AIDS and Babies

The first week in July is beginning the way the month of June ended.  We admitted 3 babies to the hospital—our youngest twins were not gaining weight and were obviously becoming dehydrated and Eva, 8 months, one of the older twins was also vomiting and very weak.  Yesterday, Debora, one of the month old twins went to be with Jesus.  Dorine is likely not to survive as she is on oxygen right now and spitting up blood.  Thank the Lord Eva is doing well and getting stronger each day.

The young twins were brought to us at 6 days old because their mother had died after their birth.  They were fed water for the 6 days before coming to us and very fragile and weak but we had hoped they would survive.  Yesterday a blood test was performed on the surviving twin and they are carrying their mother’s HIV positive immunity.  The odds were against them from the beginning but our responsibility is to love and care for them no matter what and pray that they can survive.

We are realizing that there is a reason that the nursery is called a “crisis” nursery.  In the beginning most of our babies were relatively healthy and didn’t have many health problems.  Now we are receiving babies whose health is truly compromised and their chance of survival is very small.  At first I felt like the deaths were because I hadn’t done something right or was too slow in seeking medical help but I am now realizing that there is little that can be done for some especially in a country whose medical facilities, expertise and even medicine is lacking.  I now look at all the babies whose lives have been saved by the nursery and not at the deaths that have become all too common lately.

Because the death of babies is so common here they don’t seem to value babies and don’t seem very troubled when they do die unlike America where the death of a child is very devastating to the family and friends.  I have also learned more about the culture during the death of Debora.  When a twin dies you are not to cry if the other twin is still alive.  Also, the burial of Debora was done by the women only with no men involved.  They didn’t buy a coffin but instead bought a bamboo mat and wrapped the baby in it.  The women went to a local graveyard, dug the grave and put the baby in it.  When a baby is older they do buy a coffin but there is much less wailing and carrying on compared to the funeral of an adult and it is done very quickly.  The funeral of an adult can go on for a week with no one going to work and the women crying and wailing.  It’s amazing how being here reminds us of biblical times and the culture then.  When I read in the Bible about the people wailing I can understand it because they still do it here.    Lisa

 

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.