Dear COL Friends,

In Part II of the blog sagas from Kenya, I wanted to share with you some stories from Kikuyu Hospital. After their visit Vanessa and Jo had some beautiful stories to share with the board about the families and babies who have received infant formula at Kikuyu, provided by COL funds from the Mothers’ Milk Project. These are their stories.

Dadison

Baby Dadison started life weighing 2.6kg. For fear of transmission of the HIV virus through her breast milk, his mother fed Dadison cow milk. Dadison’s mother’s CD4 count was 165 when she first came to Kikuyu. Dadison’s mother is a strong, heart-full woman, who, before Dadison’s birth, took on an orphaned mentally disabled young boy she found on the streets of Nairobi. She believes strongly in “sharing with those less fortunate.” Dadison’s mother is close with her sister, because, as is common in African culture when a young woman gets HIV, her mother refuses to talk with her any longer. Her sister has agreed to raise Dodson shall anything happen to his mother.

Dadison is currently doing very well. With the help of the infant formula provided by COL, Baby Dadison now weighs a healthy 4.9kg. He and his mother will continue to receive the infant formula until Dodson is old enough to be weaned off milk. Dadison’s mother’s greatest wish and hope are clothes for growing Dadison, who seems to be growing very fast.

David

David’s story was sent to us earlier last month while Vanessa and Jo were still in Kenya. You can learn about David’s story by going to the January 22nd blog post.

Muturi

Muturi was only two-weeks-old when Vanessa and Jo visited Kikuyu hospital. Muturi’s mother’s story is both heart-breaking and hopeful. His mother started receiving ARV’s two years ago when she first came to the hospital in a comatose state. She was unaware at the time that she was HIV positive. The coma was brought on by meningitis and pneumonia, as an ultimate result of a weakened immune system, weakened by AIDS. The hospital notified her husband that she was HIV positive. While still in a very weakened state, her husband impregnated her, and then left.

Muturi’s grandmother and sister, however, have been very supportive of Muturi’s mother since the incident. Muturi’s mother is now much healthier. Her CD4 count, which was 0 upon her arrival at the hospital two years ago, has now increased to a more healthy level with the help and dedication of the Kikuyu staff. (CD4′s are the receptors on immune system T-cells to which the HIV virus attaches. When CD4 counts are low it indicates a weakened immune system).
Muturi is healthy. He currently weighs 2.9kg, and continues to grow. Mituri’s mother’s greatest wish is for her sister, who has agreed to care for Muturi should anything happen to his mom. Muturi’s mom wants her sister to get an education. “She deserves it,” she told Vanessa and Jo.

Tanzy

Tanzy is the only baby of the four receiving infant formula from COL’s Mothers’ Milk Project, who is a girl. Tanzy weighed only 2.3kg at birth, and was severely dehydrated and weak. She now weighs, however, a healthy 4.0kg at 2 months-old. Tanzy’s father is HIV negative while her mother is positive. The family, however, still remains together, which is very unique in a culture where wives are usually abandoned if they are found to be HIV positive.

Thank you COL friends once again for all your support. Please stay tuned for more on the “Blog Sagas from Kenya.”

-Sarah Parsons
ChangeOneLife/ Lead Blogger

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 7:38 pm and is filed under AIDS Alive Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.