALAMA! Minus 1 chomper of course, as my troublesome tooth was broken and had started to abscess. The dentist said if I hadn’t gotten it pulled within 48 hours from my appointment date October 31, it would have caused me a world of hurt. Thank you, JESUS, for favor in getting an appointment so quickly! ESTALESIA, 27th INFANT TO JOIN OUR FAMILY Six-month-old, Estalesia (Es-sta-lee-sha), has a twin sister. Sadly, the mother rejected Estalesia. It is customary here to reject 1 twin when the mother cannot support 2 infants with her limited breastmilk, so she chooses which one will starve and which one will live. That is why our milk formula program assists mothers with twins. This mother refused to feed Estalesia even though we provided her with baby food and milk. No way to know why she rejected such a sweet little girl. Estalesia’s twin sister weighs 5 kgs/11 lbs. and is very healthy. Estalesia only weighed 2.6 kg/5.7 lbs. at 6 months of age when admitted to the hospital last Thursday. Literally starved to death, she also had a serious case of malaria with a Hemoglobin of 4! That is death’s door for anyone! We immediately organized an A+ blood donor and she was transfused twice over the next 4 days. Estalesia is very fragile, so the hospital staff refuses to release her into our care as they prefer to give her further IV medications. We have 2 foster mothers looking after her in the hospital.  ESTELESIA deemed too fragile by malnutrition staff to leave the hospital. She is doing well, just needs to gain weight PLEASE PRAY FOR ESTELESIA, AS SHE IS NOT STABLE YET, AND NEEDS THE LORD TO STRENGTHEN HER LITTLE BODY. OCTOBER 28 PROTEIN PARTY FROM CIS COMPANY IS A YUMMY SUCCESS!  CIS staff serving the children A new team of servers came from CIS including the Head Chef, who wanted to meet the children. The menu for the children included a huge chicken leg, a hotdog, rice with vegetables, coleslaw, and a cream filled cupcake for dessert with Kool Aid and bottled water to drink.  Reggie loves the drumstick the best! YUMMY was the reaction of the children! Never having a hotdog before, it opened their eyes to another new treat. THE MASTER’S TABLE MINISTRY GIFTING THE CHILDREN WITH CHICKENS Saturday is High Protein Meat Day each week! The Master’s Table, a USA based ministry, provides our children with frozen chickens every other Saturday between the CIS meals. That means that EVERY SATURDAY is High Protein Meat Day for all 56 of our children. Praise the Lord! I gave out frozen chickens today to each of our 7 homes, putting smiles on the Foster Mother’s faces. They so enjoy treating the children to meat!  Handing out the chickens from The Masters’ Table  Chickens Galore! GOD PROVIDES IN DIFFERENT WAYS, AND OUR CHILDREN ARE BLESSED TO BE THE RECEIVERS!  Please pray for Santos, 5‑years-old. Rapid onset malaria caused him to become delirious and confused. We had to drop everything to get him admitted to the hospital on Saturday afternoon BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 28, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 28, 2023 BABY AFUSA IS HOME WITH US!  Baby Afusa is now in her new home with Foster Mother Gilda of House # 6, the Zebra House Thanks to your wonderful prayers, the little girl in last week’s blog, Afusa, has recovered from her malaria, diarrhea, and sinus infection. It was a miracle for sure, as she was super sick when taken to the hospital. Afusa was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and is adjusting well to her new home. Even though she was neglected, she still cries at times for the family who didn’t treat her well. Afusa’s only remaining problem is anemia, which we are correcting with vitamins and iron supplements. What this little girl needs most is love and good nutrition which she will get plenty of from our staff. Her weight increased in the hospital to 7kg/15.4 lbs., so that tells us that good food and care is her main need. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFUL LOVE GIFTS AND PRAYERS THAT MAKE THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE. TOGETHER, WE ARE SAVING LIVES. BUNNY’S CHOMPERS NOT EATING CARROTS TOO WELL THESE DAYS. Sorry this letter must be so short. I am pressed for time if I am to leave this Sunday to see a dentist in South Africa. I developed a nasty tooth ache this week, leaving me no choice but to seek help from my dentist in RSA. I’m only staying 2 days, so will be back in Balama shortly to continue the work. Keep us all in prayer, as Capena, our Office Manager and my right hand man, will be watching over the children and keeping the programs operating in my absence. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 21, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2023 PROTEIN PARTY GIVEN BY CIS COMPANY Last Saturday our 55 resident children were treated to a fabulous high protein meal, thanks to the CIS Company of Balama District. CIS representatives visited our office several months ago to ask how they could help our children. Their company provides the meals for the local graphite mine, just 6 miles from our base. We explained that increasing the protein via meat was our biggest concern. We expected a 1 time gift of meat, but instead their leader agreed to providing a high protein meal for the children twice monthly! WHAT A SURPRISE! The CIS people brought a spread of goodies including beef, chicken, rice with veggies, and salad plus tiny cupcakes for dessert. It was a great party and really lifted the spirits of the children!  