Mother Teresa's

Eye-opening...emotional...heartbreaking...reality - These words start to describe our day today.

This morning we went to visit Mother Teresa’s, another local children’s home, hospital, church and school in Zambia. It was recommended that we go there to check to see if they had children that we could bring into our home.
We were given a tour of the facilities and it was pretty big. They have about 110 children there, ages a few months old to 11 years old. Most of the children are HIV positive and that is who they aim to serve. In fact, they even said that if they get an HIV negative baby, they will try to find another home for that baby. There is also a hospital there, where mothers or fathers can come and if they are admitted, the children’s home will care for their children while they are there. If the parents pass away, then the child will stay in the home.

I wish we could have taken pictures of the home to show you exactly what we saw. When we first got into the home, we were brought to the toddler and older children’s area. They greeted us with a beautiful welcome song and then the kids went back to reading, colouring and learning their lessons for the day.

We then went into the different babies rooms. I think we went into 3 separate rooms with 10-20 babies each. All of the babies were just lying or sitting in their cribs, as there are not nearly enough care givers to actually play with the children or feed the children in their arms. Some of the children smiled at us as we said hello or held their hands, some of them just sat there blankly looking at us. The rooms were literally just lined with cribs.

As I mentioned, most of those babies were HIV positive. Some had other visible illnesses, some, we were told, had other disabilities. Some were very malnourished, as they have just come in from the streets where they were abandoned. This is where I could not keep my eyes dry. The thought of all of these babies just lying in their cribs, alone, is too much to comprehend. And this is just one home in Zambia. There are millions of other orphans in Zambia alone. The most current statistic is that 1 in 4 children in Zambia under age of 18 are orphaned and 50% of all of the children under 9 years old in Zambia are orphaned.

The rooms were all very clean and organized. There were staff members doing laundry, cooking, watching the children, working in the large garden, etc.

We then went into the women’s ward of the hospital. They have around 52 beds there, but sometimes they are so full that women must stay on the floor. (They have had as many as 80 women at one time). The person who was giving us the tour said that generally the women come in earlier than the men do, so they can often help the women. Most of the women who come in are HIV positive, some have TB, some have other illnesses. When they are healthy enough to go home, they can take their child or children, if they brought any into the home. The ones who do not make it, their children stay in the home.

They told us that the men usually don’t come to the hospital with enough time. She said that it is common for a man to come in extremely sick in the morning and pass away by that night – usually from AIDS. There is also a separate men’s ward that has about 52 beds, but they have also had somewhere near 80 men admitted at once.

Chad and I left feeling so helpless and very emotional. Even as I am writing this, I am fighting back the tears. Those babies are lucky enough to be in a home where they are being fed and where they are receiving ARV (meds for HIV), but they are still in an institution, rarely being held and played with. Most, if not all of those children will never know the love of a family, the hug of a father or the kiss of a mother. And this, I should state, is one of the better homes in Zambia. We have visited other homes here where there are more than one child to a crib, where there isn’t enough food for each child, where there is no water to wash the clothes and where there is no one to pick up a crying baby. These children that we saw today, are better off then millions of other children here in Zambia and that is unacceptable.

I wanted to share this for a few reasons. One is because I think we can partner with this home in a few different ways. They had asked us if we were willing to take in babies who were HIV negative, as they are not able to care for babies who are HIV negative. We, of course, said that we would gladly take in any child under the age of 5 years old (as our house is just not set up to care for older children) who was negative. We also asked if we could bring them any child who comes to us who tests HIV positive, as we are not set up to care for HIV positive children. She said they would gladly take in any HIV positive child. I think this is a great partnership..and very exciting for us as an organization.

I also wanted to share this with you as a reminder to all of us why we are doing what we are doing. Chad and I went away from that meeting feeling overwhelmed, helpless, emotional, yet surprisingly passionate. We have the ability to give the children in our home the best care in Zambia. Our children are played with, fed, loved, hugged, and kissed daily. Our children have the medicine that they need when they need it, they have medical care when they need it, they have food in their bellies, and smiles on their faces. Our children LOVE to sing, and dance, and colour, and play. Our children are learning to swim, to write, to run, and to play games. Our children are learning about Jesus and about His love for them. Our children are prayed for daily. Our children are wanted by families in Canada. Our children are valued and loved.

As soon as we came back from our trip, I just wanted to put my arms around each of our children and tell them just how much they are loved!

This experience has given us new passion for this job and these children. Chad and I went away from that saying that we will do absolutely anything in our power to help the children of Zambia. The children, all of the children, deserve more than this. We will do our best to get answers from government officials, to get more children into our home, to refer the children currently in our home and to complete these adoptions that have been started. We will pray constantly for God’s help in this task, as it is not an easy one. We are called to care for orphans and Jesus said “I tell you the truth, whatever you do for one of the least of these, you do unto me”. I believe this wholeheartedly. Chad and I feel that this is a ministry worth believing in, working for and praying for and we will do all we can on this end to get this program running.

As I am writing this, my co-workers in Canada are preparing for a big fundraiser banquet for our 'Faith Village' project in Ethiopia. The timing couldn't be more perfect, in my opinion. I have seen the need for something like this project in the country of Zambia. I will now pray that it is a success in Ethiopia so that someday, we can hopefully build the same village to support orphans and families here in Zambia, the way we will in Ethiopia. (if you want to learn more about Faith Village you can check out their website at http://www.nopoverty.ca/). I am not trying to sell anything here, but so many people ask about tangible ways in which they can help...and this is simply one way.

We are hoping to be able to go back to Mother Teresa's in the next few weeks. We all felt so touched by that visit and wished we could do more. Even if we spend one hour every couple of weeks just playing with their babies, holding them, feeding them, and showing them love, that will help..in some small way. There is just no way that we can walk away from that experience unchanged...so we will act.

I know a lot of you are praying for us and for this organization and for these children and I just wanted to say thank you for your support. It's days like today where we really need it, so thank you for that!