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.