Baby Emmanuel struggling to rid himself of the millions of worms that have invaded his tiny body. If he can balance his nourishment and the exiting of the parasites without becoming weaker, his survival chances grow. Keep up prayers. Distributing rice today.
As I write this, Mako has just reported to me that little Emmanuel (the baby with the worm I talked about in the previous post) is filling his diapers with worms – lots of worms – thousands of worms. Both Emily and I kept calling Emmanuel a girl until we learned his name. I guess his tiny tiny body made us think he was a girl.
My doc in the States did some research and sent me an email explaining that there was not a lot of hope but we could try an intensive treatment with the worm pills we had on hand. He also suggested it was many worms and not one worm. He was right. He said, “there’s not a lot of hope but its all you can do”. So given the circumstances we are doing it – and we are seeing results.
We’ve put his mama, Fatu, on vitamins and will try to supplement the baby’s feeding with whatever we can to put food in him, now that the worms are leaving and he will receive food again! I don’t know that he will make it, but for now we are hopeful.
We went to Kroo Bay today and gave them another round of medical supplies, thanks to our last visit to Supplies Over Seas in Kentucky. I plan to visit there again so for more supplies to keep both Kroo Bay and the villages in the upper provinces stocked up.
We gave out more bags of rice to families today and will do more give-outs this afternoon.
James and I found Betsy at her work today and brought her baby food and other baby supplies this morning. Yesterday, Salu and his family visited. We gave them a bag of rice, a little supplement money, and some medications – including worm medication. It was a joyous occasion to see the whole family looking so very healthy. They’ve had a rough life, but are looking so good. Little Salma is growing and shining -going to be 7 years old soon. And their newest daughter looks great! Good results of your help to this family… its working well.
There is slight breeze today and it looks as if rain is possible. I welcome this.
As I write this, Mako has just reported to me that little Emmanuel (the baby with the worm I talked about in the previous post) is filling his diapers with worms – lots of worms – thousands of worms. Both Emily and I kept calling Emmanuel a girl until we learned his name. I guess his tiny tiny body made us think he was a girl.
My doc in the States did some research and sent me an email explaining that there was not a lot of hope but we could try an intensive treatment with the worm pills we had on hand. He also suggested it was many worms and not one worm. He was right. He said, “there’s not a lot of hope but its all you can do”. So given the circumstances we are doing it – and we are seeing results.
We’ve put his mama, Fatu, on vitamins and will try to supplement the baby’s feeding with whatever we can to put food in him, now that the worms are leaving and he will receive food again! I don’t know that he will make it, but for now we are hopeful.
We went to Kroo Bay today and gave them another round of medical supplies, thanks to our last visit to Supplies Over Seas in Kentucky. I plan to visit there again so for more supplies to keep both Kroo Bay and the villages in the upper provinces stocked up.
We gave out more bags of rice to families today and will do more give-outs this afternoon.
James and I found Betsy at her work today and brought her baby food and other baby supplies this morning. Yesterday, Salu and his family visited. We gave them a bag of rice, a little supplement money, and some medications – including worm medication. It was a joyous occasion to see the whole family looking so very healthy. They’ve had a rough life, but are looking so good. Little Salma is growing and shining -going to be 7 years old soon. And their newest daughter looks great! Good results of your help to this family… its working well.
There is slight breeze today and it looks as if rain is possible. I welcome this.
As I write this, Mako has just reported to me that little Emmanuel (the baby with the worm I talked about in the previous post) is filling his diapers with worms – lots of worms – thousands of worms. Both Emily and I kept calling Emmanuel a girl until we learned his name. I guess his tiny tiny body made us think he was a girl.
My doc in the States did some research and sent me an email explaining that there was not a lot of hope but we could try an intensive treatment with the worm pills we had on hand. He also suggested it was many worms and not one worm. He was right. He said, “there’s not a lot of hope but its all you can do”. So given the circumstances we are doing it – and we are seeing results.
We’ve put his mama, Fatu, on vitamins and will try to supplement the baby’s feeding with whatever we can to put food in him, now that the worms are leaving and he will receive food again! I don’t know that he will make it, but for now we are hopeful.
We went to Kroo Bay today and gave them another round of medical supplies, thanks to our last visit to Supplies Over Seas in Kentucky. I plan to visit there again so for more supplies to keep both Kroo Bay and the villages in the upper provinces stocked up.
