It has been a while....
After an incredible, fun-filled, heart-filled 3 week holiday in England and France with my family and friends, I returned... the transition from one to the other is ... well, a little challenging ... but, thankfully, only for a few moments. I miss 'my other life', I will always miss it, but a day back is a life lived....
While I was away, Gentle Hands accepted a baby being discharged from hospital after recovering from a rat eating his nose and a couple of fingers..... there is usually an appropriate medical term to cover most illnesses and injuries... not so in this case.
He is 18 months old, weighs 6.4kg, and cannot even crawl. But he has learnt to smile. And with the most sparkling eyes and widest smile you can ever imagine, you just know he will overcome his adversity.
The other day we went to pick up his sister... a 4 year old ... who was still in this unsafe place.
She was so very tiny, at just over 10kg .... the weight of a 'western' 1 year old!
But they are now safe. It is never too late. They have the chance to grow, to be loved, to live a life .... and to be given a forever family that will continue the work that Gentle Hands has started...
My heart bursts when I see their joy...... the resilience of children continues to astound me .... they live in the here and now.... they do not worry about their future, they don't dwell on their past. Oh, if we could only be more child-like.....
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| Our journey to rescue |
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| The home........ |
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| And inside...... |
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| The neighborhood..... |
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Tough love.... someone has to be strong enough to be an advocate for the children....
Thank God, Charity is that someone. |
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| In safe hands......... as we journey back |
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| And we get our first smile..... |
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She meets her brother ...... after several weeks.
She was so unsure and wary, as she remembers her last sight of him. |
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| But then ...... |
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| He was absolutely mesmerized...... I have never seen anything like it!!! |
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| Play...... so healing |
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| Chest X-ray...... she is a very special child. She amazes me..... |
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| Constantly, amazes me..... it has been only a week! |
To pull a child from her home; all she has ever known, her mum, her community .... wrecks me.... but sometimes there is no other choice..... and, as I watch this little girl and her brother go from strength to strength .... I am left with no doubt that it is the right and only choice.
What breaks me is that the parents are also victims..... of the system, of life, and of the world as I know it.
