Sanyu

Joel and I (Shan) spent a couple days in Kampala running errands this week and first had the chance to stop off at Sanyu Babies Home on Sunday afternoon.

When we arrived we greeted the toddlers (1-2 years), they are always full of energy! They were getting organized and putting their shoes on, it was time to play outside. We stopped in the Baby (6-12 months) room but they were just waking up from their afternoon naps so we decided to hang out in the Newborn (0-6 months) room for a little while. There were 7 beautiful babies, 3 little girls and 4 little boys. At first they were all sleeping peacefully, so we went to each crib to look at their little faces and rub their backs, both Joel and I right away fell in love with a baby girl named Peace. She was about 3-4 months old, and looked so healthy, she had only been at Sanyu for 2 days! She was stirring a little so I picked her up and gave her a cuddle, then a tiny little boy beside her began to cry so Joel sat down and cuddled Peace while I put the little boy back to sleep.

A short time later they all began to cry, it was about an hour and a half until their next bottle though, so we took turns cuddling and rocking the babies back to sleep, Joel was putting babies back in their cribs and then going on to grab the next one, feeling totally calm the entire time. About 45 minutes later, Joel looked at me and said “Mom, we did it, we put all the babies to sleep!” He was very proud of himself!!

I love having the opportunity to volunteer still at Sanyu, I love seeing the Mamas that cared for Mazzy, seeing the toddlers that I met and all the new babies, as the turnover for them is very quick!! Six of the newborns we saw on Sunday are being fostered into families in the next couple of weeks, 1 baby girl was diagnosed with HIV so she will stay at the home until a better option comes up, like a home that specialized in caring for children with AIDS.

I’m also glad that our children are so welcomed to play there and help out, the babies in the home do love it when they come!!

Although at this very moment, Joel isn’t too happy about our last visit. We were later told about a bad flu working its way thru the home, and a few days later Joel came down with it. Joel was well taken care of at a hospital in Kampala for two days, we are now back home, but he’s still not quite himself. Finn and Mazzy started to feel sick yesterday, although not to the degree that Joel was!!

You can pray with us that Joel as well Finn and Mazzy are completely themselves soon and that this ends with them!!! Thank You!