The three orphans -The whole story so far

THE THREE ORPHANS

At the beginning of our trip in October 2006, I met Carol. Carol was the house girl for a couple who used to live with Laz and Liz. This was at the beginning of 2006 when Alan started living in the same house and that’s when Alan met Carol. Sometimes Carol would wake up during the night to pray in tongues.
Carol told us she has two younger sisters, aged 13 and 9 and her dream was that one day they would live together. At present the sisters are living with their grand-mother up country and Carol would go visit them whenever she could get the money to travel, which was not often. When she goes back to her village she would live in her pastor’s house because the grand-mother does not want her. Her grandmother considers her an outcast because she was born out of wedlock. Her grandmother also blames her being cursed for her mother’s death. The grand-mother also neglects her sisters, so much so that sometimes they have to beg for food in the streets because they were hungry.
We told Carol that we would pray for them and that with God all things are possible.
We did not hear from Carol for the next few weeks and we thought that we were not able to help her. A few days before Christmas, Carol called to tell us she was quitting her job and was going home to see her grandmother to ask her to let her sisters come with her. We discussed with her that if this was possible then we would do what we can to help her. We were surprised that a few days later Carol called to say her grand-mother is letting her sisters go and that she would be back on the 29th December with her sisters. We were not prepared for this but we told Carol we would have things ready for them when they arrived. We realized that this was the beginning of a long term commitment to them, believing it was of God, we trusted Him and went ahead in faith.
After much discussion with Pastor Lazarus and Elizabeth, they agreed that the orphans would take over our bedroom and live with them as part of their family. They would become the girls’ guardians. Carol would work as their house-girl not only taking care of her sisters but also Abby and Desi, Lazarus and Elizabeth’s children. Our part being that we would continue to pay the rent of the house to support them.
The next few days we were busy shopping for beds, mattresses, household things, toiletries, bed-sheets, some clothes, all the necessities that the orphans need to live there.
The orphans came with the clothes on their back and a change, nothing more. We vacated our bedroom and moved to the small room that was used as a storage room.
The orphans came on the 29th December and they were very happy. They were very shy at first especially Jessica who would not even answer a question. After a few days I was able to get her to smile. Wilbroda is more alert and playful and will come to you. Jessica, Wilbroda, Abby and Desi got along well together. Carol looked after the household, making the meals and taking care of the girls. We felt good about the whole arrangement and believed they would be a happy family.
We had about 10 days with them before our departure on January 8th. There were lots of things to take care of. Carol had been coughing a lot even after taking anti-biotic and we feared she might have TB. Wilbroda had a bloated stomach and looked like a 6 year old. We took them all to the health clinic for TB and HIV tests. When tested Carol and Jessica had neither TB nor HIV. That was a big relief. Wilbroda was the one that tested positive for HIV and she also has TB. We took Wilbroda to a Catholic health clinic not too far from where we lived and she was registered there as an on-going patient and we knew she would get good care there. They told us her chances of survival is very good. When we left Wilbroda was already looking much better.

Wilbroda is now going to school like other children; she is one of the brightest in her class. She is prone to get sick easily because of her conditions, but with proper health care she can get better and better.

Jessica is also going to school and is doing well. Elizabeth told us she has learned Kiswahili fast and is also learning English. She gets up at 5.00 a.m. everyday to go to school and she comes home at 5.30 p.m.

Update, October, 2007

We had news of Wilbroda that she was very ill and had to be taken to hospital sometime in July/August. We had already run out of money that had been raised to support the 3 orphans but we felt we needed to raise the money for Wilbroda’s medical expenses. We continued to tell people about Wilbroda and money came in for her support. We were able to pay for Wilbroda’s hospital bills. Wilbroda got better and returned home.
A week before we left for this trip, October 22nd, we get an urgent email from Lazarus that Wilbroda is very sick again and needs to be hospitalized. We were anxious to see Wilbroda and we pray that God will make her get well again. When we arrived, Lazarus told us that Wilbroda is recovering from pneumonia. Again we were able to pay the hospital bills. Wilbroda is now back home again.

There has been a great deal that has happened in the year we were away and we are now faced with the consequences. We are not discouraged and we truly believe that God is in control. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

After we left, Lazarus’ mother had been taken seriously ill and needed 24 hour care.
The 3 orphans had been moved out of our room and the mother moved in and a nurse hired to look after her. Besides being moved around, Carol did not get along with Elizabeth and we do not know the whole truth but the facts are that, Carol left the household to be a house-girl elsewhere. Lazarus did not communicate this to us. During the year, we heard news that the 3 orphans are no longer living in our room. We were very upset and we did not know how to proceed. After consulting with Ralph and Donna Bromley (HFTN) we decided to continue with our support to the orphans. Now we found out what had taken placed. We are disappointed at how things have turned out.