CIS team preparing to serve food to our children  Our BIG FAMILY singing as they wait for their high protein lunch from CIS https://youtube.com/shorts/cGoEBGIIDkA?feature=share How long this will continue is uncertain. But our great thanks goes out to the CIS Company for making this meal a feast for our children. BABY #26 NOW IN OUR CARE On Thursday, baby girl AFUSA (ah-foo-sah), barely 1‑year-old, was removed by Social Services from her Aunt’s care due to severe neglect. This little girl has consistently lost weight over the last 8 weeks at our baby weigh-in, and developed severe diarrhea 7 days ago. The hospital staff discovered that the Aunt had neglected to buy the medication needed to treat Afusa’s diarrhea after a Balama MD had prescribed it for her at the hospital last week. The Aunt was given the money to pay the 5 meticais (3 cents American) for the medication. After a week of no diarrhea treatment, the little girl presented on the 19th at our INFANT MILK FORMULA PROGRAM in very poor health. She is in the severely malnourished category as she only weighs 6.5 kg/14.3 lbs. at one year of age AND HAS 3 ILLNESSES.  An unhappy Baby Afusa held by Mariamo in hospital Needless to say, I took her directly to the Emergency Room for treatment. A finger stick test showed she had malaria, on top of her severe diarrhea with dehydration, and a sinus infection as well. Social Services placed the infant into our care, and the Aunt was dismissed. IV medications and fluids were immediately given, but this little one is not out of danger yet. Malaria and severe diarrhea together are a lethal combination to an infant. Please pray for her to recover quickly and completely. I will update you next week on her progress. PEMBA INSPECTORS LOVE PLAYING WITH OUR CHILDREN A surprise inspection found us hosting 3 separate teams of wonderful people from the Pemba Social Service office this last week. Talking and playing with the children, it was easy to see that each team enjoyed the children very much.  Provincial (state) Director of Social Services in red and white dress talking with the foster mothers and the children  One of the inspectors interacting with our toddlers The 3 teams came on different days this last week to inspect our orphan homes and to make sure all our orphan records were complete. Each team had a special task to do.  Our visitors really enjoyed the babies Seems a National Team of Inspectors will be coming soon to check our orphan homes and records as well. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE THROUGH YOUR FAITHFUL LOVE GIFTS! BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA TEAM |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 14, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 14, 2023 BBC MOTORBIKE TEAM GIVES A HELPING HAND Granny Ruddie (Roo-dy) and her 2 orphaned grandsons, ages 6 and 7, live in a remote village that is a 1‑hour motorbike ride from our mission. No other family members exist, and Granny Ruddie is not strong in her legs (the reason she is sitting in the photo). The BBC routinely takes food to her and 2 other orphan families in this village. When the BBC team saw the condition of Granny Ruddie’s roof, Carlitos took photos to include in his request for funds to repair it.  Granny and 2 orphaned grandsons in front of their mud hut Only the BBC goes to this area via their motorbikes, so that team of 4 men will repair the roof. They have organized to buy the needed grass and bamboo materials from local villagers in that area. Total cost to buy the materials is only $90/R1,620. So little can do so much to help others in need. THANK YOU, FOR YOUR LOVE GIFTS WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO HELP THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT. WEDNESDAY WAS VOTING DAY! The ever-growing Balama town will be designated a “city” in January, 2024, so the local residents will determine who will be Mayor of Balama. Since our foster mothers are essential workers, they cannot leave their children unless someone takes their place. Several staff and reserve mothers stepped in for a few hours while the mothers were taken by our 3 drivers to vote in their designated locations. Photo ID’s are required for all voters, so our Drivers checked that everyone had theirs before leaving our mission base. Once the first group of mothers were back, then those who stayed behind went to vote. My appreciation goes out to our 3 drivers who shuffled the mothers back and forth to the voting centers. A perk for the Drivers is that they were assigned to take mothers to the voting location where they were supposed to vote. All our staff were able to vote, so it went well. Since our 19 toddlers in Houses 6 and 7 know our staff and the reserve mothers, they stayed calm and played as usual, PTL! Not an easy thing to accomplish with that many little ones! Featured in the photo is Fatima, Assistant Children’s Director, holding Madelina, and Reserve Mother Mariamo holding wide eyed Orlencia.  Substitute mothers step in to love on our babies while the Foster Mothers went to vote Everyone dresses up to go vote! It is a big thing to vote here, as that privilege has only been available to the public for about 20 years. It will be a week or 2 before the paper ballots are tallied and the results are known. DINO TAKES A DIVE Tuesday, while playing ball in his physical education class, dorm student Dino slipped while trying to block a ball, injuring his left wrist. The school took him to the hospital for treatment, which is just a short distance from where the accident happened. Turns out it is a bad sprain of his wrist, so the hospital staff splinted it for comfort and protection for 15 days. No more soccer for a few weeks, but Dino still managed a smile when I took his photo.  Dino gives me a grin, even though he has to sit on the sidelines for a few weeks PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WE KEEP YOU AND ISRAEL IN OURS. