The dying baby arrived in a cardboard box.

This past week we celebrated two birthdays for two boys who turned 4-years old. People laugh at me when I refer to them as the “big kids”, but they are our big kids and they are miracles.

For those of you who don’t know Caleb and Emmanuel, let me tell you their short life stories.

Caleb was born on July 11, 2011, and he was given to us in a cardboard box by his own father.

I was not in Swaziland when Helen went to pick up Caleb, but I am told it was a very traumatic day, for everyone. Caleb’s mother had died of HIV/AIDS related illness leaving her husband and baby with full-blown AIDS.

The father had no means to provide Caleb with food, clothing, love or life-saving medication and so Caleb was in and out of the hospital for malnutrition and HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Some times the father would stop the medication completely, leaving Caleb resistant to 1^st line medication.  The Doctors and Baylor clinic worked with the hospital Social Worker to find a solution and that is how Caleb arrived at the El Roi Baby home.

He was a very sick baby when he arrived with lesions all over his body, raw and open wounds and eyes that were filled with sheer terror.  There were days when Helen thought that we might lose him to the disease that was trying to steal his life, but El Roi saw him. With special love, food, medication and praying without ceasing,  his little body returned from the brink of death caused by the effects of poverty and AIDS. 

Caleb will be on his ART (Anti-retroviral treatment) for life, or until a cure is found or he is healed.  It is a twice-daily routine that cannot be missed.  While Caleb is a happy and active boy who celebrated his fourth birthday on July 11^th, he is still wearing clothes that are size 12-18 months (!) and he is on a special high calorie diet to try to put meat on his bones.  

Caleb is loved by all and we give thanks for this little life.

Emmanuel was born on July 17, 2011 and came to us malnourished and puffy from Kwashiorkor. 

I was living in Swaziland when the Social Welfare office called about him and had the opportunity to meet his young mother.  She was only 16-years old, she already had one child and was pregnant with another.  She came from a very poor family and had been working in prostitution for several years by that time. The pregnancies were a result of that life.  Emmanuel was a severely malnourished and sick baby so we had him admitted to the hospital immediately after we were given custody.  He was almost 1-year old when he came to us, but only had the development of a 4-month old baby.  His (ineffective) diaper was a plastic bag.

The mother asked us to take the new baby when he/she was born, but when the time came she gave birth in an outdoor bus stop and ran away with the baby and refused to give up the child. We have since learned that she had a fourth child and then a set of twins!  We pray for her and her other five children and we give thanks that Emmanuel (also known as “Manny” or “Emma”) is with us.

These are only two stories out of the 96 babies who now live at Project Canaan.  I often find myself saying that each child’s story is worse than the next one, but El Roi sees them all and has chosen each child to live at Project Canaan. Why only Emmanuel and not his siblings I do not know, but I trust in the Lord with all my heart and soul and give thanks for each and every life He sends to us

Live from Swaziland … Happy birthday Caleb and Emmanuel!

Janine

365 days of pain, sorrow and pure joy.

Celebrating 1st Anniversary together.

Yesterday marked the 1^st Anniversary of the El Roi Baby Home opening.  While we had plans to have an event, invite friends and supporters and even bake a cake, we decided that was not the right thing to do.  Instead we sat together and gave thanks.  

Caleb in his cardboard box.

Caleb - the miracle baby.

We gave thanks for Caleb who was delivered to us in a cardboard box at the age of 8-months.  His mother died infected with AIDS, his father was dying of the same and Caleb was also deathly ill with HIV/AIDS. He also had Tuberculosis and was covered in oozing lesions.  With 24-hour medical care, love and prayer Caleb turned the corner from death to life.  Today he is a beautiful, happy boy who takes his Anti-retroviral medication with no problems and loves to giggle and laugh.  He is a gift to us all.

We gave thanks for Paul and Ishmael the twins who were found in a slum outside of Malkerns with no food.  They were 4-months old and weighed approximately eight pounds each.  They were wasting away when they were found, but with nutritious food, love and proper care they have grown to be joyful boys who always light up when someone smiles at them.  They are a gift to us all.

Paul and Ishmael found starving.

Paul and Ishmael one year later.  Pure joy.

We gave thanks for Joseph, the baby who was dropped in a “dry pit latrine” at birth.  There was no human feces in the latrine yet so he landed directly on rocks and lay there for 12 hours before someone found him.  Joseph remained in the hospital for several weeks while the doctor tried to save his life and care for his significant head injuries.  Today he is a very bright, alert, happy child who does not appear to have any lasting brain injuries.  Time will tell, but we give thanks for his health and life. He is a gift to us all.

Joseph's massive head injuries.

Joseph today.  A bright and shining star.

Deborah before being washed.

We gave thanks for Deborah who was found in a black plastic bag under some bushes. She was a newborn and was being eaten alive by bugs and ants. Her mouth, nose and ears were filled with maggots.  After five days in the hospital she came to us and is now weighing in a whopping 5.2 pounds.  She is a beautiful baby who spends most of her time eating and sleeping. Most of her wounds have healed, but there are two scars on her head that likely came from an animal tearing at the plastic bag (the very act that gave her fresh air and saved her life).  She is a gift to us all.

Baby Deborah covered in insect and animal bites.

Deborah at three weeks old. A sweet baby.

As we sat and looked at each tiny life that has arrived at El Roi in the past 12 months we gave thanks for each baby who had been chosen to come to us.  We also became aware that each of us have also been chosen “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) and have been called to serve these babies who have been “abandoned or ignored” (Matthew 25: ). It was an overwhelming and humbling time together.

I asked each Auntie what their favorite part of serving at the El Roi Baby home was and several of them said it was the peace and love they felt towards the babies and the other Aunties. It is a

safe place for them, even when their lives are bad (and often not safe) back at home, they find joy and love at El Roi always.  El Roi sees them too. 

As I reflect back on this past year what I think of most, even more than the babies themselves, is the obedience of the people God has sent to us, even before there were babies.  Annie Duguid from the Watoto Children’s Home in Uganda came to Swaziland for a month to help set up, hire and train our Aunties, even though there were no babies.  Helen Muli quit a very good government job in Kenya and moved her family to Swaziland to help prepare the Baby Home and be trained by Annie, even when there were no babies.  One family in the US decided to start giving sacrificially to the Baby Home on a monthly basis in October 2011 – FIVE FULL MONTHS before we had a baby arrive, and those funds allowed us to bring Annie and Helen to Swaziland to prepare the home and train others.  There are so many other people who will remain unnamed who also did what they knew they were to do to prepare for little people we did not even know.  But the God Who Sees knew them and HE knew that we had to be ready.

Because of the obedience of so many people the El Roi Baby Home was ready and waiting for the first baby to arrive, and on March 1^st, 2012 Baby Joshua arrived at Project Canaan, a “Place of Hope” and lead the charge for 26 others to follow him. 

Yesterday, as we sat and celebrated together I was again humbled by the faith of the women around me.  They serve tirelessly and with joy and love always.  They have faith that can move mountains, even when they feel hopeless themselves.  I give thanks for Helen, Thabile, Gcebile, Lindiwe, Nomsa, Dolly, Mandisa, Gcebile 2, Mona Lisa, Ntom’futhi, Zandile, Maria and Brooke, all who work daily at El Roi.  I give thanks for our volunteers who serve alongside the Aunties and make a huge difference at the Baby Home.

I am often asked, “how many babies can the El Roi Baby Home hold?” and that is a question that I can’t honestly answer.  Some weeks we get two babies.  Some weeks we get none.  My prayer is that we never have to turn a baby away. The Labakhetsiwe* Toddler Home is being built now and we will move all the 2-year old children there when it is finished.  We give thanks every day for all that has been provided.

Live from Swaziland … I am celebrating life!

Janine

* means “The Chosen Ones” in siSwati.

WORLD AIDS DAY - and a baby who is infected

Today is WORLD AIDS DAY and it is surreal to me that I am sitting in my favorite yellow chair in Swaziland writing this blog.  I am not just in Swaziland, but I am in the epicenter of this disease that is wiping out families, communities and hope for this tiny Kingdom in southern Africa.  AIDS is not just affecting people in Swaziland, it is a pandemic of epic proportions that is affecting families in countries all over the world, including yours.

Today I want to make WORLD AIDS DAY personal for you and introduce you to a little baby boy named Caleb.  Caleb came to the El Roi baby home in April 2012.  His father brought him to us in a cardboard box and asked if we would take him because the father himself was dying of the disease. 

Caleb’s mother had already passed away (or was “late” as we say here in Swaziland) from this ravaging disease and the father, who refused his own treatment, was left caring for an 8-month-old boy who was wasting away before his very eyes.

Caleb arrived in very bad condition and Helen and the Aunties at El Roi got to work immediately.  First was a time of prayer over this baby so that he would live to be a walking testament to God’s faithfulness.  Next was a bath, and the discovery of open and oozing sores all over his body.  “Jesus help us,” Helen said as she tried to care for him without hurting him more. That was impossible based on the seriousness of his condition.

We were still living in Georgia when Caleb arrived and I remember wishing so desperately that I could be in Swaziland to help. Helen called a couple of times and was very concerned that Caleb was not going to make it. How could we have a little baby, one of our first ones, die in front of our eyes?

Caleb had been on ARV’s (Anti-retrovirals) since birth because the doctors knew that his mother was HIV positive.  It is not a “sure thing” that a baby will be born HIV positive if the mother is HIV positive, but the virus is passed on during childbirth and without proper care (and even sometimes with proper care) it cannot be avoided.  Caleb contracted HIV from his mother during birth and it will be with him for life. 

While his father tried to give Caleb his medicine at the exact times of day that they were required, he couldn’t provide the care (food, protein, diapers, cleanliness) that little Caleb needed to survive, and in a last chance attempt to save his life, the father brought him to us.

After going through a few weeks where Caleb’s future was unknown to us, he turned a corner.  It was truly a miracle.  It really is amazing what proper care, food, love and medicine can do for a person. 

Within a couple of months Caleb’s health improved greatly, but the scaring on his face did not look good and his eyes still showed shear terror.  Helen, Thabile and Gcabile continued to pray for and care for this little one without ceasing and he improved every single day.

Before I left for Taiwan in October this photo was taken by photographer Chris Savas – you can see that not only does Caleb look healthy, but the fear in his eyes is gone.  He has been emotionally healed and his physical condition has improved so much.

Photo by Chris Savas

Yesterday I stopped in for a visit at El Roi and Caleb was sitting in a highchair eating the equivalent of Cheerios here (we can’t get Cheerios in Swaziland).  He looked up and me and said, “MAMA!” and handed me one of his little cereal bites.  I am sure that he calls all of the Aunties “Mama”, but at that moment my heart absolutely melted, and I took the sticky piece of cereal and thoroughly enjoyed eating it.

We will never know what this little one endured before he came to us, but I can tell you that many others are suffering as he did right now as I write this blog.

Today is WORLD AIDS DAY.  Maybe some of you knew that and maybe some did not. But today, you can help someone in the world suffering from this terrible deadly disease that has wrapped its arms around the globe and is starting to give the world a squeeze.  There are 50,000 new HIV infections in the US each year.  If you think HIV/AIDS can’t infect or affect you where you live, you are wrong.

If you can help us help one more child today please do so by clicking here. This is the season of giving so please help us at the El Roi baby home so that we never have to turn another “Caleb” away.

Happy holidays.

Live from Swaziland … it really is WORLD AIDS DAY.

Janine