Couldn't sleep thinking about these kids (Graphic Images Below)

Yesterday we spent the day caring for some children at Mulago Hospital.  We had gone to visit Baby Peter who is still in Pediatric Intensive Care. 

3 year old baby Wilson

I was assaulted by images of dozens of children dying of AIDS, Sickle Cell Anemia, Tuberculosis, Malaria and malnourishment.  Everytime I go there I cry my heart out.  So many of these babies are in severe pain. I don't understand it.  I don't know how this world can be so cruel.  I especially don't know how these mothers endure the pain of watching their children die.

Baby Wilson is 3 years old and has AIDS, Tuberculosis, Herpes (contracted at birth) as well as being malnourished.  He is barely 12 pounds.  The wounds on his mouth are so severe that he can't eat.  They are feeding him through a tube hoping they can get the AIDS virus under control so that they can heal his other issues.  So far he has been in the hospital a month and I have not seen any improvement in all the time I have been there.  His mother is expected to care for him around the clock and sleeps on a cement slab beneath his crib.  He doesn't cry.  He doesn't open his eyes.  I keep praying for him and giving his mother financial support so that she can eat and keep her strength up.  Yesterday I saw his grandmother there as well.  She was putting gel on his lips and she looked up at me with such deep sorrow I burst into tears.  Why God?  Why must this little boy suffer?

There was a little girl being held by a nurses attendant and he looked exhausted.  He kept trying to stand her up but she kept collapsing because she was too weak.  She cried and sobbed and my maternal instincts kicked in. I picked her up and she melted into me.  I asked the man her name and he said, "Abadoned".  That was her name!  This approximately 4 year old girl had no name... none.  Someone had dropped her skeletal frame off in front of the clinic with a scorching fever.  She has no one in the world.  She has healed burns on her hands and head as well.  Only God knows what this girl has experienced in life.  It is locked away in her brain and she can't communicate the truth to anyone because she has no voice.  My heart is hurting just writing these words.

Nakalima, a mother who has been in the hospital 4 months with her daughter Iesha has taken to caring for this abandoned little girl.  She started calling her Esther.

Esther won't look anyone in the eyes.  She sees through people.  The trauma of her life is so severe that she refuses to connect to you in that way.  Her little body is refusing to be disappointed by watching someone else leave her.  There is so much sadness in her that I cried putting her down.  It is a tragedy and I was only able to leave her knowing that Nakalima is watching over her some.

But Nakalima has her own pain too.  Her daughter Iesha is 10 years old and is barely breathing.  She has Sickle Cell Anemia and AIDS.  She pants like a dog.  I am crying all over again thinking about her.  Iesha is not able to speak or walk.  She is only turned over 3 times a day and has bed sores all over her hips and back.  It hurts her to be moved. 

Iesha is on the small size of a 2 year old.  Her forward is dotted in sweat because her body is fighting so hard to stay alive.  I prayed for her and sang a little song. She looked in my eyes and I swear I could see an angel looking back at me. 

I can see that Nakalima is sick too.  AIDS is gripping her body while she cares for an orphan and her dying daughter.  I don't know how she survives.  We gave her some financial assistance as well.  She was so grateful that she smiled... but somehow her face looked unnatural smiling.  I think this woman has been through hell.

The highlight of my day was seeing Baby Peter.  He has gained weight (almost 2 whole pounds) and has been off oxygen for a whole week.  I cried tears of joy looking at his stomach.  I could hardly see his ribs anymore!  He has come a long way from the little sick baby we started treating.

Baby Peter smiles now.  He is starting to gain a little strength.  I was so relieved.  But there was some bad news that came to us when the doctor visited.  He said Peter's oxygen level had dropped significantly.  It seems that Baby Peter's body has built up an immunity to the 4 antibiotics he has been on to kill the Tuberculosis.  They put him back on oxygen and are switching up his meds to fight the disease harder.  Please pray for his body to continue to fight.  His mother Ruth is exhausted and we continue to support her as an organization.  Thank you to the donor who stepped up to sponsor this family! 

The other great news I had was seeing Erin.  A few weeks ago I prayed over her.  She was so ill and was being fed through a feeding tube for 3 months.  I prayed for her and honestly I have been wondering if she leave the hospital alive.  I saw her and her father and I am THRILLED to say God did heal her and she sang and danced for me.  She was so happy and normal!  I know she still needs to gain weight but what a blessing to see that she has survived. 

I ask you to pray for the children and mothers in Mulago Hospital.  I ask you to pray for the doctors and nurses who are often discouraged when they see these children pass away.  I ask you to pray for our protection against these disease as we are God's hands on them.  Above all, I ask for you to appreciate the health of your child and the opportunity to have medication to treat them.  In the words of Betty the nurse I met yesterday, "We try to thank God even when he gives or takes away".  I want to trust in a sovereign God who cares for these little ones.  But I have to tell you... I still don't understanding why God allows the suffering of innocent children.  But what I can say is that he sent me here, all the way from America to care for them.  He must love them very much.

I want to be more like them

I have spent a lot of time with Pastor Dan and his wife Susan.  I am beginning to understand the difficulties of living a life of ministry in a village affected by famine, starvation and slavery. 

