Column Nicole

We have just returned from a month's holiday in the Netherlands. Teleza had her annual check-up at the hospital in Leiden and everything looked good. She can stay away from the doctors for another year. If there are any problems in the meantime, we have to come back. Maria also had a small intervention. The nasal shells in her nose were always swollen and enlarged, making breathing through the nose difficult. Under anesthesia, the ENT doctor has burned out the mucous membrane around the nasal shells, which would have to decrease the swelling. The girls had a great time in the Netherlands although there was a lot of rain and the temperature was a bit disappointing. As soon as we returned it was immediately busy with anything and everything. At the beginning of June we have 2 Got new babies from Youth Care. Chisomo was found in an underground toilet. They were able to find the mother and she has been arrested. He has about 9 Located in the underground toilet for hours before it could be taken out. He barely survived. This has had the necessary consequences on his health. The first 10 He has been in the hospital for days and was treated for a serious infection. In July he was admitted to the hospital for breathing problems and currently he is in the hospital again in the oxygen for breathing problems again. It looks like his lungs are damaged and the doctor now think that a surgical procedure will be needed. The other baby is called Innocent. Innocent was found on a garbage dump rolled in plastic. He has also had a lot of hospital visits. This week another antibiotic cure for a bacterial infection. In addition, we have another girl of 2 years old who has tuberculosis and a boy of 4 The HIV is positive. All this together ensures a lot of time in different hospitals. There were also agreements with youth care planned. First with youth care for the Lilongwe region to discuss the situation of the children in our house. Also while we were in the Netherlands there are again 2 new children. Most children are found and there are only a few houses in Lilongwe where these children can go. I always like to stay informed whether there are any developments about finding the parents of these children. In the first instance, the children are often placed for a short time, Unfortunately the parents are almost never found. The parents often leave the children consciously because of difficult social and/or financial circumstances. Then also various agreements with youth care that work at the national level. This department is about the children's adoptions. If Youth Care Lilongwe indicates that the child can go for adoption and no family can be found in Malawi, this department will take over and will look for a family at international level. This includes a lot of work. There are at the beginning of June 2 children adopted from our house 2 different families from America. We are currently working on the adoption of a brother with 2 sister by a family from America and 2 Sisters by a family from Brazil. We currently have 19 children in the house and our goal is to find a family for every child. This can be the biological family or a new family through adoption. I am very grateful for the good relationship with Jeugdzorg. This good cooperation greatly increases the chances for the children to find a family! The children are currently still on vacation, but go back to school at the beginning of September. Maria and Diana are today (14 augustus) started school again. They were really looking forward to it always likes to go to school. We hope again this year 6 of 7 to be able to send children to a good private school so that they can receive good education. In any case, the children are not because they really like to go to school! Greetings Nicole