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 7, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 7, 2023 JUMAIDA MAKES MIRACULOUS RECOVERY! Thank you so much for your prayers! Jumaida totally turned the corner with all symptoms gone on Sunday, Oct. 1st. She was allowed to come home and is now eating well with no gastric upset. I was amazed that she only lost 100 gm after 5 days of IV fluids and very little by mouth. GOD IS GREAT! HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING!  A very happy Jumaida after her bout with severe gastroenteritis SURPRISE VISITORS ON MONDAY AFTERNOON Due to missed communications, an inspection team from Social Services in Pemba surprised us at 12:30pm on Monday. Seems they sent a notice that we never received. This team first visited our Children’s Learning Center where our 4th and 5th graders were studying Portuguese with teacher Pedro.  Capena (far L) explains the purpose of our after school program Then it was off to visit 2 of our children’s homes. This team has been here before, and truly enjoys meeting with our Foster Mothers and the younger children as you can tell from the photo.  Pemba visitors with our family at House #6 REPAIRING WATER WELLS IN MELUCO DISTRICT Our water well team was requested by Meluco officials to help them repair 15 water wells in as many villages. Our truck was about to make its monthly supply trip to the Meluco’s orphans. Our driver Manuel who is also head of the water well repair team, just added the water well parts he thought they might need. Manual and assistant Monsur, along with their “guide”, a Meluco official wearing a Cowboy hat, managed to repair 5 water wells in 6 hours the day they arrived. The other wells will be serviced later this month, as they require additional parts that our team didn’t have with them.  Meluco official puts finishing touches on a village well that they just repaired https://youtube.com/shorts/ZnL9axeM0HU  Village kids gather round the well, as clean water keeps them healthy THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FUND SO THAT THESE VILLAGES CAN HAVE CLEAN WATER. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 BABY ANCHA WITH POST MALARIA BLAHS DUE TO ANEMIA After completing the 3‑day course of malaria medications last week, Baby Ancha’s strength didn’t spring back as is usual with toddlers. Instead, she remains tired, lacks an appetite, and is running a low-grade fever in the late afternoons. We took her to the hospital for a post malaria lab test which came back negative. That tells us that her symptoms are coming from her low blood count. Malaria’s biggest tool for killing little ones is the post malaria anemia it can cause. Ancha is receiving the maximum protein and vitamin supplements that are available, so now we must wait.  18-month-old Ancha is not a happy camper. Anemia is slow to correct itself. Thirty days is a normal recovery time for this type of anemia when taking supplements. Please keep her in your prayers. BABY JUMAIDA GIVES US A SCARE It is always a time to celebrate when our very vulnerable infants make it to the 5 kg./11 lb. mark! That means they are usually strong enough to handle being out of their mosquito net and thus outside with her foster family.  Jumaida dearly loves being outside under the huge mango tree at House # 7. Thursday, 2 pm, Jumaida presented with a little diarrhea. She was given the normal oral treatment and seemed to be fine since she was taking a bottle. At 6 pm, I received a panicked call from Head House Mother Gilda. Jumaida had just filled her diaper and taken a turn for the worse. “Come quickly!” Gilda said. Racing to House # 7, I knew Jumaida needed IV fluids and medications immediately as she was almost non-responsive. Thankfully, the Emergency Room Director was working, as he is excellent with starting infant IV’s. With IV fluids, electrolytes, and IV treatment for the diarrhea, he had Jumaida awake within 45 minutes of our arrival! Thank you, JESUS! What a relief it was to see her looking around as if asking, “Where am I?” PRAYERS REALLY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! There is no doubt in my mind that God’s Angels were watching over our little Jumaida, making sure that she was well taken care of. Dysentery is so easy to contract. As adults, we deal with the inconvenience, take the medicine to stop it, and don’t think much about it. To a 3‑month-old infant, 1 microscopic bacteria from a sucked finger is all it takes to start the process. Jumaida is an overcomer, as this is her 2nd illness needing hospitalization. She is one tough little girl for sure! PLEASE KEEP JUMAIDA IN YOUR PRAYERS, and I will keep you updated. WIDOWS AND THEIR FAMILIES POUND THE RICE FOR ORPHAN GIVE-OUT  Our church widows working hard so others can eat. https://youtube.com/shorts/db5Jpyxcq7I  These young ladies make rhythmic pounding of rice look so easy! https://youtube.com/shorts/e0BmL6vwKQ8 These precious widows and their grandkids from our church worked very hard for 4 straight hours to de-hull 10 sacks of rice for the elderly orphan caretakers whose “pillaring” days are over. Pillaring is hard work, as those poles weigh around 10 kg./22 lbs. each! That’s why the video of the little girls shows them using short poles that aren’t so heavy. TO PILLAR or pound the rice, is to remove its hull so the seed (rice as you know it), can be cooked and eaten. This week we had our first rice give-out. It went fairly smoothly even though we had to make many changes in our distribution methods. LIFE IS ALWAYS CHANGING. ONLY THOSE WHO FLEX WITH IT WILL SURVIVE. NOTE TO “LOVE GIFT” GIVERS: The August financial report blessed me to tears! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR CONTINING TO GIVE SO THAT OUR LITTLE ONES CAN HAVE A JESUS FUTURE. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |