We’ve spent about a week now
volunteering at the hospital in Nairobi working with the abandoned babies. There are about 18 babies altogether that
are spread over four different wards.
Fourteen of them are under the age of one and the other four are between
two and nine. The older four are severely disabled and I believe have been
diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Two of them are fed through feeding tubes and
never leave their cots. The babies have a variety of health issues. Several of
them have huge umbilical hernias. One of them has six fingers with double thumbs and
seven toes, but he is a very content little boy. It was so cute, one day, he
was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth and his little neighbor who was still
awake kept pulling his thumb out of his mouth and then he would wake up and try
to find his thumb again. Because of lack of space, there are three babies to a
bed. So the ones who move around a bit, poke each other and use each other as
support to roll over. One little boy who is one but looks like a four month old
is very sick. I am not for sure what is wrong with him but he seems like he is
always in pain. When he cries, it is really more liking moaning. Sometimes I
can get him to settle if I hold him really close to me, but as soon as I move
just a little bit he starts to cry. When he looks at me, he is so serious and
it just seems like he is begging me for help.
On Tuesday, he felt
really bad and it was so sad because there was nothing I could do to ease his
pain. But today, I was glad to see he was much more content and was lying
without crying and just watched me with his very serious big eyes. These babies will stay at the hospital
until homes are found for them. Some of them have already been there for six to
seven months. They do not leave the room and lay in their bed except for bath
time in the morning. The six & seven month olds are sometimes sat up in
their beds for a little while, but there is no place for them to get down to
learn how to crawl or walk. They also develop rashes, bedsores, and boils that
are very hard to heal because they are not washed properly after they eat and
during diaper changes. I am very
thankful to Tammi for having the courage to help these babies who are not able
to find homes. There is such a need to provide homes for the babies who have
been abandoned in the hospitals and also for those in particularly with
disabilities.
