First two weeks…

Are a great success!  

I will admit that traveling from US to Chimala is not as easy for me as it used to be.  It was a long and stressful week as I mentioned last week.  This week, I spent all my time at the hospital re-orienting myself to the daily activities and condition of the hospital.  It was much what I expected and some what I didn’t.   

Today, I made a trip with Frank from CSOP to Kapunga to meet 2 children with the same birth defect.  They do not have rectums and therefore have ostomies.  One of the children, Brayan, is  10 years old who lives with his grandmother.  In the Chimala newsletter a few months ago, Brayan was featured with a large abdomen due to a non-functioning ostomy.  Since that article, Brayan has had a large surgery to re-do his ostomy.  We praise the Lord for his full recovery.  The new ostomy is working for now.  

However, Brayan has not been going to his follow-up appointments due to the expense.  He also does not go to school and the other children do not play with him.  They complain he smells.  Here iN Tanzania, the doctors do not used colostomy bags, so when Brayan goes to the bathroom, the other children can see and smell his waste.  It is also very embarrassing to Brayan.  

As I stated earlier, Brayan has no mother or father to care for him, so is being cared for by his grandmother.  She is also caring for 4 other children.  For money to support these children, she makes alcohol to sell.  When I tell you she makes and sells alcohol, many people would probably say we should not help her and Brayan.  I see it differently.  She is just who we should help.  We also need to help her spiritually.

 I also met Promise, who is 2 months, with the same condition - no rectum.  He has a stoma from birth which will need to be re-evaluated and modified as he grows.  He is being cared from by his mother and grandmother.  There is no father in the picture.  His stoma is working for now as well.  His mother works in the rice fields to make money for food.

Both of these families are very poor and the children will need multiple surgeries as well as frequent follow-up.  Frank and I are going to work together to assist these families in the care of the children.  Frank went to Mbeya to talk with the doctor who did Brayan’s surgery.  The doctor called to talk with me.  The plan we have come up with is that both children will have surgery in June when a group of specialists will be here from Dar es Salaam.  We will take the families to Mbeya in April for evaluation and apply for insurance.  Insurance will assist the family with the expenses of the surgeries.  Costs for the insurance is 54,000TSH each. (54,000TSH equals $25.00 per year).   For us, $25.00 is the cost of a night of burgers for the family.  

Before we ended the meeting, I asked Frank to help me talk to both caregivers.  I told them not to thank me and Frank for helping them.  The help is coming from God through us.  I told them that God gives us caring hearts and love for one another.  I encouraged them to come to church.  They appeared to be receptive.

On the way back to Chimala, Frank told me thanks for talking to the families.  He said he thought it would make talking to them much easier for him.  Frank works with the Kapunga church of Christ and will be following up them both.  I pray they will be receptive to the Word of God.  That is our point to be here.

Frank and I also stopped to visit another family who lives close to Kapunga.  Paulo is a 6 year old little boy who I worked with several years ago.  His grandmother brought him to the hospital for treatment when his mother had left him on her doorstep.  His was so malnourished that I feared he would no live.  We all worked very hard to save Paula and during his treatment his Bibi and I became friends.  At this point in time, the grandmother is getting older and need help herself.  She has gone to be with family in another village leaving Paulo, his sister and one other small child under the care of a young lady of about 20 years old.  Paulo’s sister attends school, but Paulo is not able to because he does not have clothes to wear.  The young lady caring for these children works every day in the rice field to make money for their daily food.

Frank and I are working on a plan to help without providing charity but a way for them to live a better life on their own.  I will keep you all informed on all of these families as we work with them.  Please pray for their medical needs, food needs and spiritual needs.  

Thank you again for supporting our work here.  It takes us all to make a difference.