Babies

Around the corner from our house is a crisis nursery that takes in babies and toddlers whose parents or families are unable to take care of them.  Often times these children are either dropped off by a relative or found abandoned and delivered to the nursery.  The crisis nursery is not an orphanage but serves as a temporary home for children to be nursed back into good health and returned to their families or be put into the foster care/ adoption system.      

The nursery and the pediatric ward here on campus partner together with babies who are need of medical attention or are considered “failure to thrive” due to health issues, malnutrition and/or the inability to gain weight.   Due to the number of children at the crisis nursery, often times for a very sick baby the pediatric ward is a better option as he or she can get the much needed one on one medical attention. 

Since moving to Malawi, we have wanted to get involved with the crisis nursery at some level.  Now we have received approval to take home babies from the pediatric ward to love, hold and be part of our family.   Our arrangement so far with the nursery is that we pick up the baby in the morning and return him/ her in the late afternoon back to the pediatric ward.  That way we can spend the day holding and loving the baby without committing to all the night time feedings! 



So far, we have had the privilege of loving two children – Bridget (see picture above) and Cheekembutso (picture on right).  Bridget was with us only a week before she gained the necessary 7 pounds to be returned to the nursery.  We miss her but we pray that she will return to her family soon.  We are currently loving Cheekembutso who is 3 ½ months old and barely weighs 5 pounds.  He has some serious medical issues on top of his being HIV positive and is having trouble gaining weight.  Cheekembutso, whose name means “in memory of”, is aptly named as his mother died due to an infection from her c-section.  Please remember this little one in your prayers so that he will gain weight, get healthy and be reunited with his dad and siblings.