Earlier this week we got a visitor at our children's home in Mutai from a 19 year old girl called Brenda, holding a tiny "knot" in her arms. It was her two months old baby Juliana.
She whispered for help as she was advised by some people to come to us.
Today when our team came to visit Brenda and her baby, our hearts just stopped seeing such a tiny tiny baby girl, weighing only 1 1/2 kg. Baby was so hungry and her cry was just sounds of wheeze. No energy to cry, and a small hope upon her tiny life.
Mother came to breastfeed her, but her breasts are dry. As much as the child tries to suck, nothing comes out.
First thought I had was "Omg this child is going to die!"
We immediately put a water on the fire (the fire was hold by the waste from the corn). We realised how pressures and difficult is to care for a small baby's food in the village like that. The water was not clean enough, we had to filter it and remove any dirt and ash.. We mixed the baby powder milk we bought at the supermarket and gave it to her to drink.
As soon as the milk was ready and cooled for her, Juliana drank and drank - it made us smile! Then she fell asleep.
We took them to the children's ward in Jinja for examination and further treatment.
It took us 4.5 hours of waiting until baby Juliana was diagnosed, tested and given a bed for admission.
We left the hospital at 9.30pm.
Brenda with her baby are now admitted at the children's ward. Brenda had only one single sheet to take with her, no blanket, and no other clothes for the baby.
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Our team during investigation |
We are going to support the mother with any hospital fees as well as with her feeding whilst she stays in the hospital.
We thank each and everyone who has donated to our organisation and supported us with kind words of encouragement, because this is what makes what we do today.
Please pray for this little angel so Whisper finds ways of helping her with any means we can afford, so the baby survives those most vulnerable weeks.
COST INVOLVED:
nappies 7 500 Shillings
baby milk 30 000 Shillings
feeding bottle 4 000 Shillings
food & drinks for the mother 5 000 Shillings
A BIT OF THE BACKGROUND
Baby Juliana was born on the 7th of June 2013 to a 19 year old single mother Brenda, who comes from Mutai village.
Her story is very similar to any other story we find in the rural villages.
She dropped from the school at Senior 3 as her father could not afford school fees for her. Instead he found her a job, so she can earn some money for herself as well as to support the family she comes from.
Her mother got mental problems and needed to return back to her village some time ago, and her father find very hard to take care of her and her siblings.
When Brenda became pregnant, the father of the baby disappeared as soon as he found out, because he wanted to avoid any responsibility for the unborn baby.
As soon as Brenda said that news to her father, the father chased her out of the house.
When Brenda gave birth to a tiny Juliana, she found that her breasts don't contain much milk to feed the baby.
She felt very depressed and wanted to give up on her life, until a certain lady called Debora let her stay at her home and shared the food with her.
Unfortunately the baby refused to improve in health. She reported that she tried to give her a cow milk and porridge, however Juliana condition worsened.
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