Cynthia & Faith
March 5, 2018
Today we celebrate the birthday of our grandson, Jack, who turns 10! How can it be! Jack, we are so proud of you and hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled day! We are eager to hear how you celebrated! We love and miss you!
It is a Monday and I am having a hard time remembering what we did this weekend! I know that there are things I want to share but for the life of me I can not think of much. Senior moment! I do know that we went to church and that the singing was particularly good this week. I absolutely love hearing the Kenyans sing in their language. It truly feeds my soul. We also celebrated communion which binds us together as Christians all over the world. It is such a powerful reminder that God loves all people! Mimi and Preston were not thrilled that the service lasted two hours but they survived!
I know what I did today and it was really fun! We hired a car and driver and visited the Baby Centre about 45 minutes away. I wanted to check on Faith and Cynthia, the twins that i helped take care of last year. Some of you may recall that their mother fought for her life and tragically lost the battle. Last year I had to bring them to the baby centre and it was such a difficult day. Their father is elderly, poor, and unable to care for them. We had been hoping that a relative would step up and adopt them but thus far no one has. A Baby Centre is not an orphanage in the sense that the children have no family. At Baby Centre the relatives are free to come and visit and be a part of the children’s lives even though they may presently be unable to care for them. The future for these little girls is very uncertain. The father has taken no interest in them. They are darling of course; but not as strong as I would have liked to have seen. I have to remember that they were premies and so are a bit behind developmentally. However, at one year they are unable to stand if you hold them up by their arms. Their little legs give out. I think that some little walkers that they could use to scoot around in would really help strengthen their legs. So I have decided that this would be a really good use of the First Pres Circle money that was given to me! Walkers are expensive here so I am going to purchase two walkers and then ask the director to purchase some other age appropriate toys. There did not appear to be many toys there. I think that this purchase will not only help the twins but many other little ones as well. Thanks to Circle 2 for their generosity to make this possible! I hope that this meets with their approval! It is not a cow but will help these little ones enormously!
Oh, I just remembered what I did on Friday! It was actually a high light of the trip! I worked in the special needs clinic along with Betsy, Penny, and Betsy’s friend TR! Even Mimi and Preston came along to help entertain the children! I was the greeter and social director for the mothers while they waited to be seen. We blew bubbles, played with light up toys, and loved on the children. The women, an Occupational therapist(Penny), and two physical therapists(Betsy and TR) saw over 30 children that morning. They fit new braces, taught new exercises for Moms to do at home, and gave a lot of encouragement. It is so difficult to have a child with problems anywhere but especially in a developing country. The wonderful off shoot of this clinic is that the Mothers have gotten to know each other and now realize that they are not alone. Just as in the US, they network and help each other in many ways. It was a privilege to see my daughter and daughter-in-law blessing children! One I will long remember!
That afternoon, the three women went with Solomon, the Kenyan PT, to deliver a wheelchair to a child in a village. I have done this before and it is a humbling, gratifying, fun experience. Solomon is able to purchase these chairs because of the generosity of many people who have given to the Faith Fund through the Friends of Tenwek. The Faith Fund was established a few years ago to provide much needed equipment for children in and around Tenwek and is named for a child with spina bifida who had never walked. Because of the Faith Fund she now walks with crutches and goes to school where she is number one in her class.
Sorry to be so long winded! I should write shorter blogs more often! Somedays I am just too tired !
Love to all,
Miriam /Micki
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