Susan and Pastor Dan at their house "store"

Pastor Dan is a man that loves the people of his village.  They look to him to be a leader despite the fact that many of them are ill and dying.  He has no church building; just sticks that are set up as a symbol of what could be some day.  He prays over those who have AIDS, watches over their children as they die of malaria, sees them toiling in the soil for hours only to recieve a handful of yams to eat and yet he still smiles.  He never gives up hope.  He astounds me.

Susan showing me the AFR file she made and the families that are struggling in the village

She drew a picture on the file... so sweet and creative

His wife Susan is a primary teacher making less than $100 a month with half of that going to pay off her education and mortgage loan (for a house that is only 15 feet by 15 feet).  Susan sells things outside her home to keep them from going under.  The people in the village are so poor that they sometimes buy small packets of sugar that are $.03 to put 1 granule in their tea a day.  There is no added sweetness but to say they have some sugar is better than to say that they have none.  She has lost a son that was born too early, she faces poverty and illness just like everyone else, she sees children drop out of school because their parents can't afford a pencil, she watches the people in the church suffering endlessly and she works in her own small field to feed her 3 boys.  This family is tireless in their dedication to loving the poor. 

Home made sugar packets

Susan translating a my message about being God's child (Romans 8)

I get great pleasure from saying they are my friends.  I count myself blessed to know friends like these.  It was so much fun to speak at their church on Sunday.  Susan translated for me.  We also were able to get Pastor Dan a bicycle so he can visit the church members more frequently.  He has been walking over 10 miles a day going to see them. 

I love these people so much



Pray for these new friends of ours.  They are doing so much to see that our program is successful in their village.  They are so excited about the help that is coming already and it is wonderful to see hope revived.

Newsletter Update from the Pahlows

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Visited Baby Peter in ICU

Today I visited Peter and his mother Ruth in Mulago Hospital.  Peter is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit that is specifically geared towards malnourished children.  I can't even describe the babies I saw today.  It is an insult to humanity that we have children dying in the world with no food. 

Peter is in a 10 x 12 foot room with 4 cribs and 7 children crowded into them.  Mothers are expected to give round the clock care for the children saw there are also 7 mothers in the room.  The mothers sleep under the cribs or in a chair if they can find one.  The room smells like rubbing alcohol which is better than I expected. This part of the hospital has been painted, not that any of these children would know that.  They are too ill.  I could hear children crying in the other parts of the hospital, but these children only cried if they had an injection.  Otherwise they don't cry at all; a very bad sign. 

Peter is given injections into his I.V. port 4 times a day.  He is still on oxygen and having trouble breathing.  But he seemed more alert today.  We have been giving Ruth, Peters mother, a little money to eat so her milk can come in stronger.  When Peter nurses now, he doesn't come away crying so it seems that he is eating more now that she is. 

Peter was very interested in the necklace I had on.  He is not strong enough to reach for it, but he stared at it for a long time.  I gave it to his mom so she would have something to do for him when he is crying.  Who knows if it will help at all... but it made me feel better to give her something to remind her that he is getting stronger day by day.

When I am about to break down and cry, I think of what these mothers go through.  I think about the fact that they need me to pray for their babies and hold onto any hope that they will survive.  I prayed for so many children today; Wilson, Kenneth, Erin.  All of them had feeding tubes, severe fevers, undiagnosed diseases and were extremely malnourished.  Every one of the parents pulled on my hand and asked me to pray for their baby.  They didn't ask for money and they didn't ask for food, they asked for prayer.  It seemed to them that their child was in God's hands now. 

Baby Kenneth coughs constantly and has a high fever

Wilson is 3 years old and barely the size of a 6 month old baby.  He has a disease they can't diagnose.  His mouth is covered in scabs and sores.  He doesn't open his eyes or cry.

Baby Erin was supported by her father Vincent.  It is rare to see a father caring for a baby in the hospital.  She is very sick.  By touch, I can say her fever was approximatley 103 and had a feeding tube with her hands tied so she wouldn't keep removing it.  I prayed for her as well.

I am so glad I went to see the children at Mulago.  It makes me grateful to be an American where we can have wonderful healthcare, fabulous nurses, nutritional food and medicine that heals.  But I am allowing myself to see pain and suffering that I haven't seen before because I just can't sit back and ignore life in other countries anymore.  

Baby Peter

Peter in the Bible was the "rock that the church was built upon" (Matthew 16:18).  Whenever I hear that name I think of strength and I often identify with Peter's stubborness and passion. This Sunday in Gayaza Village, I met a young woman named Ruth.  Her baby's name is Peter.  He has tuberculosis.

Peter is 6 months old.  He is less than 7 pounds.  He is dying.

Peter was so thin that his arm was as big as Ben's finger.

I honestly can not imagine how this little boy has fought so hard to live for these 6 months.  He can barely eat and his lungs are enlarged and filled with fluid.  He is a fighter.  His name suits him.  I see such resilience in this little boy.  These last two days I think of Peter constantly.  If you saw his beautiful face, you would too.



With his life hanging in the balance, we admitted Peter into a hospital that specializes in tuberculosis.  He is currently in Pediatric Intensive Care which in Africa means that have 1 nurse to every 50 people versus the normal 300.  He is on I.V. and has started his 6 months regimine of antibiotics to cure his tuberculosis.  He also had malaria and is being treated for that as well.

Every dose of his treatment is critical.  I am praying that there are no shortages of the antibiotics as there were in 2009.  If you have a heart to help this family and would like to donate to them specifically, please email me at melody@pahlow.com and I will tell you how.  God bless Peter... the rock.