We gave out more bags of rice to families today and will do more give-outs this afternoon.
James and I found Betsy at her work today and brought her baby food and other baby supplies this morning. Yesterday, Salu and his family visited. We gave them a bag of rice, a little supplement money, and some medications – including worm medication. It was a joyous occasion to see the whole family looking so very healthy. They’ve had a rough life, but are looking so good. Little Salma is growing and shining -going to be 7 years old soon. And their newest daughter looks great! Good results of your help to this family… its working well.
There is slight breeze today and it looks as if rain is possible. I welcome this.
Everyone we meet up with here in Sierra Leone has worms. Some not as bad, some terribly. I am so thankful that we have been able to treat as many as we have. I brought in 600 worm pills this time (purchased @ $3 a pill – thanks to your donations). However, that is such a tiny tiny amount compared to the giant need for more. What we have doesn’t even begin to make a dent in the cases of worms we’ve found here!
Yesterday, in our horrors of horrors, a young mother brought her baby to be prayed for at church. Immediately you could see it was severely malnourished. I mean SEVERELY! It was so thin and face caved in, worse than any of the starving Bangladesh poster children we’ve seen! The mother said the baby nurses very frequently and she’d been feeding it cornmeal in addition. The mother looked healthy. Then we were told the child was 18 months old! It looked to be about 7-9 pounds in weight and maybe 22 inches long! Emily and I were trying to figure out why it was so malnourished, when the mama told us about the baby’s stomach and how it has lumps that move. Then, we lifted up its shirt… Jesus Christ have mercy…what we saw… I will never forget. The child has a tape worm, it has invaded its whole intestine system. You could see this giant worm moving around in her belly. The child is getting no nourishment from the mama that nurses this child constantly, only to feed the worm. The child’s condition is such that it would not survive surgery. The worm medication we have is not enough to conquer this and the child’s weakened state will not survive the effects of the medication. Even if the worm dies, this baby has no strength to pass it, it is bigger than she is. She will die…and soon. Nothing we can do… nothing available. Pray for this child, her short life, her family, her mother trying so hard to feed her baby. One the driving concepts of Nazareth House is the unstoppable Crucifixion that continues. As with John and Mary, the only thing we can do is stay at the foot of the Cross and bear witness to the ongoing sufferings. Some things in this world are not fixable, some things in this world are lost. And those unfixable things and those things that are so lost will be fixed and found in heaven.
Today Emily and I have had to walk away, broken hearted, saying “I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do, we haven’t anything available to help you and there is no where here you can go to get help”
Everyone we meet up with here in Sierra Leone has worms. Some not as bad, some terribly. I am so thankful that we have been able to treat as many as we have. I brought in 600 worm pills this time (purchased @ $3 a pill – thanks to your donations). However, that is such a tiny tiny amount compared to the giant need for more. What we have doesn’t even begin to make a dent in the cases of worms we’ve found here!
Yesterday, in our horrors of horrors, a young mother brought her baby to be prayed for at church. Immediately you could see it was severely malnourished. I mean SEVERELY! It was so thin and face caved in, worse than any of the starving Bangladesh poster children we’ve seen! The mother said the baby nurses very frequently and she’d been feeding it cornmeal in addition. The mother looked healthy. Then we were told the child was 18 months old! It looked to be about 7-9 pounds in weight and maybe 22 inches long! Emily and I were trying to figure out why it was so malnourished, when the mama told us about the baby’s stomach and how it has lumps that move. Then, we lifted up its shirt… Jesus Christ have mercy…what we saw… I will never forget. The child has a tape worm, it has invaded its whole intestine system. You could see this giant worm moving around in her belly. The child is getting no nourishment from the mama that nurses this child constantly, only to feed the worm. The child’s condition is such that it would not survive surgery. The worm medication we have is not enough to conquer this and the child’s weakened state will not survive the effects of the medication. Even if the worm dies, this baby has no strength to pass it, it is bigger than she is. She will die…and soon. Nothing we can do… nothing available. Pray for this child, her short life, her family, her mother trying so hard to feed her baby. One the driving concepts of Nazareth House is the unstoppable Crucifixion that continues. As with John and Mary, the only thing we can do is stay at the foot of the Cross and bear witness to the ongoing sufferings. Some things in this world are not fixable, some things in this world are lost. And those unfixable things and those things that are so lost will be fixed and found in heaven.
