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.

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.

We are a bit careful with taking children in, during this Covid 19 time, when  two weeks ago, a young mother came with this baby at our gate, we saw that the baby was in need of help. The mother had no breastfeeding and this baby was already 5 weeks old. But the mother really loved her baby, so we gave milk money and let her come back in one week. One week later she was there again, the baby had gained a little bit, but looked miserable. We talked with the mother and offered her to take the baby in Amecet for two months. She was very grateful, she felt still weak, after the delivery. Baby Samuel was now 6 weeks old and his weight was 2.1 kg. At birth he weighed 3.6 kg. We feed him every two hours and today his weight is 2.7 kg. His mother came to see him, she was so happy, she said she could see that he was already doing better. Samuel was put on antibiotics and we are waiting for blood transfusion. His HB was low, but up till today, there was no blood for transfusion. We hope and pray that Samuel  will start drinking good and gaining and getting stronger so that he can go back to his mother!

I am so excited!!!!  For many years we have been able to place children (with the help of the Probation Office) into local foster families, but for the families to do the last step, was difficult. It cost money to make the adoption legal and how to do it??? There was an organization in the Netherlands, Metterdaad, who was willing to help these families to do this last legal step. The children will be safe and be a full member of the family and also the clan! We have been working on this project for more than a year, the Corona crisis postponed the hearing in court again. Then the Chief Magistrate, who was also in Lockdown in Soroti, offered to work on all of them and together with the Probation Officer and our two Social Workers, Simon and Elias, all the papers were gathered and finished! This week there is a group of some families every day and we will finish the 50 adoptions.

Ali was brought to Amecet around 10 days ago. He was brought by the Police, he was "found".... But they knew his name, we didn't have a good feeling about him. He was very malnourished, had decubitis wounds and he looked as if he had a brain damage. He was really in a bad shape, we think he can be 4 or even 5 years old. He can't talk and he can't chew his food. 

Today it was a big day in Amecet!!! We said goodbye to three children!! Simon, Robinah (one of our nurses) and me travelled to the  village to bring three children back to their relatives. Because of Covid 19, there is still no public transport and also the motor taxis are not allowed to operate. Last week, Simon went to the three families to check on them, some of them we can't even reach by mobile phone. We always try to get a mobile number, sometimes a neighbour or relative, but this time we had not all the contacts, so Simon went to visit the, last week. They were all ready to receive them back and we were going to do that today. Simon had asked them to come to certain places near their home, because the time he visited them, the whole neighbourhood gathered, we didn't want that, because gatherings are still not allowed. So we left at 8.30 am, with the face masks, on our way to the village.

Today I want to share something what happened, last week, at our Post Box. I check the Post Box a couple of times a week. Since Uganda went into Lockdown, we had only  once mail, all the other times there was no mail and the men in the mail office didn't know when it would come again.... They told me: just keep checking...…. But last week I received a message on my phone from them, that the mail had arrived and our little box was full, if I could come and empty... Of course I went the same day!!

Since Amecet is on Lockdown, we do not have as many children as normal. When we went into Lockdown we had only 7 children, we had them all in one room, their ages were 0-1 year old. But now we have to open a second room and we have the oldest children in the new room. As of now we have 11 children in Amecet. We got two new born babies, whose mother died after the delivery. Actually one mother died before the delivery, as she needed a cesarean operation, she died before they started, they rushed than and saved the little baby boy. He came only a couple of hours later in Amecet. They were both above the three kg. so that helps, they are doing well.

Baby Steven was born at home, in the village. Because of the Corona virus, there is a curfew and the baby was born in the evening. The next morning, things were not well with the mother, they brought her (and Steven) to the health centre, the centre referred them to the Hospital in Soroti.  There came out that she had an intestinal obstruction and she died after 3 days... The family asked us to care for the baby, there was no one at home who could care for him, so Steven was brought to Amecet. I did the intake, sitting near the gate, a staff came to get the baby from there and the family is not allowed to come and visit him.. It is sad, normally we encourage the relatives to come and see the baby, now they can only call to hear how their child is doing.....

Yes, we are a Children Home, but our greatest joy is to bring a child back to their relatives, or to find a home for children who have nowhere to go to. And to let them settle in their new  "forever" family!! In the blog of  Feb. 7 and March 31, I wrote about Emmanuel and Abraham.  I Have now the pictures of their coming Home.... At the back is Mr. Oluka Amos, the Senior Probation Officer of Soroti. And the new parents of the two boys. In the middle their new little sister, Anna.  

This is a part of our Amecet-Corona team!! We miss some people, they were sleeping after their night duty and before their night duty of tonight... This is the team who is locked in with the children in Amecet. Dominique leads the team (at the back, right) with her daughter Apio Ruth. Our rock in times of need, David, is also there, he is the one who runs to the market to buy the fresh food. and he helps with all kind of other things in and around the house. All the staff who lives outside Amecet are at home. Simon and me, got both a pass, from the authorities, so we can come in the car to check on them (with 1.5  mtr distance) and to help if anything is needed, like milk, food or medicines. Today we got a request from the RDC if we could bring some help to 14 children, who were with their mothers in the prison. This is what Simon and me than do.

Uganda is locked, no public transport, no private vehicles...…. Yesterday, we send all the staff who lives outside Amecet, home. In the evening, the President spoke to the Nation, from 10 o' clock pm, no more  vehicles (among other restrictions), we have a curfew from 7 pm until 5 am.  All the staff from outside Amecet are at home, a group of 14 ladies, agreed yesterday, to go  in quarantine with the children who are left in Amecet…. Just yesterday, Simon went with the two boys, Emmanuel (10) and Abraham (4 or 5?) and the Probation Officer to bring them to their new family.....