New Beginnings at Amecet Children’s Home
After a season of transition, we are grateful to reconnect with all our friends, supporters, and partners through our blog once again.
Transition leadership
Els van Teijlingen has officially retired from Amecet. After 24 years of faithful service and 100% dedication to the children of Soroti and the surrounding area, it's time to return to the Netherlands.
Amecet has still an important role to play in Teso region..
In the last blog, I wrote about Francis, a little premature baby. Francis went to be with Jesus... It was sad to let him go, we have fought for his life till the end, but we couldn't safe him. He was 2 weeks with us and also 2 weeks old. His mother had died after the delivery, which had happened in the village. We bought a small coffin and drove to the village of the grandparents. They received the coffin and we gave a report from aal that had happened. They had not been to Amecet to visit Francis, because they live far, deep in the village. They were grateful for the help we gave and would bury Francis next to his mother. When we drove back to Soroti, I was thinking about all the children who had died in Amecet, during the last 24 years... There have been many... and quite a number died in my arms. I have cried over all the children we had to let go. We always wanted life for them and we did everything to help them, but for those children we were a doorway to Heaven. We knew that they would be safe in His arms, no more pain, no more rejection, no more medicines or injections. Francis is with Jesus now.
14 new children in the last 3 weeks..
Baby Francis, here on the picture, is one of them. A little boy, who was brought by his uncle. He was born that very morning at home. His mother died after giving birth. She was multiple handicapped, mentally and she was also blind and deaf. Nobody knows who the father is of this little boy. His weight was 1.3 kg. and he was feeling cold, so he was put in the incubator. He is now a week with us and he is doing a bit better, we have to feed him with a NG tube, because he is too weak to drink himself.
My last Ugandan Visa !!!!!!!
After being 28 years in Uganda, more than 15 Visa's (tourist, work permit, residence visa and special pass), I received this morning my last one!! I feel mixed about it, happy that I don't have to go to immigration again and not to have to pay a lot of money every time, but `sad that this part of my life, here in Uganda, is almost over.. The cup of coffee definitely helps a lot!!
Rescued from the pitlatrine...
Last week , the police brought a newborn baby to Amecet. This baby was rescued from a pit latrine. A pit latrine is a toilet, it is a deep pit, with a small building build on it. The baby was found around 5am, but it took some hours to break the little building to get the baby out. The baby was rushed to the hospital, where the first aid was given, cleaned and the baby was brought to Amecet.. The baby had been thrown into the pit, together with the placenta, in the hospital they had cut the cord. The baby was cold and had problems with breathing. He had all kind of rashes; his eyes were swollen.
Een nieuw bericht van Amecet...
July was a month with assessments and report writing.. On this picture you can see our Management committee. Every registered children's Home in Uganda has a Management committee. In our committee is the Probation Officer from Soroti District and the Probation Officer from Soroti City, The Mayor from Soroti City West, The health inspector and the Health Officer and then our Amecet leaders team. We had our 6 monthly meeting. It was also time for our 6 monthly report to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, this time, together with a report of Probation Office and a report of the health inspector. We got a lot of inspectors checking Amecet. Everything went well and every inspection was good. So a good report went to Kampala.
Chickenpox in Amecet...
Robbert was the first victim, and he was just doing so well, gaining, happy and playing.. He is feeling miserable now. Chickenpox might be a normal childhood sickness for many of us, but for malnourished children with a low immunity, it can be a killer. When I heard in the morning, a couple of days ago, when I arrived in Amecet, that we had 3 children with chickenpox, my heart almost stopped. And my mind went back to 2005, when we had a chickenpox outbreak in Amecet. Many children got it and also some of the aunties. Two children died because of the chickenpox, both children were HIV+ and new in Amecet, they were very, very weak and this sickness was just too much for them.
Children with hydrocephalus asking for help..
We have a steady flow of people who come at our door for help, some come to ask for transport money back to the village. They were admitted in the hospital and discharged, but no money anymore to travel back to their village. Other people come for reading glasses, which we receive to give out to people. Sometimes people come for help to buy medicines which are prescribed by the doctor and there is also a group of mothers who come with their child who is suffering from hydrocephalus (water in the head). Sometimes the heads are huge and very heavy to carry. The mothers are struggling so much, they come with the baby to Amecet for help, it is very hard to carry the child, they have to be very careful with supporting the head, which is too heavy for the neck.