Today Emily and I have had to walk away, broken hearted, saying “I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do, we haven’t anything available to help you and there is no where here you can go to get help”
Everyone we meet up with here in Sierra Leone has worms. Some not as bad, some terribly. I am so thankful that we have been able to treat as many as we have. I brought in 600 worm pills this time (purchased @ $3 a pill – thanks to your donations). However, that is such a tiny tiny amount compared to the giant need for more. What we have doesn’t even begin to make a dent in the cases of worms we’ve found here!
Yesterday, in our horrors of horrors, a young mother brought her baby to be prayed for at church. Immediately you could see it was severely malnourished. I mean SEVERELY! It was so thin and face caved in, worse than any of the starving Bangladesh poster children we’ve seen! The mother said the baby nurses very frequently and she’d been feeding it cornmeal in addition. The mother looked healthy. Then we were told the child was 18 months old! It looked to be about 7-9 pounds in weight and maybe 22 inches long! Emily and I were trying to figure out why it was so malnourished, when the mama told us about the baby’s stomach and how it has lumps that move. Then, we lifted up its shirt… Jesus Christ have mercy…what we saw… I will never forget. The child has a tape worm, it has invaded its whole intestine system. You could see this giant worm moving around in her belly. The child is getting no nourishment from the mama that nurses this child constantly, only to feed the worm. The child’s condition is such that it would not survive surgery. The worm medication we have is not enough to conquer this and the child’s weakened state will not survive the effects of the medication. Even if the worm dies, this baby has no strength to pass it, it is bigger than she is. She will die…and soon. Nothing we can do… nothing available. Pray for this child, her short life, her family, her mother trying so hard to feed her baby. One the driving concepts of Nazareth House is the unstoppable Crucifixion that continues. As with John and Mary, the only thing we can do is stay at the foot of the Cross and bear witness to the ongoing sufferings. Some things in this world are not fixable, some things in this world are lost. And those unfixable things and those things that are so lost will be fixed and found in heaven.
Today Emily and I have had to walk away, broken hearted, saying “I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do, we haven’t anything available to help you and there is no where here you can go to get help”
Greetings from Sierra Leone.
I’m not sure if there will be pictures on this Blog Post, as the server is so slow… I can’t imagine they will ever upload – but anything can happen, I guess.
We arrived in late on Tuesday night and the Ferry refused to go. It wanted to be a full capacity and though we were only a few cars short, it would not set sail. So we had to find an alternate way to Freetown. We tried to drive around but were interrupted so we ended up finding a place to stay for the night and making the trip to Freetown by Ferry the next day.
This is Africa (T. I.A.), things don’t go when you expect and once on African soil you are on African time. It’s a big lesson on patience. You don’t get ready to go, you get ready to Wait! Waiting is a way of life.
We are happy to be back with our Sierra Leone Nazareth House Family and are thankful to see they are all in reasonably good health.
We are not pushing things, as they will get done as we get them done. There is so much to do and so much to interrupt us – We live in the moment.
James and Fr. Seraphim enjoyed some goatlip tea on the porch of St. Laurence House while Kadijah, Emily and I visited the market to stock up on food supply.
I had hoped to post more often this trip, but I’m not so sure this will happen. The server is so slow that it seems impossible. I will try to give brief text updates as I can, rather than full scale posts. This may be easier. Everything is harder for those who live in Africa. Grocery shopping in the hot sun takes all day, washing laundry by hand takes all morning, nothing is easy. You can’t just say, “I’m going to run to store and grab what I need” Its an all day procedure. You have arrange transportation, fight the perpetual traffic jammed streets of Freetown, make sure that the people at the place you are going have showed up. It’s not easy.
Today, the heat has cast a spell on us all. We all are very sluggish, falling asleep in various places throughout the house. Roo fell over asleep sitting up in a chair, Fr. Seraphim and Emily have retired to their respective rooms. Kadijah and I have taken over the living room couch and chairs. Both girls just came home from school and straight to bed. It is very hot and our energy has been zapped. When you must wait for everything to coordinate in order to do your work, and the heat is extreme, the waiting gives way to sleep.
