Baby Peter is looking great!

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Dignity Needed

I have stopped and started this blog several times.  I have been so stunned at what I have seen that I can barely look at the photos.  I will be brief because the photos speak for themselves.  A few days ago I went into the village with a team from the United Kingdom and met some of the families that were nominated for sponsorship.  All of them are on the edge... a precipice.  In two of these situations the people hid out of shame.  They either ran away or literally hunkered down in their mud hut and hoped we would just ignore them even though we had life saving food.  I can't imagine the shame of living in such poor conditions that you don't even want to be seen in society.  It crushes me to know people hurt that way. 

Gertrude and her husband live in a shell of a home.  Most of it collapsed 2 days ago when the rainy season hit.  Gertrude's husband ran from us and left her standing in a smoke filled collapsed room with the smallest malnourished children I have ever seen.  They were filthy and their youngest is the size of a 3 month old but he is said to be 1 year and 3 months.  Their oldest, Gloria is 9 and she is barely the size of a 5 year old. 

At first Gertrude seemed very upset to have visitors.  I asked her what she had for breakfast and she told me potatoes.  I asked her what was for dinner and again she said shyly, "potatoes".  I asked her the last time they had eaten anything other than potatoes and she wouldn't answer. 

Gertrude is barely surviving in a smoke filled and collapsed house and her children sleep on soaking wet pieces of foam.

It is unimaginable how this family has survived.  The house has absolutely nothing of substance and the walls are literally falling down around them.

When I started giving Gertrude food like beans, beef, rice and tea... she smiled and wouldn't stop.  I know even now she is thinking that a miracle had happened. 

But this food will only last 2 weeks at most.  This family needs serious intervention.  Please consider sponsoring Gertrude and her family or any family in our program.  Uganda is facing a crisis of famine and anything you give will go directly to save lives, but most of all you can restore dignity to someone who doesn't even know what it is like to face society with confidence.

Another home we came to was locked and we stood nearby and took the picture above.  We couldn't believe how small the mud and stick house was.  We saw the rain water leaking through the roof.  All of us tried to imagine how terrible it must be to have 4 people living in a shelter that is about to collapse.  Just then, a neighbor came over and insisted that the head of the family, David, was inside.  We knocked again and again and begged him to open the door so that we could give him some food supplies.  Slowly the door cracked open and David crouched down in the back corner afraid to be seen.

I kept thinking that this family lives like animals.  They hide and try to just survive in the dark crevices of the earth because they have nothing else to do but to just LIVE.  I barely heard David breath a word.  He quietly accepted the food and I backed out of the house carefully. He was so ashamed it broke my heart.

I also met a family of orphans that had their mother die 2 years ago, their father die 1 year ago and then the lovely grandmother caring for them died 3 months ago.  I asked one of the boys what they were going to eat that night and he shut his eyes and looked away from me while whispering... "we have nothing to eat".  I gave them all they needed for 2 weeks.  These boys have been so desperate for food and school fees that they have learned how to make bricks.  They are desperately trying to provide for all 7 of them.  I admire their courage and strength in the face of so much loss.

I even had a chance to pray for an 85 year old man.  I asked him what he wanted and he said, "MORE LIFE".  Isn't that what all of these families want and deserve?  A full life: a life full of joy and full stomachs, an opportunity to work and provide for their family, a shelter from the rain and dignity.

If you want to sponsor a family with our organization, please don't hesitate.  The cost per month is $70 and you can give online at http://www.africafamilyrescue.org/

 

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.

Had a day filled with HOPE

I went back to the village today with some wonderful gifts!  A donor sent a donation for food and some basic supplies.  I got to meet with Josephine today and I was shocked once again by the level of her poverty.  When we arrived she was sweating profusely and had her hoe.  I thought she was just working hard.  I was wrong.  When I hugged her I knew immediately there was a problem.  She was warm to the touch.  She began to tell me that she had been at the hospital the day before and was diagnosed with malaria. She didn't have money to purchase the malaria medication so she was praying that God would heal her.  I immediately arranged for someone to get the prescription filled.  Because she is 9 months pregnant and has contracted malaria, the baby could be born any day.  If you have malaria one may often go into labor while they are ill and not be able to deliver.  In addition, the baby could also have malaria and be too weak to fight it even with proper medication. Here she was working in the pouring rain, her house flooded with water, with a fever, 9 months pregnant and praying for God to do a miracle. 

Talking to her oldest child John (10) who fetches water with his 7 year old brother Francis and 5 year old sister Cornelia

I asked Josephine what she was doing to make money for food and she began piling thorn covered wood on a pile of banana leaves - the pile became so huge

Josephine put the huge pile of wood on our head and began to shake with effort... I begged her to put it down

I cried my eyes out when she told me she walks 6 kilometers to try and sell her firewood to anyone that needs it... if she sells it, she only makes $.30 barely enough to buy 3 potatoes

Putting one of my bracelets on Josephine's little girls arm

On a high note, we purchased meat, sugar, salt, soap and tea leaves for her as well as giving her some baby clothes and blanket.  We also have been able to purchase a large tarp to cover her home so that there won't be as much water pouring through the grass roof onto their family.  Josephina was in shock when we also gave her some money to keep her well fed for the month.  I am so happy that we were able to bless her in this way.  Hopefully the medication will take care of her malaria and will not cause her to go into labor early.

We were also able to meet with several other families and gave them gifts of meat and sugar.  Daniel, the one man with HIV we met last week was so moved that he came out of his home!  He had not walked outside in weeks.  He felt so hopeful that he actually wanted to see the sun again.  It was a powerful moment and we shared in the joy of knowing HOPE brings LIFE. 

Here is Musa, a crippled man after being hit by a car, being taken care of by his mother Zitune along with his mentally disabled and cripped sister - He is living in the dirt, in the dark and has felt so devastated

Zitune was so relieved when we brought her enough money to feed her family for a month - she is worried that when she dies no one will take care of her crippled children

As Ben was doing some media work at the church we are working in, I wandered down the road (as I usually do in the village) to a little house nearby.  There was a young woman just coming back from cultivating.  She told me her story.  Her husband recently died and she has 4 young children.  She is living with her mother and she is doing her best to survive.  She just opened a little "store" outside her house.  I commended her on her business.  I even bought a pumpkin (Ben's favorite)! 

The widow Grace at her "store"

So proud of Grace!

Some additional village photos

I barely slept Thursday night from crying so I am too tired to say much.  Today I met a girl with HIV who lost 2 children and was abandoned by her husband, an elderly woman who was too poor to afford clothes, a grandmother left alone to care for her prostitute daughters 8 children with graves covering her yard, and a 90 year old woman being cared for by her 78 year old brother.  I also had an opportunity to help a woman named Rose.

Grandma Josephine had rags to wear and had her land taken from her when her children died

Praying for Jaja Josephine

Grandma Maria is 90 years old - I asked her what she wanted and she said, "Please, I want some meat"

Here are 8 grand children that were born to 2 prostitutes and abandoned at Grandma Hafina's door step

Hafina's youngest grandson has a crippled leg - Pastor Jehosophat is looking it over

Here is Rose after we gave her a Micro Finance Grant - she was SO happy!