Lazarus and Elizabeth told us that it is a great burden to them to care for Wilbroda because of her condition. Jessica is the one doing well and a great help to them as she is helping with housework and taking care of Abby and Desi. Carol is pregnant and they are not sure what the solution is.

All this revelation in one day was like a ton of bricks came crashing down on us. I was very much saddened at what had transpired with Carol. I spent the next day praying for Carol. Alan also had some words for Carol. We set a meeting with Carol, Lazarus and Elizabeth. We asked Carol what was the next step. She has hidden this fact from her pastor and is therefore reluctant to go back to her village to have her baby. Instead she tells us that in the Lua tradition the mother of the father of the baby is obliged to look after the baby and she therefore choose to travel to Mombassa where the grandmother lives. She will give birth to her baby there and then she will leave her baby with the grandmother and return to Nairobi to work. We ask her what about her sisters? Since we are helping her sisters all because we wanted to help her, it looks like Carol is only worried about herself now. Perhaps this is understandable.
All she wanted was money to go to Mombassa and that after she gave birth she would be able to return to Nairobi. Alan told her it looks like God is showing us she is in a spiritual battle and that she is running away. She needs to have faith in God, face her mistakes, go back to the village and tell her pastor all that has happened. But Carol is not willing to do this, she is decided on going to Mombassa, and she tells us that there is a home in Mombassa that will look after HIV children like Wilbroda. We all disagreed with her, it made no sense to us that she should be taken so far away to Mombassa and we believe that we can help Wilbroda be placed in a home for HIV kids in Nairobi. Since Carol is now 20 and an adult we told her we will not force her to do what we believe she should do.
It looks like the best solution for Wilbroda is for us to find a home for HIV children where Wilbroda will get the care she needs. This is what the situation is now.
Pray for God to open up the way for us to help them according to His will.

Update, November 19th 2007.
We have heard from Lazarus that Carol insist on taking Wilbroda to Mombassa and so they were not able to stop her. Carol has gone to Mombassa and has place Wilbroda in a home for HIV children there. We now hope to be able to visit Wilborda in Mombassa when we go there in the beginning of December.
We have yet to figure out how to help Jessica and we all want her to finish school. Carol is saying she wants to place Jessica as a house-girl somewhere in Nairobi. We are looking into the legality of the situation in the hope that we can help Jessica stay in school.
Please pray for Jessica and Carol. We are not sure at this point where Carol is now.

Update December 2007
We met with Lazarus and Elizabeth and Jessica in December and we told Jessica we would like to continue to support her so that she can continue going to school. Jessica told us this is what she wants to do.
Lazarus has spoken to the pastor in the village and the pastor has spoken to the grand-mother. The grand-mother has given her approval for us to take Jessica to Kitale so that she can live and go to school there. Alan and I are very happy at this news and we thank God for it.
Jessica is now in Kitale and living in the orphanage run by Deliverance Church. She will be going to boarding school in January and when school is closed she will live in the orphanage. Alan and I are committed to supporting Jessica till she finish her schooling. She is at present going to Standard 6. She is 14 years old and because she did not have much schooling in her village she is a bit behind in her studies.
When we spoke to Jessica about this arrangement she was very happy about it and now we hope she will settle well there.

Stories from the notebook of Esther, 2006

WHAT’S IT LIKE LIVING IN AFRICA?


My first story November 2006

Where we are staying there is no fridge, no stove, and no oven. There is no heater for hot water in the bathroom. So if you want hot water to take a bath, you need to boil the water first, and to boil water you need to learn how to light a paraffin stove. At first I was afraid to learn how to do this as it looked a bit dangerous, meaning it looks like you can get your fingers easily burnt, but once I got the hang of it, it was fine. However, it takes a long time for the water to heat up, and so what you do is buy an electric kettle so you can boil water fast. This we did and I truly am grateful to the guy who invented electricity.

My first experience of inconvenience is taking a bath. There is no hot water, and if you want a shower you do it in the bathroom outside, just behind the kitchen. I decided I could survive without taking a shower. So a couple of days later after we acquired a kettle, and that was the best investment we could have made, I was preparing to take a bath when no one was home. I was boiling the water and Alan said he’ll go to the internet café and I’ll go ahead and enjoy my bath. I had already turned on the kettle twice and was boiling the third pot, you see I wanted to wash my hair and decided I needed that much hot water! I had my shampoo, conditioner, towel, soap etc. everything ready for my bath, as I went into the bathroom, the light went out- no electricity, so the kettle stopped and I decided ok, I have to make do and have my bath without the third pot of hot water, so I got my flash light and lit a candle and off I went to the bathroom for my bath. I had just started when I heard Alan calling me, “Esther are you alright?” Guess he was worried and I said I was fine, it was lucky that the electricity went off before I started my bath, better that I had less hot water than be caught in the dark whilst I was washing, that would have been worst, and I thank God for this blessing.