7 new small children in 1 week...
Sarah was the first baby, who was brought, she was born 2 months too early and her weight was only 1.1 kg. She was laid in our new incubator, which we just received from a Dutch foundation: Verenigde Hoop. We had to feed her by a NG tube, because she was too weak to drink.. She is now 9 days with us and she is doing good, she has gained a little and looks alert. Sarah was born by a caesarean operation and the mother died, due to multi organ failure after the operation. The very sad thing was that Sarah was part of twins, the other baby was a still born and already deteriorated when the baby was taken out. Sarah was brought from a hospital, by ambulance.
Continuation on "Corruption in the Village".....
In the blog of two weeks ago, I wrote about baby Paul, who was abandoned by his mother. And how one of the local leaders, the situation used to get richer himself. We had been hanging posters around the area and one of the uncles recognised the baby on the picture.
The rains have started....
When the rains are coming, people start to plough their gardens.... After a couple of months of drought, the land is dry and sandy, but even after one good rain shower, the new grass is coming out and when you thought that there was nothing growing, it was all dry and soil, you are every time again so surprised what there is all hiding in the ground... The ground is green again and the plants are growing....
Transfer for Ali.........
No, we don't talk here about a football player transfer, but about our dear Ali. Ali was brought to Amecet on 1/6 /2020 by the Police, we soon found the grandfather and heard that his parents abandoned him and nobody really wanted to care for him.
A lot of baby's......
Lately, we received a number of small, new born baby's in Amecet. Often we get first a phone call from the Probation Officer, a health centre or a relative. Because of the Corona, we are careful and when they come with the new baby, we let them sit, near the gate, under the mango tree, with Face masks. One of the staff comes with a blanket and we take over the baby (who is most of the times naked) from their blanket into ours. Dominique or me then, will do the intake and get all the details, while the baby gets the care inside the house..
Our Grandma project...
Before Amecet started in 2001, I was working with a project called FACE (Facing Aids with Compassion and Education). We travelled to the villages and we had a Mobile clinic for people suffering of HIV/Aids. There was counselling and small income generating projects. That was in the time that the stigma for people with HIV/Aids was still very big. I saw many grandmothers caring for their grandchildren, since their own children had died because of AIDS. I felt for those strong ladies, who had to dig in their gardens to provide for their grandchildren. I started a small project, looking for sponsors who wanted to help a grandmother. I got a small group of families who I could give a small support every month.
Party time!!!!!!
It is Party time!!! Baby Esther is over the 3 kg.!!!! last week I told the staff, when Esther weighs more than 3 kg., we will get soda's!! And today we weighed her and she was 3,045 kg. so we have a party!!! It is amazing how this baby changed and survived, You can read her story in the blog of July 21, this baby was aborted and by "mistake", she came out alive, her weight was 1.2 kg. she was 2 months premature. We struggled with her, so small, so fragile, we had to feed her by NG tube and several times we had to put her on oxygen and IV. medication, but Esther is a fighter!!! I am so proud of her!! We had given her the name Esther, I believe God has a special plan with her, like he had with Queen Esther in the Bible. We took her today for a special HIV test, we pray it will be negative, but since we don't know anything about her mother, we need to do this test.
Dowry payments....
This picture is from 2013, Charles and Cathy are playing wedding (must have been after one of the staff got married.) this wedding was probably directed by Helen, who loved to play wedding. In Uganda the family of the groom has to pay dowry to the family of the bride. This is normally agreed during an introduction meeting, where the groom (to be) ,comes with his relatives and friends to the home of the bride (to be) and the families are introduced to each other. The fathers and the uncles are than negotiating over the dowry price. Mostly they ask cows, goats, money and presents. This is at least done in Teso, the area around Soroti. Sometimes they don't agree and there won't be a wedding until an agreement is made... Sometimes the price is so high that the couple is going into debt, to pay the price. Sometimes the family of the bride agrees that the groom can pay afterwards, or in bits... And that was the case with the parents of David...
Before and......... now!!
