Friday, September 30, 2011

            Leila and I have been working to get all of the parents of the children living at the baby home to give official custody of their children to Leila. We started with Brian and it went smoothly. We met with his father today to further discuss the custody issue because he had been showing up his house three to four times a week to see Brian. He works as a security guard so he carries a gun and he even brought it to the house a few times and left it where the kids could get to it. He is also drunk a majority of the time when he comes to the house, and that creates an unsafe environment for the rest of the kids. He came to talk to us along with the Children’s Officer and agreed to the terms of not showing up drunk, or with his gun and was granted visitation of Brian once every three months. This will help Brian adjust better and reduce his stress because he get upset and cries when his father comes around. Other than that he is doing great. He sleeps a majority of the day and sleeps through the whole night. He is such a happy, smiling boy when he is awake and it is great to see how much progress he has made in such a short amount of time.
Brian hanging out with his best buddy Vela. 
     We also took Rose and Rael’s parents to the Children’s Officer this week to get official custody of the twins. We thought it would be simple and easy, like when we met with Brian’s father, but it was the complete opposite. We showed the officer the twin’s documents and he was able to immediately tell that they had been forged. The names and birth places had been changed. Ester, their mother, was saying that she was 23 years old and that her firstborn was 16. So that was the first lie that they were caught in. The name written on the cards did not match the name that she was giving us. After that is was lie after lie. Forging legal documents is a serious crime and there were a few times where it looked like Patrick and Ester were going to be arrested. They wouldn’t come clean, so the children’s officer’s assistant came back to Shimo to take a look at their house. She saw the living conditions and told us to come back to the office with them the next day to further discuss the issue.

Rael and Rosie ready to head out to meet their parents.
So today we went with Patrick’s mother, Patrick, Ester, Franco, Dorcas, Rose and Rael to the office. It is still unclear what the exact story is, but they are probably not the real parents of Rose and Rael.  It is also very likely that the girls are not twins and the Rael is about a year younger than we originally thought that she was. They decided not to arrest them because they suspect that they may have some mental health issues or something that is hindering them from making logical and rational decisions. They told us that they both grew up on the streets and Ester does not even know how to write her name. 
Me and Rose at the house. 

Me with the whole family.

Franco and Dorcas playing with Rose.
They were so excited to see the girls.

Rael and Ester

        It’s hard to write about because there were so many different stories and we never got the true story, but the most important thing is that we now have custody of the girls so they won’t have to go back to live in that situation that sadly, will never be able to improve. They are so much healthier and happier now. It’s crazy to think that only two months ago the girls looked like this. 
The girls two months ago.

The girls now.

Friday, September 23, 2011



           Spent the morning catching up with the kids and staff at Purpose Driven Academy. The baby class was outside playing and building little things out of dirt so I sat outside with them. Marvelous was so happy and I noticed today how much healthier she looks now. 



Her teacher is one of the sweetest human beings on the planet. She is always working to teach the kids, even when it is playtime. She always asks them questions in English first then Swahili so that they can learn. She also really loves the kids. She had Marvelous tell me about her week. The night before she had spent the night at Margaret Wanyoni’s house. Margaret is the head teacher at Purpose Driven Academy and was the one who was looking out for Marvelous and her mother while I was away. Marvelous was excited that she got to go to Margaret’s house and play with her friend Emanuel, who Margaret has taken in as her own son. 
Manu and Marvelous
All the kids there are doing well. Junior and Allan have been so sweet. During the summer I used to have to go find them if I wanted to say hi and see how they were doing. Now they always come over and greet me when they see me. Stella is as sweet and shy as ever. I am so glad that God has put these children in my life. It has been a privilege to see them grow over these past few years. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

We took Brian and Emily to get tested this week. We were worried to take Emily because both of her parents are HIV+ and Brian's dad was acting strange when we asked about his medical history. Praise God that they both tested negative. 
Emily and Brian