Talking about electricity, this is something that sometimes might be cut off suddenly, so what you do is be sure to have a flash light with you wherever you go during night time, I mean like when you go to take your bath, bring the flash light with you. For sure, when you go out after dark you need the flash light so you can see where you’re going; here there are no street lights. This advice you must heed or else you might fall into a ditch, and I am telling you this from experience, because this is what happened to me one time even though Alan had a flash light but I was walking in front of him, and I thought I was walking on solid ground, but suddenly I was screaming as I fell into a very muddy ditch, as it had been raining quite a lot the last couple of days.
In Malawi when the electricity fails you really feel it because your fan stops and you wonder how long you can last in the heat without it. While we were there the electricity failed only every day, but not for too long at a time.

Cooking takes double time to do as you know there is only one paraffin stove, so to make a dinner, I need to cook one thing at a time, I have to try and cook just enough for the meal and have no left over. Not having an oven is something I miss too. What I really miss is not being able to have a cold drink or a nice cup of tea when I want, because sometimes there is no milk. Come to think of it, this is just the simple things in life, but if you live in Africa, the simple things are a luxury.

Water is another luxury item, here there is water rationing, usually its supposed to be cut off during the week-ends, so you stock up on water on Fridays, the water gets turned back on Mondays, but sometimes it doesn’t come back till Tuesday or Wednesday, or it gets turned on Monday and then on Tuesday you have no water and then it gets turned on again on Wednesday. Sometimes you might be washing your laundry, by the way I have been doing our laundry the old fashion way, by hand, and in the middle of your washing you run out of water. So this can be quite annoying, you just have to leave your washing in the wash basin and finish doing it when the water comes back on.

Transport in Nairobi is like nothing else I’ve experienced in the world. There are so many people in the city, all walking any where and crossing anywhere and everywhere, people pulling carts carrying stuff here and there, and the roads are just always filled with cars, trucks, matattus, bicycles, all seem to be going at a fast pace and trying to cut each other out and turning whenever they can, stopping only when it looks like you’re going to hit someone,
I’ve lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years and when you travel on the bus it can get very crowded, but in Malawi it’s something else, imagine being in a mini-bus fitted with 14 seats for 14 passengers and you are in it with 23 others!

So what’s it like in Africa?
My biggest trials would be the mosquito bites I am getting. The first week I would say that I was not bothered at all, I made sure the mosquito net was properly put in place, I burned the mosquito coil in the bedroom before we go to bed. By the second week we noticed that the bites swelled up and some bites are worst than others, they turn red and get very itchy. Alan enquired at the pharmacist what would help me and he suggested that I take antihistamines. I told Alan he should just get me some lotion/ointment to put on my bites. We delayed getting them, I am always reluctant to take any form of medication, and I just used an antibiotic ointment that Alan already has, they seemed to give me relief even though they didn’t last, I survived, till we got to Mombassa, I seemed to be getting more bites and I felt more itchy and more discomfort, I started to put the mosquito repellent on me before we go out, and then before we go to bed. Finally I started taking the antihistamine pills and they seem to help me. So, before I go on, I must say that this trial is really not a burden at all, even though Alan can see that I am bitten all over, like I have the measles, I am well in body, mind and spirit. I remember coming out of the bathroom one morning and told Alan of my triumph- I said to him, you know what life’s little pleasure is? It’s killing a mosquito, and I wrote a reply to Trisha who sent me an email that morning, and I told her that I have turned into a killer!




Thomas

Thomas is a peanut vendor that we often buy peanuts from. The first time we met him, alan struck up a conversation with him and one of the things they talked about was why there were so many different kinds of churches. Since then, every time we see him we buy some peanuts and alan would have a chat with him. Thomas has been asking questions and Alan soon gave him a bible. Before long we also met his wife, Ruth. Then we found out that she had had a miscarriage and was hospitalized, it was very frightening for them as it was very serious, and Thomas even thought she might die, but thank God she recovered.

On the last week of our stay, alan told Thomas that the coming Sunday, it would be our last Sunday here and that he would be speaking. Thomas said he would come with his wife. He knew where Restoration Miracle Church (RMC) was. So on Sunday, January 7th, 2007, our last service at RMC before our trip back to Toronto, Alan gave his testimony and I took some pictures of it. At the end of the service Pastor Laz had an altar call and Thomas and his wife and a couple of others came forward. Tears were in Alan’s eyes as he watched Thomas speak. He said, it was Alan that brought him here, he befriended him and now he wants to have Jesus again in his life. He had not said the word Jesus for many years because he had lost his faith. But today he knows Jesus is here and he wants to start over.
We prayed for them and we prayed for some other people who wanted prayers. It was a very happy ending of our time in Africa.