In spite of the Covid 19 crisis, Amecet is functioning... We don't have so many children as before, we work with less staff, only the staff who is able to live in, but we are do our core business, helping children to shine again!!! On this picture above (in Aug.) our social worker, Elias is going to bring Godfrey back to his family. Godfrey was found by the Police and thru the tracing, by hanging posters around the place where he was found, we found his family. He gained weight during his stay in Amecet and he is much more healthy now. Elias has been meeting the family before and we trust that Godfrey will do well at home again!!
A Green blog, about our Amecet Farm..
The Amecet farm is part of the Amecet Ministry. It is set up to generate income for the children's ministry. It is a very valid part of Amecet. We hope that it brings more fruits in the future, like vegetables, fruits, milk and funds. In this blog I want to show you what we have in place right now, with pictures and simple explanation ( because I am a simple city girl :)!).
Update on Elijah.....
This is the picture of the blog of July 8th. A call from the hospital, it was about this baby Elijah. Elijah was born with a clubfoot and a rotating knee, then he had problems with the fingers on both hands and an eye problem. We are 5 weeks further and Elijah has kept us busy.... The mother died in the hospital on July 8th and the family could not commit themselves to bring the baby once, sometimes twice a week to the hospital. That is where Amecet came in...
From stolen toddler to little Princess!!
A couple of months ago, the police brought Lucy to Amecet. A little girl of 4, maybe 5 years old. She was stolen and nobody knew where is came from. The Police is looking for the woman she was with, but up till today there are no clues where Lucy came from. We have put adverts in the National newspaper and she has been even on National TV. The Police have been checking the reports of missing children also from other parts of the country, all in vain.
A premature, stolen baby....
Today the police arrived at Amecet with this baby.... It is a little baby girl with the weight of 1.2 kg........ The baby was stolen, but it is unknown from where. Concerned people brought the baby with the lady, who claimed to be the mother, to the police. They told the police that they never saw the lady pregnant, the lady had no breastfeeding and after being examined by a doctor it was confirmed that the lady could not have given birth 3 days ago, as she said... The police brought the baby to Amecet and will investigate where the baby comes from. When I saw the little girl, I felt so sad and also a kind of angry, who could take a little baby like this ?? It is a pre-mature baby, and she is very weak, she was not fed for hours...... I took her directly to the doctor (our neighbours) and she was diagnosed with a septic cord and low temperature. She got a cannula and is put on antibiotics via the I.V. we laid her in our incubator, so she is more protected and also more warm. When I fed her, she drank 30 ml!! She was so hungry, she cries, that is also a good sign.
A day of home visits in the village..
Because of Covid 19, we do not go so often to the villages. But today we went, my daughters, Mary and Helen went with us, because one of the children we went to see was Daniel!!!! Around 6 weeks ago, Simon and I brought him back to his grandmother, you can read that in the blog of May 29.
A call from the hospital...
Yesterday, Simon got a call from the hospital. A doctor called that there was a baby of 3 weeks, whose mother had died that morning. The family could not take care of the baby, the mother was only 18 years old and there was no father in the picture.... So I drove to the hospital, I went to maternity ward, the doctor was not there, they knew about that baby, so I called the doctor and he told me he was in orthopaedic ward and the baby was also there. I felt that is a bit strange, but I went to that ward and I saw the baby, with two legs in a cast.. Now I understood why the baby was in this ward, there was something wrong with both legs... they had not said that over the phone.. I heard the story, the baby was born 3 weeks ago in the hospital by caesarean. The mother got a sepsis, she stayed all those 3 weeks in the hospital (with the baby) and at the end she needed a blood transfusion, there was no blood available and in the morning at 6.30 am she died... The baby was called Elijah and had a clubfoot at one leg and a rotating knee at the other leg. they had put a cast on both legs and the family was told to come every Tuesday to the Orthopaedic ward for review and changing of the cast and physiotherapy, every Thursday they also had to come for physiotherapy. The family lived in the village, they had left already with the body of the mother, there was still an uncle and some neighbours around. The doctor was afraid that they would not be in position to come twice a week, that is why he had called us. The family is willing to have the baby, but they can't make it twice a week from the village to Soroti... So we filled the papers and I took Elijah to Amecet. We have a commitment to Elijah by taking him to the hospital twice a week. Elijah drinks well, but he had a fever and when we took him to the clinic next to Amecet, he was put on IV medication.
To read our old blog you can click here