Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Life Saving Work

From The Faith Alive Hospital Team in Jos:

At lunch we met Julie who runs a new program to make nutrient rich vitamin peanut butter for malnourished children. She brought a woman and her 3 children: 5, 3 and newborn. They older ones looked so much younger, smaller, and we learned why. 8 weeks before, they were severely malnourished. She showed us pictures from then, and the older one was skin and bones, and could not stand. The younger was getting there, but had the tell-tale sign of undernourishment with the distended abdomen. They were given 250ml/day of this peanut butter, which is made at the Faith Alive social outreach center, for 8 weeks. We saw photos of them as they progressed quickly to a healthier state. They are small for their age, but beautifully healthy. Today they were being graduated from the program to regular nutrition, and the mother was there for counseling, and to protect the newborn from a similar fate. The kids were very active, attentive, and spoke Hausa, the native tongue, well.

Teresa was very touched by the orphanage, getting to hold the children and comfort them. Greg visited social services where he learned about the woodworking Daniel did, as well as spent time with kids there. The team is getting along well - we all have different gifts, which makes it great for us to support each other. Most of our orientation has been in groups, but we are able to split up some to work on different areas now that we know more.

2 comments:

JT said...

Rob, in discovering another, we can experience overwhelming joy from the realization that we are all one, as well as great pain from understanding how our separateness has injured them. Discover everyone you can. Blessings upon you and the team.

Christopher, Sophia and Tony said...

Mom,

Hope you are doing well. We know the poor children in the orphanage are comforted by you. Say hello to Dr. Chris and his wife and children. We miss you and love you.

XOXOXO