BABY EXPLOSION–THREE IN ONE WEEK! DOMINGO- 3 days old, 2.65kg/5.8lbs. Three-day-old orphaned boy, Domingo, came to us from a super remote village after his mother died from post partum complications at the Balama Hospital. He never received his life saving colostrum, so please keep him in prayer. The grandmother was unable to care for this precious little one due to her age, and the 20-mile distance she lives from our mission. |
Domingo at 7 days. Not much bigger than his bottle. |
JORGE- 30 DAYS OLD, only 1.8kg/4lbs. due to neglect Jorge was immediately hospitalized when his Aunt brought him to our door to receive milk on Sept. 3rd. This was Jorge’s 1st visit since his admission to our milk weigh in day, and sadly, his Aunt had been neglectful in caring for him. He had lost weight, and had a bad cough. Director Anna summoned Capena immediately, who took him straight to the emergency room for treatment. (I was in Pemba at the time getting medical supplies.) His Malaria test was negative, but he needed IV medications to overcome his respiratory infection. Released on Sept. 9th, he is home with us and eating every 2 to 3 hours. |
Jorge, 5 weeks old, and putting on weight. |
CHEBANE #2, 11 months, 5.5kg/12 lbs. with severe malnutrition and malaria Chebane’s mother rejected this little boy due to her health problems. Chebane’s father was overwhelmed with his care, and thus this infant suffered a lot before Social Services found out and notified us of his situation. Within 1 hour of receiving him, Baby Chebane had 2 bouts of severe diarrhea and spiked a fever, so we rushed him to the hospital. Anemic and positive for malaria, he was in serious condition. (Malaria destroys red blood cells.) With IV antibiotics, malaria treatment, and good food, he is slowly recovering. Being so tiny, he will need many months to recover his weight and muscle mass. Please keep him in prayer as he is still in hospital. |
Chebane in hospital. Looking great after 2 days of good food and lots of love. |
20+ PEOPLE FROM CIS & TWIGG VISITED OUR CHILDREN ON 7th. CIS, the catering company that provides food to the graphite mine, has been helping our children with a high protein meal every other Saturday for 18 months. Their Country Leader, Mr. Vincent, gave us a big surprise by coming with the lunch group, as he is only here occasionally in our area. Mr. Vincent and his 9‑year-old daughter, Allegra, are big supporters of our orphans, and truly work hard to make others aware of our needs. |
Mr. Vincent (far R) looks on as Twigg leaders serve food to our children. |
TWIGG shocked us all when a bus rolled into the CIS PARTY from their Graphite Mine with over 20 people on board! The Twigg Mine manager and other top employees were present to give their staff a broader vision of what we are doing to help the children of Balama. They also brought us a HUGE TRUCKLOAD of firewood from 4 trees they had cut down. |
Twigg leader taking selfie with our children. |
The whole gang. Twigg, Mr. Vincent, and all the children and Foster Mothers. |
Twigg’s firewood gift, unloaded by our bricklayer team in royal blue uniforms. |
NEEDLESS TO SAY…We had a very busy week, with long days and tons of work, but it was great to see the community pitching in to give us a helping hand. Receiving 3 infants in 7 days has filled our baby homes for the moment. Keep all of our staff in prayer, as we deal with the every day challenges of having 29 vulnerable infants under the age of 2 years. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE GIFTS THAT MAKE THIS RESCUE PROGRAM POSSIBLE. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF P.S. Urgent prayer request arriving after blog text was sent: Three-year-old Quiston has been admitted to the hospital with multiple seizures. He is currently unconscious, but we ask you to pray with us that he wakes up. He stopped breathing for a time, giving everyone a big scare! We will update you all when we know more. |