Two New Babies

It's still crazy around here.
Baby Daniel, who I told you about in the last blog, died on Saturday
afternoon. He was too small and too sick. Nichole and I were on our way
from Ouaga when he died. So about fifteen minutes after we arrived back
here at the orphanage we had to turn around and go to the cemetery to
bury little Daniel. Here, you have bury the dead the same day because
otherwise the bodies start deteriorating quickly. It's so hot.
It's a very sobering thing to put a baby into a grave. He was only with
us for a week, so we didn't have a chance to really know him, and so it
wasn't as devastating as it could be. It's still sad.

We got a new baby girl on Saturday, Soulemata. She is five months old.
And she had a fever yesterday but she seems to be doing better today.
And she's healthy in all other respects so she should be ok.
Yesterday we had a sad sad sad case brought to us. The mother says she
was raped by an uncle and got pregnant. When the uncle found out she was
pregnant he skipped town. She had the baby and then got married and was
allowed to keep this baby until she had one by her husband. She just
gave birth a week ago to another little boy. So she was being forced to
abandon the child, because her new husband would not accept this boy who
is not only not his child but is also a product of incest and rape which
is a shame to the family. They told us that this boy was two, and from
looking at his teeth (he has them all including molars) we think he is
probably more like 2 and a half. He is very sick. He weighs a little
over 4 kilos which is somewhere around 9ish pounds. We had to put him in
diapers for 0-3 MONTHS. He can't walk. he hardly sit up by himself. His
feet were swollen which is what happens right before a malnourished baby
dies. And his hair had started to change colors and thats a sure sign of
malnutrition. We took him to the hospital in Ouahigouya, to Dr. Zala's
(who has a private pediatric clinic and is a wonderful man) and was
admitted to the hospital. He had a fever on the way up and when we got
to the Dr.'s we found out that it was 40 degrees Celsius which is very
high. I don't know what it is in Fahrenheit but I know it's too high.
And while we were waiting for blood test results to come back he was
visibly getting weaker. He needs a miracle. So if you think of it, pray
for him!! We named him Alexander, Alex for short. He had another
name, but it was the name of the day of the week on which he was born.
It showed a lack of concern on the part of his family, who obviously
hasn't cared for him for a long time because he is so sick. So we
decided to give him a real name.

We have four really sick toddlers. They all have colds as well as
malaria that is resistant to the treatment we have been giving them. So
we had to buy new treatment and started them on it last night, so
hopefully by tomorrow morning they will be feeling better. They are all
just laying around which is not normal for any of them. I just sat with
them this morning and let them fall asleep on me. I figured it was more
comfortable than the ground. And everyone needs a little love when they're
sick.

Adeline has spent the past week in the village and is apparently loving
it, so her father says. Her aunt came today to get the rest of her
clothes, as Adi will be heading to her house from the village tonight. I
hope to visit sometime later this week...I miss that girl!

Elisee, who has been with us again for the past two weeks or so, is
leaving for his uncle's village tomorrow. He will live not far from Adi's
aunt (and both of them live in Yako) so they will be able to see each
other, and hopefully attend our school. He is excited. He's been washing
his clothes and packing all day. This is much different from the Elisee
who cried while packing at the beginning of the summer when he left for
his aunt's house.

The rains have stopped, and this is bad news. It's bad because it's HOT.
HOT. HOT. And it's a shock when it's all of the sudden so hot after
having been relatively cool every few days...now we have no relief from
the heat. It's also bad because if we don't get at least a few more good
rains a lot of millet will be lost. It's not yet ready to be harvested,
and without the rain, it won 't be ready.

I don't know if any of you have heard about the Flooding Disaster in
West Africa...I'm not really sure what they are calling it...but
supposedly there is flooding in West Africa including Burkina...so they
say. I'm not aware (and neither are the missionaries in Ouaga who told
us about this) of any flooding in Burkina. It certainly isnt' in Yako.
So, just in care you were worried...don't be. We're fine. We just need a
few more rains before they stop for the year.