This week Brian’s dad kept showing up at the house. He came when Brian was asleep and he saw that his arm and leg muscles are more relaxed then they were when he first came. He was saying that Brian’s mother was back in town and wanted him back. Everytime his dad talks the story is different and he has been drunk most of the times we have seen him. If you just say Brian’s dad’s name in front of him he starts to cry. So we were heartbroken that after all of the improvements Brian has made that we might have to put him back into the same situation. Praise God that he had a different plan for Brian. We went to the children’s officer with Brian’s dad and had him sign papers that give custody of Brian to the children’s home. 
Brian

Rael and Rose are also doing great. Rose is so playful and always running around chatting with the other kids. She has become the leader of the kids, even though she is one of the youngest and they all follow her around the yard. Rael is also doing great. Her legs are getting stronger and she can walk around with a little help and even pulls herself up on the furniture to stand. 
Rael

Rose

Monday, September 12, 2011

Got to spend some time at the baby home, Discover to Recover and Shimo La Tewa this week. 
Here are some pictures. 

Brian learning how to sit in a basin.

Julie having a blast in the yard.

Rosie all bundled up and ready for the rain

Rael is Brians new best friend. 
Benja doing tricks on the couch.

Silvia

Funny face Meshak

Sweet Hillary

Ian

Benja, Sunday and Veronica
Zaina and Lavender

Elizabeth's feet are all better now.
Here she is smiling with her older sister Margaret.
We got a chair made for Mary so that she can learn to sit.
She absolutely loves it. 

Peter and Erica

Jennifer and Ester are ready to start the new term.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

         This week we took Alex, Rose and Rael to Sister Freda’s to get tested for HIV. 
Alex
Alex was taken from Kipsongo because he had malaria for a long time  and was severely malnourished when they found him.  Alex was so sick with when he was found that his eyes were yellow. He was taken to Sister Freda’s hospital and stayed there for a week so he could be treated. When he was taken back home his mother neglected to give him his medicine, so he came to live at the home. His mother is positive and is getting weaker. 

Rael

Rose
We don’t know the status of Rose and Rael’s parents, so we took them to get tested to be on the safe side. 
Praise God that all of these children are negative. We could not get Emily and Brian tested because they need to go to the District hospital to be tested because they are younger. We are taking them this week, so please keep them in your prayers. 

Brian
           Brian is doing great. He is turning into a great little sleeper and is getting used to living in his new home. We bought him a walker so that he can work his little legs and hopefully use up a little energy during the day. He absolutely loves it and couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. He is getting accustomed to living in a home where he feels love from the people around him and he is improving every day. 
Bella playing with Brian in his new toy. 


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Salome

         Please keep Salome’s family in your prayers this week. It had been eight months since her immune system had been really effected by AIDS and she refused to take any medicine so she kept getting weaker. She had stopped eating and drinking, so she was taken to the District Hospital where she passed away early Friday morning. 
The father has been unable to pay the rent on their house for months, but the landlord was only allowing them to stay on the house because he said that he couldn’t kick them out when the mother was as sick as she was. Now with her gone, the family may be kicked out of their house. Peter and Henry were supposed to go to live at another home where they could be well taken care of, but their father would not let them leave because he needed them to stay home and care for their mother. Now they are going to live in a place where they can get regular meals and go to school. 
Please keep her husband and the five kids she left behind in your prayers. 
Henry and Peter
Martin
John 
Emily

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

          It’s been a busy week and I haven’t been to town for a while. So when I went today, I asked one of the other boys who live on the street where Ambrose was. He told us that he had gone home and left the streets. We were happy to hear that he had made that decision on his own, but much to our surprise we ran into Ambrose on the way home and he was not as happy and smiley as he normally is. He told us that he had gone home and had just gotten back. He went on to say that his mother had left and no one knew where she had gone. He was holding back tears as he was telling us this. He told us his father was still around, but that he is a very harsh man, so he came back to Kitale town. 

