Stories from Africa….of hope…
One of the primary aims of Open Arms International is to provide loving families, safety, security, an education and all essential needs to vulnerable and orphaned children.
Over the past month the Village has welcomed a further six children: Collins (8), Naomi (8), Dixon (11), Arnold (9), Eunice (8) and Diana (4). Five of them are now receiving the attentive care of Josphat and Lois, houseparents of Home No 5 (which has now been officially named ‘New Hope’ Home).
Diana was so severely under-nourished when she arrived at the Village that she will be cared for individually until she is well enough to join the growing New Hope family.
All the children are settling well into their new home, school and enjoying getting to know the large Open Arms family. We look forward to reporting on their progress later in the year.
To enable Open Arms International to continue to offer homes for vulnerable, abandoned and orphaned children we run a child sponsorship programme. All our children are supported by sponsor parents, with our Partner-Parent Sponsorship starting at only £29.00 per month.
If you would like further information on all our forms of sponsorship please contact Susanna for further details: susanna@openarms.org.uk
….and despair
In early March, the Open Arms team accepted two abandoned baby boys, Ian and Obadia (both approx. 3 months), both of whom were malnourished, underweight and extremely ill.
The babies received the utmost care and love whilst at the Village, and at the local hospital in Eldoret under the supervision of Co-Founder, Rachel Gallagher.
Rachel writes: ’It has been 10 years since I traded bedside nursing for tropical nursing in Africa. Children have died, yes, but not under my watch. That is, until last Sunday. On the morning of March 4th at 9 am when our latest addition to the Open Arms family, Obadia Kimtai, died. He was only 3½ months old and weighed less than 5 pounds. His mother died during labour and his young father managed as best as he could for the first 3½ months of Obadia’s life. We literally had him at the village for less than an hour.
At the very same time, Ian who had just arrived days before from the hospital, and was virtually the same age and weight – was also struggling for his life. We had 3½ days with this precious baby before we had to rush him back to the hospital with breathing difficulties. He died Monday night, March 5th at 7:50 pm‘.
We, at Open Arms, are more resolute than ever before to champion the cause of the orphaned, abandoned and suffering children of Kenya. The hospital in Eldoret does not have all of the equipment necessary to treat cases like Obadia’s. We are currently working on plans to help secure access to essential life-saving medical equipment for future similar cases.
The staff and children of Open Arms Village are grieving for and celebrating the brief lives of two precious children. Sadly, however, the story of Ian and Obadia is all too frequently mirrored around Africa. Open Arms International longs to change this, and are deeply grateful to our supporters for continuing to enable our efforts to save and transform lives.
