Column Nicole
Hello everyone, It's December and we're in the middle of hunger season. The next harvest won't come until April at the earliest. Life here is extremely difficult; there are almost no jobs, the currency continues to depreciate causing prices to continue to rise. A lot of babies and children are found. Grace is one 4 birthday girl who was found last month in one of the slums in Lilongwe. The mother told her that she was leaving to do some shopping but did not return. Grace went looking for her but couldn't find her way back to her house. A few women who saw that she was alone took her to the police. There she stayed 3 waiting for her mother for days but no one came. The police then called youth services and Grace was placed in our home. We are now 4 weeks later and the mother has still not been found. Gracious is approx 10 months old and was found in a park in Lilongwe at the end of November. He sat on the grass alone. When passers-by saw him, they started looking for the mother, but she was nowhere to be found. They took him to the police station and he was then placed in our home. There is no trace of his mother. Duwa also came to our house at the end of November. Duwa is approx 18 months old. She was also found in one of the slums in Lilongwe. There is also no trace of her mother. Esther also came in November. Her mother died during childbirth. The family left the hospital for the mother's funeral. They left Esther behind because she was ill and had to stay in the hospital. The family did not return. Youth care has managed to track down the father, but he is not interested in the girl. Esther has been extremely ill, she has a severe cow's milk and lactose allergy. Fortunately, we found this out in time and she now receives a baby food based on soy milk. And finally, Fazile also joined us in November, a two-month-old boy. His mother has serious mental problems. The mother left him at youth care and left. No one knows where she is right now. And as if this wasn't enough, we have the first one 2 weeks of December 4 4 babies were added. blessings, Rebecca, Thandi in Grace. All 4 less than one month old. Madalitso has a mother who 19 years old. She didn't know she was pregnant, developed abdominal pain and gave birth to a baby before arriving at the hospital. Rabecca is her mother's 7th child. The mother also gave birth en route to a local hospital. Once there, she was immediately sent to a hospital in the capital due to complications. She died en route. Thandi was born in a hospital in Lilongwe, she was born prematurely and was therefore admitted to the baby ward. After her admission, the mother left and never returned. Grace is currently only 5 days old. Her mother gave birth to her at a local hospital and then threw her into an underground toilet. Fortunately, other women heard the baby crying and were able to rescue her from the toilet. There is no trace of the mother. The stories are heartbreaking and that is why it is so important that organizations like Afriana exist. The government does not have its own children's homes and is therefore completely dependent on organizations like ours to give these children a future. We care for these children with love and pleasure so that they have a better chance of a future. I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from warm Malawi. I would also like to thank everyone for all their support in any way. Without your support I cannot achieve this work in Malawi. I'm so incredibly grateful that I can do this work and everything through your support, together with you, can bring a change in the lives of these incredibly vulnerable children. Love Nicole
