The kids at the orphanage are doing great. The weather is still cold but I think is starting to change. We are not as cold and sleeping is much nicer.
Hope, our baby at the orphanage is gone. She is the one who was abandoned and no one knew anything about her. The government called and said they had someone who wanted to adopt her so she has left. We are all very sad. Hope was our baby.
The government also dropped off a 12 year old street child with us named Mercy. Mercy was with us for a couple of days and appeared to be integrating well into the orphanage setting. However, on Monday she put on the new clothes we bought her and said she was going to wash her clothes. She never came back. Life on the street was all she knew and what she grew up with. This was the third orphanage that the government had placed her at. She is now back on the streets. We are praying for her.
The government also dropped off a new boy with us this week. He is about 2 years old and no one knows anything about him. He showed up wearing nothing but a sweatshirt – no diaper, no pants, no shoes. (Don’t worry, he didn’t wear dresses for long – we bought him some sweatpants.) The kids named him Happiness but he is not living up to his name. He appears to be sickly and not very happy. The government is trying to find out something about him so they can place him back with his family or his village.
We have some friends from America that we met through our pastor friend here, who is also from America. These friends are also adopting a child so it’s great to be able to go through the process with them. They are adopting a girl who is about 9 years old. They live in the US but are here in Malawi for an extended period of time. Mphatso had become friends with their daughter and she wants to go visit them whenever she can. Like I said, it is wonderful to be able to share stories and go through the process with someone.
Since we are now legally foster parents for Mphatso, our attorney is now drafting up adoption papers to start the adoption process. He hopes to have the papers ready in a week or two. Please pray for a smooth and speedy process.
We also have another new addition to our family – another cat. This cat’s name is Toby. So now we have a dog, 2 cats and a child. Our house is full - full of activity. Toby is very tiny – just a few weeks old but momma died and so we now have another orphan cat.
I have taken up an old hobby – crocheting. We found a store that sells yarn – cheap quality as it is and I’ve been purchasing quite a bit of it for the girls at the orphanage. We also found some crochet hooks so if they use the inside of ball point pens as crochet hooks, that’s their choice now. There are a lot of crochet hooks floating around the orphanage. I have made several stocking caps for the kids. I’ve also made a couple of scarves and a poncho for Mphatso. Oh yeah and all the doll clothes that I have made. Every day, I get, “Amayi, skirt – dolly, hat dolly, dress dolly” so I have to make something for Mphatso’s dolly. I am now working on a small lap afghan. Crocheting large objects also keeps you warm as you are working on them. The girls at the orphanage are making purses, hats, and one is making a poncho. It is great to see them and work with them on this activity.
Anyone have any solutions for bedwetting that they want to share? We’ve limited her fluid intake from late afternoon on, get her up before we go to bed and try to get her up in the middle of the night (if we wake up). We’ve rewarded with stickers, food and now money. The money reward has lasted the longest but I think she is sleeping so soundly that she doesn’t even realize what is happening until after the fact. Any suggestions anyone has would be great. You can send me a separate email if you want so you don’t have to post a response for everyone to see. Thanks in advance!!
Blessings (madalitso) to you!
Pics: Mphatso (and Lyson) with her new poncho, Toby, Ray helping make bunk beds
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