Paul & Liz looking after our babies
I feel quite emotional writing these words – our home is finally open! And wow, it really does feel like a home now that we have started welcoming our very first babies and their mothers.
So far we have five beautiful boys in our care (I think the first girl is going to be pretty spoilt when she arrives…) and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to start the day off with a big cuddle and a cheeky grin from one of our little lads.
Our oldest boy arrived last week. Aged 18 months, he has spent all of his short life in an institution with 100 other children and only two or three carers. Over the past few days we’ve been giving him one-on-one care and I cannot begin to tell you how much he is coming out of his shell. I don’t think he has ever played with toys before, so our small cardboard boxful is keeping him amused for hours. His favourite is a car, and he can spend hours (and hours… and hours…) playing with it. He requires some physiotherapy as he has trouble walking and we need to get his ears tested, but we will do everything we can for him here and endeavour to find him a family.
Sleepless nights are part of the process but the difference 24 hours of intense medical care can make to a sick baby is overwhelming. Take a look at my video diary after a particularly hard night:
You’ll be pleased to know that he is doing really well, though, and gaining weight and is smiling now. Even more amazing, we have traced his mother, who is going to be spending time with him here until she gets back on her feet.
We were sad to say goodbye to Paul and Liz Choudhury from The Amateurs Trust who have been great supporters of our charity and have provided us with not only financial support but helped us equip our nurses station. Liz has been volunteering out here putting her nursing skills into good use and helping us set up our home whilst Dr Paul came into his element helping us with babies and staff alike and we miss them both. They made a very good team and we would love to see them out here again very soon.
Elsewhere, plans for our Mother and Baby centre are coming along nicely and we are very pleased to announce that we have found a location. Last week, Dorthe, our VSO volunteer, had a meeting with stakeholders from local charities, the government and Mulago hospital to refine exactly what services we will be offering new mothers to empower them and enable them to keep their babies – including skills training, vocational training, adult literacy, family planning, and skills in being a good mum.
After reading ‘The Blue Sweater’ by Jacqueline Novogratz it taught me how important it is to give women economic independence as it gives them choices and the decision-making power to control their destiny. Without meaning to sound like a Spice Girl (”Zig-a-zig-ah”), I do love a bit of Girl Power…
Sending you all love from Uganda x
