Shafiq - Remember this little boy?

Little Shafik has come so far in the last four months. Whisper has been helping his mother take care of him since August and up until october he had been in and out of hospitals; being put on oxygen and extremely malnourished and diagnosed with tuberculosis. Whisper has taken care of many of the costs involved with his care and treatment. X-rays (20,000) and medication

 He came to stay at One World orphanage in November and the changes that have occurred in him are incredible. The funny thing is most of those changes happen normally during the development of children, what makes it incredible is that a few months ago he was on death's door and now he is hitting milestone after milestone. When he came to stay, he was still quite malnourished and he had this look of a wounded puppy in his eyes. Like he couldn't believe that we would not leave him to starve like he was used to. The akin all over his body was loose and flappy. His thighs had more skin than muscle and felt like thin crepe paper. He couldn't be left alone in a room. He would scream and scream. I remember the first night, he would not stop screaming. Finally I picked him up and put him in my lap and pressed his head into my chest. Within minutes he fell asleep and I could feel his heart beating rapidly against my stomach.

 As we continued his treatment for malnourishment and his medical care for tuberculosis, he started to thrive. He crawled from room to room, he would actually follow me from room to room and with his little bum stuck up in the air, he would lay his head down. He didn't always sleep, but that seems to be a comfortable position for him, he has also been used to sleeping on the floor. He started to gain weight and gain strength in his body and he developed a little pot belly. I started calling him chubby monkey because of it and now it has caught on and half the time people refer to him as Shafik and the other chubby monkey. Chubby because of the belly, monkey because monkeys are mischievous. And is shafik ever mischievous.

 As his strength started to come back he started to pull himself up to standing and we started walking with him. Now he was able to reach things at two levels. He had, and still has, us on toes. Consequently, he was from then on, able to get himself out of bed. It is now no surprise, an hour after putting him to bed, to see Shafik wandering around in the hall.

 More recently he has started to walk on his own! It was amazing the moment he took those first steps. all of the children were gathered around him and chanting "chubby, chubby" and cheering as he walked. And Shafik just beamed. As well, we have been teaching him to eat on his own with a spoon and after about two weeks of working with him, he will sit at the table and feed himself; making a huge mess around him of course! We wouldn't have it any other way!

It is amazing to talk to Veronika, who has been there from the beginning. She marvels at the changes and growth that have occurred in shafik! He is such a bright, intelligent little boy, who understands english extremely well and will acknowledge you when you ask him a question with a head nod. I am pretty sure this sharp boy is going to start talking soon!

Your continued thoughts and prayers are much appreciated for this special little boy. He has a bright future now because of the help of Whisper. Or I should say, he has a future, period. Thank you Whisper.

These are the first steps for beaming little Shafik!!

Written by volunteer Sienna Holden