May 2025

Nicole's column Dear all, Visits have been very busy in recent months. blessings, a girl, was born on 5 december. Her mother is just 19 years old and she didn't know she was pregnant. Unexpected there was a baby. The family could not take care of the girl and that is why they brought her to Social Welfare, Then she was placed in our house. The first month she did super well but in mid -January she suddenly got a high fever. After a visit to the hospital, she was admitted and received antibiotics via the drip. After 5 days she was allowed to go home. However, the high fever was after 2 days back. So we brought her back to the hospital, This time another hospital has more experience with babies. She was admitted again and it soon became apparent that she had meningitis. After 2 For weeks a high doses of antibiotics via the drip, she seemed to be recovering again and she was allowed to go home to come back for medicines every day. But soon it went downhill with Madalitso and the high fever was back. This time she also had difficulties with breathing and she had to put the oxygen. In the end she almost has 3 months located in the hospital. A lot of worries, many trips to the hospital and a lot of extra costs. In the hospitals in Malawi you have to have a caregiver yourself and therefore there had to be 24 be a nanny in the hospital hours a day. She is now a little more than a week at home and luckily she is doing well. We do have to wait and see if and how much damage did the meningitus cause. Madalitso Tanaka In between, the flu and cold came by and if there 1 Everyone often starts to get sick so that means a lot of coughing and a lot of snot noses. But luckily everyone is currently better. We currently have 21 children in the house. Tanaka ice is 3 weeks ago, A 3-year-old girl that 7 kg weighs. Her father died and her mother left her great grandmother. Nobody knows where the mother is currently and the great grandmother is unable to take care of her although she did not agree with that herself. Tanaka was so incredibly malnourished that people from a nearby village had warned the police. The police informed Social Welfare and they were going to visit the great grandmother. The grandma thought it was going well and that Tanaka did not have to go to the hospital. When asked how often Tanaka was eating, she sometimes replied 1 a day, sometimes 1 times per 2 days. Social Welfare decided to consult with the village head and he agreed that it was better for Tanaka to be placed in an orphanage. Under pressure from the village head they took Tanaka. When she came to us we first brought her to the hospital where she was admitted for a week. In addition to her serious malnutrition, she also had an infection in her blood and very severe diarrhea. In the meantime she is doing much better and she is already 2 pounds arrived in addition to good nutrition with us, she also still gets a special peanut butter from the hospital with high calories. Despite that Tanaka 3 years old she is not talking. She can walk very small pieces but her legs are still weak. She is huge in her development and it will take a long time before she will look like a healthy 3-year-old girl. Tanaka . Then of course I am also very grateful that a new house has come my way so that we can expand in the future and help even more children. Something still needs to be renovated and an outbuilding and a water tower have to be added, but the new Afriana House has a lot of potential. For example, there is a double garage with a roof at the front of the house. This is where we will make three bedrooms and a bathroom. A kitchen still needs to be placed and a tiled floor. Some ceilings are being replaced and two more bathrooms are added. Furthermore, somewhat smaller adjustments. When all this is realized, we have quite a bit more space. The great thing is that there is still a wasteland of land behind the house, which turned out to be from the government. This has since promised that we can buy it. All this also took me a lot of time to deliver all the paperwork that is supposed to be there. If everything goes according to plan, I will receive the key to the new house at the end of April and the contractor can get started. So another exciting time is coming. My girls are doing very well. Teleza has been sick more often lately and her oxygen seems slightly lower than before. I keep an eye on her and hopefully it will keep going. We will return to the Netherlands at the end of June for Teleza's annual inspection and time in the Netherlands. Maria is almost finished with primary school and looks great to go to high school. She completed her final project for primary school in December. She has done research into children in Malawi who are laid out. Diana is in the first year of high school and is doing super well, Only counting remains a difficult profession for her, but with some extra help she will get there. Her perseverance is huge! All in all, it has been a very busy period and we look forward to family time in the Netherlands. Many thanks for everything. Kind regards from Malawi.