Column Nicole
Hello everyone, It's April and we have a lot of kids at home right now, to be precise 23 children. Last 2 weeks were very busy. On Tuesday 26 In March I received a call from youth care to pick up a three-year-old girl. Her mother is a prostitute in Lilongwe and stole money from a customer. The police arrested her and she was already sitting 2 days in a prison with her daughter. A prison in Malawi is very different than in the Netherlands, a square cage with bars in front. No toilet or room to shower. The police called youth care because the conditions are far too bad for one 3- year-old girl. She is now with us temporarily until youth care finds family who can care for her until the mother is released from prison. The girl is doing well, she is happy in our house and doesn't ask about her mother. Not very unusual, many children here in the city grow up with little love and care from parents. They often have to take care of themselves from a very young age and are happy when they come somewhere where they can just be children and where they are well taken care of.. Two days later I received another call from youth care. He were 2 brothers found on the street. The youngest is 1 years and is the oldest 3 year old. They were walking around in a dangerous slum and were brought to the police by some women. The eldest could tell a little about what had happened. The father hit the mother very much, so much that the mother decided to return to her native village. When the mother left, the father took the children somewhere and left them there. They walked around for days looking for their house, but they didn't know the way back home. Then they were noticed by the women and taken to the police. The police called youth care and youth care placed them in our home. The police are currently looking for the parents, but the chance that they will be found is very small. The youngest boy was in bad shape when he came to us, he was covered in scabies and has a very swollen belly. He has clearly had too little food for a long time and that has had a big impact on him. When his plate is empty he starts screaming and panics. He will slowly have to learn to trust again that there will be a next meal and that the plate just eaten was not the last. The older brother does better, he understands better that there is now enough food and that he does not have to worry about it. He plays all day and says he won't leave us again. On Friday 5 April I was called again. A mother had died just after giving birth to twins. The two girls were sent to hospital in Lilongwe because they were premature. Unfortunately, the next day one of the two girls also died. The second girl did better and was released from the hospital on Friday weighing 1,7 kg! The father already takes care of the three brothers and sisters and cannot handle taking care of this little girl as well. The grandmother is very old and can no longer walk, so that's not an option either. The girl has been placed in our home and the father will decide in the future whether the girl will return to the village 2- age or whether she goes up for adoption. The father asked me to give her a name and I named her Amara. For now, we will wait until children leave our home before accepting any more new placements. Two sisters who were found last year and whose parents have never been found will go to America for adoption this month and will leave our house on 22 April. At the beginning of May, the twins are scheduled to be placed back in their native village. They are spacious 2 years old and the family says they are happy to take care of them, very exciting because the family is extremely poor, but returning to the village of birth and growing up with their biological family members is always the best option. I would like to thank everyone very much for all the donations and of course the volunteers who spend so much time in the Malawishop. Without your efforts, my work here in Malawi would be impossible. Kind regards, Nicole
