Dear COL Friends,
Sometimes God’s blessings come most unexpectedly. Such was the experience of Vanessa and Jo on their visit to the PCEA (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) Women’s Guild. After their trip to Kikuyu Hospital, Vanessa and Jo made their way to the Women’s Guild to discuss a potential partnership for the Girls’ Health Retreats. (Last year ChangeOneLife started laying the groundwork to conduct Girls’ Health/Sex Education Retreats in parts of Kenya. The hope is that the retreats will empower young women through education and further prevent the spread of HIV). Vanessa and Jo’s meeting with the Women’s Guild brought hope for the retreats further in the future. During the time of their meetings with the Guild, however, yet another opportunity presented itself.
A woman affiliated with The Alliance Girls’ School, a prestigious all-girls’ school located near Kikuyu Hospital, mentioned to Vanessa and Jo that The Alliance School may have interest in hosting one of the retreats. Not too long after their conversation with the woman, Vanessa and Jo received a call from the Presbyterian Chaplain at the school. The woman had contacted the Chaplain, and the Chaplain had arranged a meeting for Vanessa and Jo with the principal. The principal was very excited about potentially hosting one of the retreats and made mention that it could be done as early as the latter part of this year if a teacher could be found to teach the curriculum. After the meeting Vanessa and Jo’s host mentioned she knew of a potential PhD candidate, who could teach the curriculum. Vanessa met with the candidate on January 24th.
God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.
ChangeOneLife is looking forward to potentially working with The Alliance School in 2010. ChangeOneLife also looks forward to working with the PCEA Women’s Guild in the future and potentially hosting these retreats in more places throughout Kenya and East Africa.
Please stay tuned for more on the ”Blog Sagas from Kenya.”
Blessings,
Sarah Parsons
ChangeOneLife/Lead Blogger
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.
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 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.
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.
Jo and Vanessa arrived at Kikuyu Hospital on January 11th, and little did they know they would see such progress on the Mothers’ Milk Project as they observed. The “Dynamic Trio” (as the three staff persons heading up the project are called) has made the Mothers’ Milk Project take flight. When COL first donated funds last year, Kikuyu Hospital and its staff worked tirelessly to identify four families (from a pool of about 100) to receive infant formula throughout the year. The four babies (and their families) who were identified were: Little Dodson, David, Muturi, and Tanzy. (Stay tuned to the next blog post to learn about their stories).
Jo reported that prior to their visit “hopelessness was so thick.” With the combination of the Mothers’ Milk Project, Vanessa and Jo’s visit, and some advice from Nurse and Reverend Jo to eat leafy greens and get at least seven hugs a day, the patients of Kikuyu have become more hopeful spirits. Many thanks to Kikuyu Hospital and the ”Dynamic Trio” for all their hard work. And many many thanks to Vanessa and Jo, as well, on the wonderful work and reports.
COL helped jump start the Mother’s Milk project at Kikuyu hospital last year. As of last week Vanessa and Jo reported that there are currently four babies at the hospital receiving infant formula from COL contributions. One of the babies is little David. Little David is seen here with his parents, both of whom are HIV positive. David’s mother is grateful for the formula she is receiving. She was afraid of breast feeding little David, who is HIV-negative, and this has allowed her a way to provide David with the nutrients he needs without the risk of passing on to him the HIV virus. She is relieved, and it seems little David is pretty happy about it too. [See picture below]. 
