Finally getting around to writing about what’s been happening over the past few days. It’s been rough but I have found, or should I say reminded, God’s mercies are new each and every morning…AMEN!
This will be a brief telling of events because honestly some of you couldn’t imagine some of what I’m going to tell you and there isn’t enough room here to go into the “cultural” aspect of it. Please trust me that what I’m about to tell you is true.
Maybe I’ll begin with a happy moment. Last Friday we had a small pizza party with friends, Joseck (from Luanda), Agnes (from Wasamarie project), Rosemary (from Diversified Leaders project) and us. We had an early dinner but conversation continued late into the evening. Agnes left around 8 pm, Joseck was staying overnight and Rosemary ended up staying the night because we stopped chatting at 2 am! It was wonderful to have people to talk with, discuss plans and vent frustrations with.
The next day however Joseck got a call from his wife saying a woman brought her baby to her with burns over her body. The woman had taken the child to the local clinic and they had wrapped the burns (side note….this country needs some sort of medical system put into place and ENFORCED!). We told them to take the child to the doctors we work with in their area (Raphael and Edward) but the next we heard the child had died due to the injuries.
This same day we met with a young woman we are helping through vocational school. She had complained a couple of weeks ago about not feeling well so we sent her to our doctor. She told us she had a bad case of typhoid and was on medication. We found out however she was actually pregnant. When confronted with this info at first she refused to admit it but eventually said she was and would come talk with us. When she came she told us the same day the doctor told her she was pregnant (6 months along) she went straight to a local government hospital (one where locals say you go to die, not be treated) where they gave her drugs to abort the baby…no instructions, no counseling, no follow up visit. This young lady left the hospital, took the drugs and aborted the baby. That’s all I have to say on that. We did tell the girl to go to the doctor for a check up to make sure things were ok and sure enough she needed surgery to complete the procedure. We are now looking into counseling for her to attend.
Then we were told the woman we had gotten into a hostel (in Nairobi) to stay while she receives radiation treatment was being kicked out of the hostel because her injury was infected and smelled bad. We complied with their (the hostel) demands (got the woman on antibiotics for the infection-which should have been done when the hospital saw her anyway and why it wasn’t we have no idea, hired someone to check in on her every day and made sure the bandages were being changed twice a day) but they still refused to let her stay. This hostel is supposed to be “the place” to have patients stay while undergoing treatment at the nearby hospital yet the day we visited they had no water on the compound for drinking or bathing! The cost of the hostel also included meals….tea and bread (dry according to the patient) for breakfast, lunch only on weekends consisting of ugali (flour and water) and cabbage and dinner of ugali and cabbage again. No fruits, greens, protein for sick patients so we were determined to buy her fruits and veggies and have the caretaker make sure she ate them. Oh and the hostel supplies only the bed frame, we had to purchase all sheets, blankets, toiletries, dishes for meals, etc.
While trying to figure out why the hostel wouldn’t allow her to stay the director of the place refused to take any of our calls, making the frustration levels go up even higher. But I believe God works things out for His glory and our good….we found another hospital which would allow her to stay while undergoing treatment. She’ll be moved this Saturday to the new facility. Another side note….I have some video of Anastasia which I’ll be working on…she is and will continue to be a testimony to God’s grace and mercy for everyone around her!
What a blessing to see a smile on Anastasia’s face during our visit!
That’s enough for now, going over this is giving me a headache. Your prayers are certainly needed and appreciated as we continue to discern God’s will for this ministry. If you’d like to financially help with what is being done through the C4KK Benevolence Fund please visit our Donate page for more information on donating.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, being a part of bringing hope to people and lifting us and them up in prayer.