"Let the Little Children Come to Me..." ~Jesus

Four days a week the grounds outside of the clinic you see in this picture are full with Moms, Grannies, and other caregivers with their babies waiting to be seen by one of the three nurses inside.   Many of them traveling long distances in the backs of trucks, by foot, or in a crammed minibus to get the care and resources they need for these little ones.  

The clinic is aptly named the Makomborero Nutrition Center.  Makomborero is the Shona word for "Blessings."  Blessing is an understatement for what this clinic is and what the three women inside are doing on a daily basis!  The babies they see and serve are from moms who are HIV+.  Many of the mothers have already died and are brought to the clinic by their grannies, fathers, aunts, or other family member.  Some of the babies are also HIV+, and many have multiple disabilities.   Depending on the family's needs, they come once a week or every other week.  

Depending on their needs, the clinic has to offer - powdered milk, oil, sugar, dried beans, and corn flour.  When the families arrive the babies are weighed on this scale to track their growth.   Once given the milk, many of the babies begin to gain weight rapidly while others do not.  Just from my short time working in the clinic I quickly observed how very different each and every circumstance can be.  Sometimes the stories and suffering can be overwhelming.  Things that are hard to even imagine let alone be a reality.  My level of admiration and respect for what these nurses are doing is so incredibly high.  They are true heroes.  They are literally in the throws of life and death on a daily basis.  I learned so much from them.  

Here's Heide (the nurse, not the African woman).  Oh how we love her.  Our hearts collided with hers from the very beginning.   Here she is seeing a granny with a little baby.  This baby's mom had passed away already.  Heide was doing a well baby check and getting ready to give the granny more powdered milk to take with her.  When I found out how old this baby was, my jaw dropped....

This is the sweet face of a 6 month old boy.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Six months!  It's obvious he's not gaining but granny insisted he guzzles down the milk.  After watching him drink the milk from the bottle it was obvious there were some real feeding issues with his sucking and swallowing.  We did our best to give her some practical ideas to help and gave her a different nipple for the bottle.  It made me realize how very blessed we are here in the west with our limitless supply of resources that we so often take for granted.  Something like this here is such a simple fix with medication or changing formula or trying a different bottle, etc.    However, the simple teaching we were able to give about how to hold the baby while feeding him, how to hold the bottle, burping him, and other suggestions that seem common place were informative for her and could be detrimental for his well-being.  

This granny was truely doing the best she could with what she had.   When we finished meeting with her.  She snuggly wrapped the baby and carried him on her back for their journey home.   She smiled as she got ready to go.  I'm not sure what she was carrying in the bag on her head.   I pray that things are going better and he is gaining.  

There are four Mozambican women who also work in the center to help keep things running smoothly.  They are all so kind and hard working.  They bag the milk and other dried foods for the families to take with them.  These are bags of dried beans ready to be taken for older babies or mothers who are breastfeeding for their nutrition.

This sweet mother was waiting outside the clinic for her turn to be seen by one of the nurses.  I was able to pray with her before she went in.  She was worried about her little girl who was not feeling well.  

Here are the bags of powdered milk.  *Breast feeding is always encouraged first, and many mothers will breast feed (if they are healthy enough) for the first six months.  Even moms with who are HIV positive can breastfeed if they do it exclusively without switching back and forth to milk or formula.  The nurses are trying to educate moms on this.   If a mom is breast feeding, the center will encourage this by giving the mother vitamins and food for her nutrition.   

Here is a father bringing his little one and waiting for his turn.   He was very proud to have his picture taken with her.  

Such a sweet face....  I thought her eyes had a special sparkle in them.

Here is Sarah, one of the nurses.  She's awesome!   How I admire these women for their servant's hearts, warrior spirits, and compassion for these people.  There are around 900 babies enrolled in the program.  One day I was there, they saw 113 babies and another day they saw 98.  Wow!   Darn, I didn't get a photo of Jacque, the other nurse who actually started the program.  Can't believe I didn't get her pic.  She taught me a lot about the culture and the lens through which many of the people view things.  They were all so welcoming of me coming in the clinic and we had lots of fun together too.

Here is one family coming to see Heide and one mom getting ready to walk outside.

Here I am in action with one little boy.  His name was Mataus "Matthew."  His granny brings him.  He has cerebral palsy.  We would put a mat and a blanket down on the floor in a corner of the clinic for a space to work.  In this picture I was showing the granny how she could lay Mataus on his tummy and roll up a blanket under his chest to give him some support.  His neck muscles and torso were very weak.

We put some interested objects out in front of him and he was very happy to look around.  I also showed her some stretches she could do with him.  Notice that right hand curled up?  Look at the proud look on Granny's face.  In this culture many times anyone who is "different" is not included in the rest of the society of village.  Therefore, it's considered shameful to have a child with a disability.   These children are often not recognized or treated the same as others.  To give them special attention, recognize their strengths, celebrate their improvements,  and praise the caregivers is revolutionary and life giving!  

*Me, Mataus, Dorca (she works there and translated for me), and the granny

This mom was leaving.  The bright colored material she's wearing and carrying the baby with is called a capalana.  Most babies are carried on the front or back with them, and they are used as blankets and wrap around skirts as well.

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Volunteering at the center was a highlight for me on this trip.   It felt like it was there waiting for me.  There is no shortage of babies and caregivers who need help.  To be able to offer love and hope to these hurting people brought so much joy to my heart.  It was hard to leave.  To only be able to work with these babies a couple of times knowing I may not be back for months  made it hard to leave but motivating to go back!!!


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Has any of this moved you?   Made you wonder how you could help?  Stirred you up a bit?   You can be a part in a very tangible and real way.  It's spelled  M-I-L-K!!!   It costs around $11,000 USD a month to buy milk and keep the clinic running.  The clinic runs strictly off of donations, and many times they have seen God provide in miraculous ways.   It's a walk of faith though to trust for the $ to buy the milk, and so many little lives are depending on it.  If you would like to make a contribution towards milk for the feeding program, please send me an email and I will let you know how you can do that.

More Africa stories to come....