I am doing a second blog post because of something that has been on my heart. Some of you know that we have a relationship with a local orphanage here in Masindi called Family Spirit. Some of you have even been there, and you can attest to the extremely difficult living situation that these precious children endure. The people who run the orphanage try really hard to provide the best that they can with the resources they have for these children, but they have almost 200 mouths to feed, bodies to clothe, and minds to educate, so you can imagine the burden. Family Spirit was started as an orphanage for children who have been affected by HIV, whether they have it themselves, or they were orphaned due to the disease. Since they began, they have accepted many other children with other diseases or issues not necessarily related to HIV, but they only accept children who are really in dire need.
When you visit this place, you see happy children with smiles on their faces eagerly waiting for you to take their hand and allow them to show you around. They are so proud of their twin size bunk bed (even though many of them share with 4-6 other children), their classroom, and their animals. They love and care for each other like true siblings. Each other is all they have. You can't leave there unchanged.
We, PMI and our clinic MKMC, have the pleasure of treating these children when they need medical care. Since the PMI model is to create sustainable healthcare, we have to charge some patient fees, and we try to keep them as low as possible to reach as many people as possible. Family Spirit understands this model and they do their best with what they are given or earn to pay for their children to receive good medical care from MKMC. Most of their children have some kind of chronic health issue, and all of them live in close quarters which means that when one gets sick, many get sick. A few months ago, chicken pox broke out in the orphanage, and I think we saw just about every one of those children.
Recently, they have received some new children with some pretty unimaginable stories. Some of you may have already heard about them but I want to share 2 of these stories with you.
First is a story about a baby girl named Promise and her mother Mary. Mary came to Family Spirit with her newborn baby girl Promise in January. Mary is 17, and she was raped leaving her pregnant. Being a young girl and not anticipating becoming pregnant, she did not receive proper prenatal care. Promise was born with spina bifida. Mary took her to a clinic after being born because she noticed a deformity on the child's back. Without doing much investigation, they removed the bulge on Promise's back saying that it was a tumor. Promise is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Also, a common side effect of spina bifida is hydrocephalus where the child's head swells due to their inability to properly drain their cerebrospinal fluid. If this is left untreated, the swelling can cause serious problems such as seizures, brain damage, and death. So as if their story wasn't bad enough, Mary's mother told her to take Promise to Family Spirit and leave her there. If she came home with the baby, she would be thrown out. Mary loves her child despite all of the obstacles she is facing, and she doesn't want to abandon her, so she decided not to return home. Some friends who have heard her story have helped Newman and I by donating and we were able to get Promise the surgery she needed to treat her hydrocephalus. She had the operation 3 weeks ago, and she is doing very well. She still faces a lifetime of challenges and her mother Mary does as well, but we are doing what we can to help and praying.
The second story is about a 7 year old boy, Tugume, who was dropped off at Family Spirit by a good Samaritan who noticed that he had been abandoned. His mother had HIV and had passed away, so he was left with his grandfather. The grandfather neglected him, and left the boy to starve. After being taken to Family Spirit, he was immediately brought to MKMC for an evaluation and treatment. He is extremely malnourished, has an active TB infection, and is HIV positive. He is being treated for the TB currently and isolated until he is no longer infectious, and then he will return to Family Spirit where he will be nursed back to health. His picture is shocking, but we are hoping that now since he has been found, he will return to being a happy and playful little boy. When he opens his mouth to speak, he speaks wonderful English and has the sweetest little voice.
I am telling you all of this for several reasons. One is that we are so extremely blessed at home. Yes, we all have struggles and there is extreme poverty in our own back yards, but we are mostly very very blessed. For those of you who already have children, I am sure you couldn't even think about some of these things happening to your child. I am also sharing these stories because God calls us to love children such as these in prayer and by physically helping them. There is no doubt in my mind that these children have the potential to become wonderful people if they are given a chance. Family Spirit struggles during times such as these to pay for the care that these children so desperately need. We as an organization would never turn them away regardless of ability to pay; however, I believe that it is our responsibility as Christians and just as human beings to help one another out when we can. Please pray for these children and their needs, and if you can, please consider helping ease the burden of Family Spirit's medical bills. If you feel lead to give, please do so by going onto the PMI website at www.palmettomedical.org and click the donate tab. There, please indicate in the comment section that the money is to be used for Family Spirit's medical bills and the money will go completely to their bills at MKMC.
Thank you so much for hearing these children's stories, praying for them, and for considering helping them. I leave you with this:
"And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’" Matthew 25:40
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