Baby in Zambia
Update Zambia | House of Faith Orphanage (HOFO) | Silembe, Zambia
Via communication from Linda Jones located in Zambia: We have been asked by Livingstone Social Welfare to receive another child that is 9 months old and the baby’s mother is only 14. The mother is a double orphan herself, and has been refused by her relatives. They say the father is not known and the 9-month old baby needs a place of safety. We are working on an assessment to determine whether we should except this child.
What do you think? The child could suffer for sure if we don’t help, but these last two cases from Livingstone are not our norm. We plan to visit the 14 year old mother and child at the place they stay. We will then continue to visit the mother so we can try and keep them connected. It is important that the mothers have to visit and stay connected to their babies in these cases.
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Tuesday at 10:00 we will meet with the 14-year old mother and see the 9 month old baby girl. Seems the mother stopped breast feeding the child and is now giving the child a maize and sugary drink. This is not proper nutrition for the baby.
Social Welfare has asked that we fill out the paperwork as we normally do then we can talk about the case. Mama Rita will be with us since she will already be in Kalomo on Monday.
After much thought, since Luuwo is still staying with us at House of Faith because her family has not brought her transition plan back to us, we feel that we can put the girl child in Mama Rita’s home with Luuwo as a mother’s helper. Because of all the under 2’s we have we are not supposed to have 12 children to a house.
We have a house mother already trained and waiting to work, but I do not want to hire one too early before receiving more children. We now have 42 children at HOFO, and if our ages are working we could have 48 children before hiring another mom. (this helps us minimize our costs)
Our heart is already going out to this baby girl with the added information I received yesterday about the mother stopping her from breast feeding. We will take formula, baby cereal and a sippy cup with us so we can start feeding her right away if we receive her. We just want to know how we will keep the mother connected with her baby and who her relatives are. We will also assess how many years would she need our help with the child.
Thanks for your prayers.
To help this baby and others living at the House of Faith Orphanage go to: https://globalorphanrelief.networkforgood.com/projects/23200-donate-to-support-global-orphan-relief-children and in the notes section reference the type of child that you would like to sponsor. Our month costs per child breaks out as follows:
You can help by giving, $25, 50, 75, or 100 monthly.
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NEED: Zambia is a country of nearly 14 million people with an orphan population of approximately 1.4 million. Many of these children remain with extended family and most of these extended families have biological children as well. Ultimately, when resources don’t allow for food, clothing, and education as needed, these orphan children are last in line -not having the same rights as the other children.
Through December 2016 we have provided funding of $829,500 that has been invested in capital infrastructure, program development, and for the care of the children. Today we serve 374 children in Zambia through various means; orphan-based care, foster care, education scholarships, and feeding programs.
House of Hope Orphanage: We began development at the location for HOFO in 2007 in an area called Silembe. This village is located approximately 90 minutes North-Northwest from Kalomo, Zambia. There were no structures on the land; only a vision of what could be created to serve orphaned children.
In August 2007 we established a water source by drilling a well and construction began in earnest at that time. We received our first child, Sibajane Mudenda, on March 14, 2008, who was received into our 1st home.
Since this time we have received over 60-orphans, and care for 42-orphans from this campus today. At HOFO we have invested $200,000 in capital development, received over a dozen work teams to invest their time and resources in this work, employed dozens of local workers for construction, and today employ 12 Zambian Nationals for the care of the children.
Our HOFO campus today consist of 6 homes where we can host 12 children and a housemom, an under-roof kitchen and laundry facility, 2-latrines (1 per 3 homes with boys and girls), 2 under-roof playgrounds, a transition home, a teacher’s home, 2-water wells, and a Community Center. This Community Center consist of one large class room, 3 dormitory rooms able to host up to 18 people, and a director’s apartment.
In addition, to move toward sustainability, we have established maize fields, gardens, chicken facilities, an area for livestock, and have fenced-in a large portion of the almost 30-acres that encompasses House of Faith Orphanage.
Movement of FAITH | Voice of HOPE | Act of LOVE
Global Orphan Relief is a Christian relief agency serving Orphans in need and a recognized U.S. public charity, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3). All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law.