Mbalama and Mbatilo

We have two precious new additions here at JCCM. Mbalama and Mbatilo were born on the 10th of February 2012. Sadly their mother died just after giving birth. They were born in a village east of Kenema to a polygamist family. Their father has 3-4 wives and 5 other small children. Here it is very difficult for one of the other wives to take in the children born to a different mother. Also the father is old with many other young children and he would not have been able to support these two little ones. God watched over them from the moment they were born. In their first week of life they had milk only one time and somehow survived on sugar water. One of the wives brought the babies to a lady in New London, Bo. Her name is Lovetta and she is known for her love of children. When they reached her she brought them straight to Gondama hospital. Here they were put on a feeding program and Social Welfare was involved. When the twins were 3 weeks old Social Welfare placed them into our care. However at this time they were not ready to leave the hospital. This was actually good for us as it gave us a little time to prepare. Preparing the mothers was the hardest part. It seems to happen often here at JCCM. When we first tell one of the moms she is getting a baby she hestitates and really is not too excited. I mean it is a LOT of work. So we talked to Mommie Amie in house 3 and Mommy Erica in house 4. Their aunties were excited and ready but it took the moms and I visiting the babies at the hospital for them to really get into it. The twins stayed at the hospital for another 3 weeks to complete stage 1 and 2 of the program and move onto stage three. This also allowed them to get on the list to receive formula each week. Now the mom's take the twins each Tuesday to be weighed and receive the next weeks formula- a big help to us.

Mbalama (girl) and Mbatilo (boy)

These two are dearly loved here already- carried around by everyone, big and little. They are doing well and growing though Mbalama is growing MUCH faster than Mbatilo- she helps him finish his formula each week. Mbalama Soa was born first- her name means "don't forget" and Soa means "first born twin". She eats and eats and is the one to cry when she wants to eat. I think this caused her to get the most food in the hospital and the most attention. Mbatilo Jinnah means "people's child" and "second born twin". He is tiny still but is very strong. He will focus on you and follow you with his eyes more than Mbalama. He also holds himself up quite well. He at first would rather sleep than eat. We also think he had a lot of stomach issues but we have worked hard to fix that. These two are now dearly loved by their mothers- who are also very posessive of them. They have brought a new light to the compound and we are blessed to be able to care for them. I think their names together are very fitting. We will not forget them and we will all love and raise them together. May we show them the love of the Father who brought them to us and has each day of their lives in his hands.