We’ll take this day in rest, and kick it in again tomorrow.
Greetings from Sierra Leone.
I’m not sure if there will be pictures on this Blog Post, as the server is so slow… I can’t imagine they will ever upload – but anything can happen, I guess.
We arrived in late on Tuesday night and the Ferry refused to go. It wanted to be a full capacity and though we were only a few cars short, it would not set sail. So we had to find an alternate way to Freetown. We tried to drive around but were interrupted so we ended up finding a place to stay for the night and making the trip to Freetown by Ferry the next day.
This is Africa (T. I.A.), things don’t go when you expect and once on African soil you are on African time. It’s a big lesson on patience. You don’t get ready to go, you get ready to Wait! Waiting is a way of life.
We are happy to be back with our Sierra Leone Nazareth House Family and are thankful to see they are all in reasonably good health.
We are not pushing things, as they will get done as we get them done. There is so much to do and so much to interrupt us – We live in the moment.
James and Fr. Seraphim enjoyed some goatlip tea on the porch of St. Laurence House while Kadijah, Emily and I visited the market to stock up on food supply.
I had hoped to post more often this trip, but I’m not so sure this will happen. The server is so slow that it seems impossible. I will try to give brief text updates as I can, rather than full scale posts. This may be easier. Everything is harder for those who live in Africa. Grocery shopping in the hot sun takes all day, washing laundry by hand takes all morning, nothing is easy. You can’t just say, “I’m going to run to store and grab what I need” Its an all day procedure. You have arrange transportation, fight the perpetual traffic jammed streets of Freetown, make sure that the people at the place you are going have showed up. It’s not easy.
Today, the heat has cast a spell on us all. We all are very sluggish, falling asleep in various places throughout the house. Roo fell over asleep sitting up in a chair, Fr. Seraphim and Emily have retired to their respective rooms. Kadijah and I have taken over the living room couch and chairs. Both girls just came home from school and straight to bed. It is very hot and our energy has been zapped. When you must wait for everything to coordinate in order to do your work, and the heat is extreme, the waiting gives way to sleep.
We’ll take this day in rest, and kick it in again tomorrow.
Greetings from Sierra Leone.
I’m not sure if there will be pictures on this Blog Post, as the server is so slow… I can’t imagine they will ever upload – but anything can happen, I guess.
We arrived in late on Tuesday night and the Ferry refused to go. It wanted to be a full capacity and though we were only a few cars short, it would not set sail. So we had to find an alternate way to Freetown. We tried to drive around but were interrupted so we ended up finding a place to stay for the night and making the trip to Freetown by Ferry the next day.
This is Africa (T. I.A.), things don’t go when you expect and once on African soil you are on African time. It’s a big lesson on patience. You don’t get ready to go, you get ready to Wait! Waiting is a way of life.
We are happy to be back with our Sierra Leone Nazareth House Family and are thankful to see they are all in reasonably good health.
We are not pushing things, as they will get done as we get them done. There is so much to do and so much to interrupt us – We live in the moment.
James and Fr. Seraphim enjoyed some goatlip tea on the porch of St. Laurence House while Kadijah, Emily and I visited the market to stock up on food supply.
I had hoped to post more often this trip, but I’m not so sure this will happen. The server is so slow that it seems impossible. I will try to give brief text updates as I can, rather than full scale posts. This may be easier. Everything is harder for those who live in Africa. Grocery shopping in the hot sun takes all day, washing laundry by hand takes all morning, nothing is easy. You can’t just say, “I’m going to run to store and grab what I need” Its an all day procedure. You have arrange transportation, fight the perpetual traffic jammed streets of Freetown, make sure that the people at the place you are going have showed up. It’s not easy.
Today, the heat has cast a spell on us all. We all are very sluggish, falling asleep in various places throughout the house. Roo fell over asleep sitting up in a chair, Fr. Seraphim and Emily have retired to their respective rooms. Kadijah and I have taken over the living room couch and chairs. Both girls just came home from school and straight to bed. It is very hot and our energy has been zapped. When you must wait for everything to coordinate in order to do your work, and the heat is extreme, the waiting gives way to sleep.
We’ll take this day in rest, and kick it in again tomorrow.