  This shows me that he is ready to get off the streets. First he stopped sniffing glue and now he tried to go home, but did not find anyone to welcome him back. So he felt he had no choice, but to run back to the streets. Ambrose has really been on my heart and on my mind these past few weeks. I’ve been praying for a way to help Ambrose and get him into a place where he is loved, can go back to school and get good meals everyday. If God has put Ambrose on your heart as well and you would like to commit to sponsoring Ambrose and make it possible for these things to happen for him please contact me. 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Me with Brian        

        Brian is doing well. He is a bit of a handful, but we are working hard to get him on a schedule and adjusted to his new home. At night, his muscles tighten and have spasms that keep him from sleeping. For the first two nights, he was pretty much up the entire night. Then he is tired and cranky throughout most of the day, and takes a few short naps during the day. Last night, we gave him some pain killers before bed and he finally slept almost through the whole night, with a short food break in the middle. 
Naptime!

It’s hard to get him to sleep anytime because he gets scared and screams if you lay him on his back. I think that he had just been left alone for so long he is scared that in that position that will happen to him again. We are working on getting him some things that he can sit in and play in so that he can use more energy during the day. Despite his physical ailments, Brian is such a sweet and happy kid. He loves being around and even playing with the other kids.Pray for his adjustment and that he starts being a good sleeper. 
Such a happy boy with a little bit of sleep.

Friday, September 2, 2011

              It’s amazing how God keeps bringing children with disabilities into my life here. It had really been heavy on my heart that there are so many kids who are hidden away because their familes are ashamed of having a child with a disability. As a result many kids are neglected and abused because their parents do not know how to handle them. On the other side, there are parents who love their children regardless of the fact that they have a disability, but are unable to give them the proper care because they can’t afford it. 
               This is Gloria, she is five months old and lives in Shimo La Tewa. She was born with a mild form of Spina Bifida. Her Spinal Cord is protruding from her back and is getting bigger as she gets older. Her mother is trying everything she can and has saved up about half the money that would be needed if Gloria needs surgery.  There is a clinic next week that will hopefully give more answers about what is the next move for Gloria. Keep her in your prayers. 
Gloria and her mother

Gloria
               Yesterday we went to the children’s officer to and he told us about a child, named Brian, that is in need of a home. He told us that her mother had died and that her father was going into court tomorrow because of how neglectful and abusive he was towards his child. There was a policeman named Masai who said he had been caring for him since his father was arrested. He stays in a soda stand during the day and he takes him home at night.  So we went to see him, so that we could come back the next day to pick him up and take him to live at the baby home. While we were walking up, I was thinking about how awesome it would be if a child with special needs was able to find a home where they would be accepted and treated the way he should be. When we walked into the shop, I got goosebumps the second I saw him. They told us that he was two years old and he was unable to hold up his neck on his own, but he had a huge smile on his face. 

Brian with Masai
              We went back the next day to pick Brian up. While we were waiting for Masai to come meet us we learned that he was actually the father of the child. The mother left him and he hasn’t heard from her since. The lady who works at the soda stand is the one who has been living with and caring for Brian for the past 2 months. She said that she has been working with him and now he is doing much better. She told us that before his arms, legs and hands were stuck in the bent position. Masai has been passing the child off to any good Samaritan that he can find to avoid having to take care of his child that needs a little extra attention. Masai finally showed up and we went with him to the home where Brian is going to stay. When we got to the house we realized that he was drunk. Even though he is the father, and has a good paying job, he is still unwilling to take responsibility and give his child the care that he needs. 

Brian
             I am glad that Brian will now be living in a home where he will be loved and cared for the way that he should be. We are taking him to a clinic on Wednesday to find out what exactly is the cause of his delays. He is such a sweet kid and I am excited to see the improvements he will make. It was so great to sit with him today and see his smile, laughing and even playing a little bit with the other kids. 
Me with Bella and Brian (who was not in the mood for pictures).