Column Nicole
Hello everyone, Family update Diana and Maria are doing well, they are almost on Christmas vacation and are looking forward to it. It has been extremely warm in Malawi in recent months (daily above 35 degrees) and that makes the long school days extra tiring. They are having a great time at school. Maria is doing well academically and has made many friends at school in a short time. There is something on her program every weekend; a sleepover or children's party. Diana is having a slightly more difficult time academically, but fortunately she receives a lot of help. She enjoys school and the daily rhythm does her very well. Diana met her biological father for the first time last month. Her parents separated when the mother 3 months pregnant. After her mother's death, it was extremely difficult to find the father because the other family members knew little about him. After years of searching, we succeeded and Diana was finally able to meet him, an important moment for her! Teleza was very ill in September. She spent a week in the hospital with severe diarrhea and vomiting. She has recovered, but since she has been ill her oxygen percentage has dropped considerably. I have regular contact with doctors in the Netherlands to discuss whether Teleza should come to the Netherlands for a check-up or not; A constant concern. Fortunately, despite her low oxygen percentage, she is doing well. She likes to play with the other children in the house and dances as soon as she hears music. Teenagers We also have younger children in the house 4 teenagers. These girls all come from very difficult situations. We try to help them by sending them back to school so that they can build a better life for themselves after their studies. Most secondary schools in Malawi are boarding schools and therefore these girls are at school most of the year. Katie is 18 years old and has lived with me since she was 12. Both parents are deceased. Her father's aunt had taken her in to do the housework and take care of the children. Katie was treated poorly and did not go to school. When the aunt moved elsewhere, she left Katie on the street. Katie has now completed high school and we are currently waiting for the results to see whether she has passed. Madalo is 19 years old and has lived with me since she was 14. The Madalo parents are very poor and had no money to send all the children to school. That's why Madalo had to work every day so that there was enough food to feed everyone. Madalo was treated poorly by her father and decided to live with her grandmother in the village so she could go back to school. When she was in the last year of primary school, her grandmother died. She was extremely sad, partly because this meant that she could not go back to school. She then came to live here and has now completed high school. We are currently waiting for the results to see if she passed. Phemphero is 23 years old and has lived here since she was 19. Phemphero is an orphan and at a very young age 2 got pregnant once 2 different men. Because there was no family to help her, she worked in prostitution to survive. She came to live here with both children and went back to school. She has now completed her second year of high school and is working hard to improve the lives of herself and both daughters. Dinah is 15 years old and came to live here when she was 14. She is an orphan and mother of one 2- year-old girl. Dinah lived in her village with her daughter, but due to the difficult circumstances, that was no longer possible. She has decided to give her daughter up for adoption and go back to school herself. She will start her freshman year of high school in January 2022. Kind regards, Nicole.
