The room has 8 baby beds and we had only 3 small babies. But since the beginning of this month, we got several new babies coming in.. Their stories are all so sad. We got a phonecall from a health centre, there was a baby born and the mother has a mental illness. We know the mother from before, she had twins and we were asked by the authorities to take the twins. We had tried the relatives, but nobody wanted to care for them. Now we went to get the newborn baby, the mother was very happy to see us again and was very okay with us taking her baby.....
This morning a newborn baby was brought by the midwife of another health centre, the mother had died after the delivery..and the family didn't know what to do with this pre-mature baby at home. It is a little girl, we took her to the doctor, because the cord was infected, the baby is now on IV. medication, but drinks well.
Another little baby boy was brought, his mother also died after the delivery and the families were arguing about the dowry, because that was not paid yet. So the family of the father has to pay the family from the dead mother, before she is burried. The dowry is often paid in cows and goats. And this arguing can be very bad, in the middle of the mouring process. So the baby was brought to Amecet, he was small and didn't drink well, so we had to feed him by NG tube.
Then the other week, when I came back from town, a ambulance was standing in the compound, inside was the body of the mother of another little baby boy. The mother had passed away after the delivery and they asked help for the baby. The family came from the north (Karamoja) and they were on the way with the body, to bury her in their clan grounds. The baby had blisters on his face and needed IV antibiotics to treat this..
A family came to ask for help, their sister got a baby, but the mother refused to feed her baby, didn't want to care for her and they were afraid that someting bad might happen to the baby,. They asked if we could take the baby for a while, whil they went wioth the mother to the doctor in the Psychiatric ward. So the little baby came to Amecet. She also didn't drink well and we had to give her a NG tube, to help her. The mother has been visiting the baby, with her brother. But this week, she came alone and we didn't trust her with the baby, she had tried to ran off with the baby before. So we asked her to come back with her brother. She got angry and started to remove all her clothes. We calmed her down, she put back her clothes and said she would get her brother. But when she was outside the gate, she again removed her clothes and ran along te roadside. Elias went in the car, with some staff and went after her, they got her and they went to the family home. It is so sad, you would love to give her the baby, but we need to know that the baby is safe with her.
This are some of the sad stories, every child has a story behind him/her and we hope and pray for happy endings!!!
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