Miracles and Struggles.

 

 

 I`m so glad that there is more to Easter than eating chocolate eggs (although I do quite fancy eating one right now!) If there wasn`t, I think I would have given up long ago.....

 

Here is a lovely photo of Allen`s family which I took last year in August when I visited their home.
Allen has been staying with us full time this year as we were concerned about her lack of weight gain and her general state of health. Even after she came to live with us, she continued to have daily ‘explosions’, a very swollen stomach, regular fevers and other symptoms. We took her to see a Doctor in Kampala and she was diagnosed with TB which she was then given medicine for.

Since then, she has gained 4kg and is blossoming! She can now drink independently and is learning to feed herself with a spoon. When I look at her chubby thighs I praise God for the amazing miracle he has done and is continuing to do in her life J

 

However, things are not so positive for her baby brother Vianna (above) who was born last March. He spent his first month and a half in the intensive care unit at the local hospital. Ever since then he has struggled with a bad cough and a couple of weeks ago when his Mum came along with him to the Community Outreach, she told us that he had been having ‘seizures’ since December. He is also a little delayed and has only just started to sit independently. Initially I tried to get the family to take responsibility for their child but this was clearly not going to happen so eventually I got involved and we ‘enabled’ Mama Allen to go first to Kiwoko hospital and then for a CT scan and consultations in Kampala. After 2 appointments with a paediatrician and much money spent, we still don`t know what is wrong but it seems like little Vianna is possibly having some kind of Asthma attack which then results in fits. Please pray for God`s protection around this precious boy (who  lives far from running water and electricity,) and that we would be able to get the correct diagnosis and treatment soon. According to his Mum, she can tell a day before he is going to have a fit so she has promised to bring him straight to us the next time it is going to happen! We will also visit them soon with an assortment of high calorie foods and multi vitamins to try and boost Vianna`s immune system and bulk him out a bit......let us all pray that at least some of it goes in his tummy and doesn`t all get divided between all the other brothers and sisters.

On a lighter and much needed note, I have enjoyed a lovely week away from Kampala staying at the Brown`s house. It has been a mixture of seeing friends, checking out some other Special Needs Ministries, chatting with the many IY students who stay here, chilling out with Kathryn Brown (we even treated ourselves to a massage!), reading, studying my Luganda (I`ve managed about an hour!), watching movies, skyping, facebooking and catching up with this blog!

 

Happy Easter everyone! This evening I am all alone in a big house as the Brown`s have gone camping and all the IY students have gone back to Kasana for the long weekend. Perhaps I will take time to remember what Jesus did for me and for everyone of us. Because of Him, there is HOPE for Vianna, for Allen, for me, for all of us!