Meet Dan Wangira.

I should say right off the act that the top photo is Dan's favourite position. he loves to look up at you! I met this boy in Nalufenya on November 27th, 2012.  Emmanuel and I had actually brought another boy in for treatment against tetanus and x-rays for a possible fracture o his collarbone and rib. After making sure that Shafik, age 6, was settled comfortably in the tetanus room, I went for a walk through the children's ward. It was my first time there and it was overwhelming to say the least. There was a smell that came from each room, of decay and sickness. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts bent over these little children. The first baby I came across was so tiny and malnourished if his head didn't peek out of the blanket, you would not know he was there. He had had surgery where they put a tube in this head. Horrifying to imagine the pain that the baby must be in. I walked along the narrow aisles between rows of beds and I came to one bed. There was this tiny little baby lying by himself on this huge bed. Half wrapped in a blanket, I could see his body was covered with skin that was peeling and his poor head was bleeding and scarred. I nearly started to cry, and I leaned over him and took his little hand. His grip was so strong and he turned over to look at me. The was this instant recognition in his eyes that went straight to my gut. He was surprisingly alert and responsive and he loved to lean his head back and look all around him. There was nobody with him that I could talk to, so I had to leave.

 I went back the next day to check on Shafik, the tetanus boy, and I went to look for the little baby again. This time his grandmother was with him. This is what I learned. His name was Dan Wangira. His mother died from a headache when he was 2 months old. His father abandoned the family before he was born. Dan lived in one room with his grandmother and his two sisters and his cousin. He had been in various hospitals since mid november, being treated at various points for severe acute malnutrition, acute diarrhea, acute sepsis, oral candiasis, and malaria. That second day I took them both on a boda boda (3,000 shillings) to get an x-ray for his chest (20,000) and bought them some food and water (5,000). The examination of his x-ray showed that he had bronchial pneumonia and the doctors put him on treatment for that as well. On later visits, I bought pampers (23,600) and baby wipes (8,000x2) and a few sets of baby clothes from the orphanage.

 Every time I visited him, I was amazed by how content he was and how little he cried. It was like he knew how lucky and blessed he was to still be alive and so every breath was a gift. One day when I went to visit him, Winifred (the grandmother) told me that they had not had water for 2 days. So I went and bought some water and we washed him together in a basin. He did not like water back then. Now that he is able to sit up on his own, he loves to hold onto the side of the basin with one hand and splash around with another. Fun for him and wet for us! On December 18th Emmaunel and I travelled to his home in Bugiri to visit him and look at taking him to stay at One World Orphanage.

 We ended up taking him home that day and he has improved drastically since then. An early Christmas present! But the night he came home with us, he cried and cried and cried. Maybe it was the unfamiliar environment, he was sick with a cough and a rectal infection at the time, but he cried through the night. I was worried that we would all end up sleep deprived. But the next day it was over as quickly as it began. Now he only cries when he wants to let us know that he is hungry. It is almost like clockwork!

With his nutrition treatment and the porridge that we give him, loaded with sugar and calories, he has gained quite a bit of weight and his development looks to be back on track. He lifts his head and looks at everything, he is very tenacious. He will pivot his body 360 degrees and touch everything in his path! Except when he is tired, he nevers stops moving. Trying to dress him after bathing can be quite tricky! Because he wants to see and touch everything, sometimes I sing to him just to get him to focus on me and then his body lines up! I think he may start crawling in the next few weeks. He laughs at everything and just seems happy to wake up every morning! This little baby is so special and loved by the children at One World orphanage! I wake up and am so excited to go and see his smiling face and his gyrating little body in his bed.

                                                     He is so hungry...for everything!!

                                                     A surprise in our Christmas stocking!

We are so lucky to have Dan in our lives! He continues to be a blessing and a joy everyday! Prayer for his continued recovery and development are vital. Good thoughts are like a virus, extremely contagious!!

Written by volunteer Sienna Holden