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Written by Anneth Munga
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Tuesday, 12 April 2005 00:00 |
Dear friends of Irente Children’s Home!
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!
On behalf of those who work at ICH I wish you God’s blessings as we
continue to rejoice in the Power of Life that we receive from the Risen
Lord!
Here in Lushoto we are now receiving quite heavy rains. Normally, the
heaviest rains begin in mid-March and continue until May. During the
last years, the rainfalls have not been consistent and this has
affected the harvest. We hope and pray that these rains will be
sufficient for the crops so that people may get the food they need.
The family at ICH is doing well. Some of you have been informed that we
lost a baby girl in February. This was Fatuma, the twin sister of
Hadija. Both girls have been very weak since they arrived at ICH. Their
weakness has partly been contributed by the fact that their relatives
delayed to bring them to ICH after the death of their mother and during
that time they didn’t get the right quality and quantity of food. As a
result, their increase in weight has been very slow. Hadija, the
remaining sister is also quite weak. For some time we have been feeding
her with a tube in order to make sure she gets enough fluid and
nutrients. She is now above 3 kg.
The latest twin couple to arrive at ICH was Edward and Michael. They
are latest but not the smallest. Both boys have been swaying in their
health. Edward had to be admitted in hospital some months ago and
thereafter his health improved. In February Michael was put in our
small special room and stayed there for more than a month. Then Edward
became ill again and had to be taken to the small special room.
Most of you know that we have been particularly concerned about Mussa,
the boy whose mother suffers from mental illness. In my Christmas
letter, I explained our worries about his mental condition. The boy
continues to grow and he seems happy. At the end of the day, we know
that Mussa’s Creator, who is our Creator too, takes care of him. We
will continue to inform you about Mussa’s developments as he continues
to grow.
On Friday 18th of March, we received a girl called Harriet. Harriet was
born on 11th of December 2004 in Dar es Salaam. Her mother’s name was
Anna and she is said to have been very young. On 8th of March this
year, Anna died. Her relatives didn’t want to bury Anna in Dar es
Salaam, instead they took the body to her home village, Tewe, in the
Usambara mountains. After the funeral, the relatives brought baby
Harriet to ICH. Harriet is in good health. Her relatives used to feed
her with some extra milk during her mother’s illness and therefore her
health did not deteriorate. She weighs a little over 4 Kgs.
On 30th of March, we received Veronica, one month old. Her mother,
Beatrice, became mentally ill during pregnancy and the situation
worsened after delivery. Beatrice has not been able to feed the child
properly and she kept running away. A week ago, Beatrice was taken to
Lutindi Mental Hospital where we believe she will be helped. Veronica’s
health is good.
As we turn our eyes to the future, we are quite optimistic at ICH. One
reason for our optimism is based on the fact that the overall health of
the children who are here now is good. Of course, we think about those
children who have left ICH and returned to their fathers and relatives.
This year we hope to have a better visitation programme for this group
than we had in the previous years. The personnel as well as the young
girls who work at ICH continue to show commitment to this important
work. Another reason for our optimism is the support that we receive
from you. We can see and feel that you are working with us. Every time
you send us greetings we know that they convey your engagement in this
work. You have often promised to be with us in prayer and for this we
are deeply grateful. The financial and material support is very
important too. That assistance makes it possible for us to give the
children proper care in terms of food, clothes and hygiene. May God
turn our thanks into blessings over you all!
Challenges that we face are many. At the moment we are trying to
stabilise the staff establishment. In the end of last year we invited
new applicants to fill some of the gaps and three of them are working
at ICH since January. They are under probation for six months and this
enables Sr. Mdemu and her team to evaluate their work before deciding
whether to confirm their employment or not.
Some of you have asked us about our priorities, in case you would want
to send money. This year our first priority is on improving the
situation of our staff members by building houses. Occasionally, we
have been informing you about the shortage of staff houses at ICH. The
ones that are there need extensive renovation and earlier we considered
renovating them. However, now we have decided to build new houses. The
diocesan engineer has advised us to do so instead of repairing the
existing staff buildings. Please note that the worn out staff buildings
that I’m talking about here are different from the children’s building
that we have been renovating. The engineer has made a plan for duplex
staff houses and the costs amount to Tshs. 26,000,000/= for one duplex.
Indeed, it is a lot of money and when we imagine building two duplexes
(which would mean accommodation for 4 staff members with families or 8
staff members without families), the sums of money seem enormous. But
God remains faithful.
We continue to receive strength from the Risen Lord as we say with Job:
I know that My Redeemer Lives
And that He shall Stand
at a Latter Day
Upon the Earth.
On behalf of Sr. Mdemu, Mrs. Titu, Mrs. Mrisho and all who work at Irente Children’s Home,
I remain
Yours in Christ,
Anneth.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 April 2005 00:10 )
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