Saturday, May 26, 2012


Samuel on the first day we met him


Meet Samuel Barasa. Some one told us about a child and by the description we thought that we were going to meet a child with Hydrocephalus. Instead we met Samuel. His mother works for a little over a dollar a day at the warehouse of the biggest supermarket in town, so during the day she leaves him with some friends across the street to look after him. His father left town and took his three older siblings leaving Samuel and his mother behind. His mother tries to provide the care she needs, but is unable to meet all of his needs on her own.
Samuel and his mother Evelyn 
 At first I was hesitant about taking him. He doesn’t have any disabilities, but is just shorter than most kids his age. Then one day I was reading one of my devotional books about not limiting God. It talked about how God doesn’t just want to produce one kind of fruit in our lives and just because we feel called to one thing doesn’t mean that we have to limit ourselves to just that. After reading that I knew that Samuel would be a perfect fit for the house.

Now Samuel will get good meals, have a warm bed and the opportunity to go to school next year. He is already fitting in nicely and is so happy to be here. He loves playing with Newton and Lavender and is quickly warming up to the other kids as well. He is such a joyful little boy and we are lucky to have him at the house. 
Just playing with Newton and Lavender

Playtime tired him out, but he still wouldn't take a nap without his new
favorite toy. 


Wednesday, May 2, 2012


Julie and Dani are doing great. It’s crazy how quickly all of these kids have settled in. We always anticipate the worst and many sleepless nights, but so far everyone’s transition into the house has been fairly simple. 
On the first night Dani was more agitated. He was grunting, making lots of noise and rolling around. Lavender was yelling at him to be quiet because she was trying to sleep. The second night, as soon as the lights went off he was quiet and slept through the night. Dani is a good little eater, but you have to be fast. If you take too long to put the next bite in his mouth then he starts to cry. Other than that he is a happy little guy. His home did not have electricity and he loves the lights in the house and just looks at them and laughs. Dani is probably one of the most challenging kids that we have because he does not respond to his name or seem to understand what you are saying to him. I think that he was mostly left alone at his house so we are trying to get him used to being talked to and praying that he starts being more responsive. 
Julie is also a little bundle of joy. We took her to the doctor and got her on medication for her epilepsy.  The first two days julie fell down at least 10 times and had little mini seizures where her eyes rolled back in her head. After the first night of taking it she didn’t fall down once the next day. She started off as a good little sleeper, but after she takes her medicine she can’t stay awake for longer than ten minutes. She gets along great with the other kids. Julie doesn’t talk, but is very expressive with her hand motions. We are going to try to teach her a few signs so that she can better communicate her needs.