TODDLER TOWN KEEPS GROWING AT THE OSTRICH HOUSE  Rapid changes are tak­ing place at the Ostrich House where 9 moth­ers care for 4 infants and 9 toddlers.It was amaz­ing to see the infants begin to stand and then to walk! They grow up so fast! Baby Reginia came here when only 3 days old, and now she is walk­ing 11.5 months lat­er! Baby Josi­na, 10 months old, is stand­ing with the help of her Fos­ter Moth­er, Alzi­ra! I find all this very excit­ing, as all these babies had a rough start in life.

Baby Josi­na now stand­ing at 10 months!

Baby Regi­na when she first joined our fam­i­ly last Spring. Click the link to see Baby Regi­na, now 11 months, going full steam ahead!  https://youtube.com/shorts/HRGA-1fjwS0

TODDLERS TAKING OVER! When these five tod­dlers, all 2‑year-olds, saw me tak­ing a video of Reginia, they want­ed me to take their pho­to too! They all lined up so cute­ly, that I couldn’t resist. After all, they are only small once! Left to right: Joao, Afusa (girl), Fran­ciano, Almei­da (boy), and Elsa. Next year, these fab­u­lous 5 will enter our Lit­tle Dis­ci­ples Pro­gram to begin learn­ing Por­tuguese and their num­bers through song and games. This house also has 4 chil­dren, ages 4 to 5 in the Lit­tle Dis­ci­ples Pro­gram this year. It’s a busy house with all these lit­tle ones, but it is guar­an­teed to keep the Fos­ter Mother’s hopping!

The fab­u­lous five at 2 years of age.

HELPING THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES This 19-year-old young lady has cared for her niece since her birth last Octo­ber. Her moth­er is very ill, and reject­ed the infant.This baby girl is in good health, but the infant for­mu­la she received from anoth­er source had run out. This young lady then appealed to Social Ser­vices for assis­tance, and was sent to us. My staff and I were tru­ly encour­aged by her per­sis­tence, as this is the first 19-year-old in sev­er­al years who has suc­cess­ful­ly raised an orphan from birth.

A per­sis­tent 19-year-old rais­ing her 3‑month-old niece.

Oth­er young girls in this age group were not tru­ly in love with the infant they cared for and the hard work it entails to raise a baby. Thus, the mal­nour­ished infants had to be placed in the care of anoth­er fam­i­ly mem­ber. It is an hon­or to assist this young lady in her endeav­or to raise this infant as her own. Each of you who pray and give towards the future of these chil­dren, are pro­duc­ing a lega­cy of love that tru­ly touch­es the heart of Jesus. THANK YOU for giv­ing to the Lord’s chil­dren! BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF