3-month-old twin girls

Twins Lily and Lucky - both severely malnourished.

I know this will sound completely crazy, but many (if not MOST) of the times we get a call about a baby in need, we will be given very incorrect information initially.  I could be picking up a newborn baby at the hospital and told by the nurses that it is a boy and then when I go to change the diaper and dress the baby, it is definitely a girl. I am not sure why this happens so often, if the sex of the child isn’t as relevant to my Swazi friends as it is to us or what, but it happened again this week.

We were called about two 3-month-old girls (twins) who were starving to death. The mother was leaving them alone with preschool age children and none of them had anything to eat.  When we went to pick up the babies we found 8-month-old twins - a girl and a boy.  The “starving” part was accurate, particularly for the little boy (whom we are calling “Lucky”).  When we took both babies to see the doctor, the doctor was very familiar with them and had admitted them in the hospital for malnutrition on multiple occasions, only to have them come back after being discharged. The mother simply had no food and no ability to care for them. Lucky was admitted to the hospital again (he only weighs 9 pounds/4.5 KG)  the very next morning and will stay there until his little body is stabilized. 

The photo at the top of this blog is Lily (left) and Lucky (right).   The photo below is of our little boy named Josiah (left) and Lucky (right). Lucky is one day OLDER than Josiah, and you can see the significant size difference. That is the difference between a baby coming to us as a newborn (which 60% of our babies come to us under 30-days-old) and getting a child after he/she has suffered for a long time.  Sometimes the results are irreversible and sometimes they can make a full recovery, but we won’t know the long-term cognitive effects for many years.

These two boys are the same age - Lucky (right) is stunted from malnutrition.

Lily and Lucky are our 12^th set of twins.  We also have 10 sets of biological siblings (not twins), but we learned yesterday that Lily and Lucky’s older brother also lives at Project Canaan.  He is our toddler named “Innocent”.  The mother of these children has had TEN babies – three are with us, three have died of starvation and we don’t know where the other four are. 

On Thursday the Project Canaan Academy had their annual talent show, and as always, it was OUTSTANDING.  The winning act of the show was the Comic Duo of Jerimiah and Grace.  For those of you who don’t know these two children, Jerimiah is very serious, reserved and unexpressive and Grace is the child whom we were told would never sit, walk or talk.  Jeremiah delivered the joke “Why are fish so smart?” and Grace would respond “Why Jeremiah?” and they brought the house down with laughter! 

The video below shows Jeremiah start by saying, in his mono-tone voice, “We are going to tell you some really funny jokes, I hope you are ready to laugh.”

The reason I share this with you is two-fold. First, I LOVE how our staff know the children so well and work hard to use their gifts (in this case Jeremiah is very smart and could memorize two full minutes worth of jokes!) and second because these children were left alone to die but God had and has a plan for each of them and we are here to help them live their best lives.  In fact, Jeremiah was given his name from Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  

Can I get an “amen”?

Both Lily and Lucky now have a chance to live their best lives and we need your help to do that.  Will you please consider signing up to sponsor one of them today?

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Live from eSwatini … it’s good to be home.

Janine

Overwhelmed

Yesterday was the 2^nd annual Project Canaan Academy talent show and I was overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed with joy that led to tears flowing down my face, that seemed unstoppable.

You know that moment as a parent or family member who watches a child perform something on stage that they have been preparing for weeks, practicing lines, going over dance moves, or trying to remember their positions?  I had that moment over and over again.

There were poems, ribbon dancing, singing and Swazi dancing, all followed by wild cheering from the proud Aunties, Uncles, teachers and visitors in the audience.

But there were a few acts that specifically brought tears to my eyes.  First, it was our Pre-Kindergarten children who did a waltz!!  It was the cutest thing ever, especially with Deborah actually spinning Timothy rather than the other way around. 

Then there were “Emseni 5” kids with an incredibly well choreographed dance to the “Waka Waka” (It’s time for Africa) song, which brought the house down.  It’s almost as much fun to watch the Aunties and Uncles jumping, dancing and clapping for joy as is it to watch the children on stage. But it certainly is the children that bring joy to my heart, and tears to my eyes.

Students from teacher Leanna’s Kindergarten class performed a “signing dance” to the Kari Jobe version of “Revelation Song”, and that just took me out.  Tears poured down my face as I tried to keep smiling so that the kids didn’t think I was sad. 

Being a proud parent of Spencer and Chloe has brought many tears of joy as they have performed in musical theater and other performance art events.  Now that we have 193 more who we see living and thriving and overflowing with joy, I think I am going to have to drink a lot more water during the day to stay hydrated through my tears of joy that fall.

Thank you to each and every one of you who supports Heart for Africa and the work we are doing to love these children back to life and prepare them to be the future of the Kingdom of Swaziland and the Kingdom of God.

Thank you also to the 65 people who have already purchased diapers and wipes. In one short week we have received 272 boxes or 18% of what we need for the next year!  I encourage you to go to http://bit.ly/hfadiaperdrive today and purchase much needed diapers and wipes for our babies. 

Live from Swaziland … my heart is full.

Janine