Making a Healthy Difference

One of the ways that your sponsorship makes a huge difference in the lives of children are in their medical care and nutrition.   Over the years we have had so many scenes of children literally coming back from the edge of death and disability as a result of better nutrition and medical care.

One of the children who was severely malnourished that EHE staff continue to intensively work with to see her grow in health.

Dehydration, Protein Deficiencies, Severe Malnutrition, Watery Diarrhea.  Problems that are not often heard of in the West, but that become life defining where we are working.  Add to that Tuberculosis, HIV as well as simple infections that increase the likelihood that a child is going to be orphaned.   Add to that two newborns that were added to the project whose moms died during childbirth.  Without simple infant formula, which their caregivers could not afford, they would have perished.  All of these needs can be addressed through simple interventions focused on bringing individual care.

This is where our staff come in.  They do an amazing job of nursing children to health.   One staff member who does this on a daily basis is our nurse, Sister Seble.  She is focused on seeing children made healthy again.  And every time we add new children to the day care we are faced with new health issues that she and the rest of our team must find ways to tackle.  Here is an excerpt from a recent email she sent to me (I edited it some for confidentiality reasons).

“we have almost 15 children who are under weight from the newly coming. Some of the the children are severely malnourished . Two weeks back  Alayu bought the plumpy nut & I was started to give it as a treatment for rehabilitation 2 times per day . The other report is we have two children HIV positive including their mother.  Both Children are under 1 year old.  They have follow up we will hope there result will become negative after 18 months.  Another child who is 1 1/2  has a history of congenital heart disease (CHD). She has started follow up. I took her for a  ECG.ECO & other lab investigation and the diagnosis is AST.  Currently she didnt need any medication but in the future she needs surgery but it  is not an emergency case.”

Here is where family sponsorship comes in.  Your sponsorship of a family provides us with the necessary funding to provide interventions for families such as these.  Without intervention, those who are severely malnourished would not make it.  Without intervention, those who are HIV+ moms would get sicker and sicker and one day orphan their children.  Without intervention, HIV+ children and those with diagnosis such as CHD would not get the medical attention they need.  Without intervention, children who face injury (such as one who recently fell into a cooking fire and was badly burned) would not receive the critical care they need.

But, its about more than funding.   We believe that family sponsors praying for the families they sponsor is a critical piece.  We know The Master Physician who can bring relief, comfort and healing. We know the One who can heal AST and who can make a positive HIV case suddenly negative.  We know The One who brings hope to those struggling with severe malnutrition and gives them the will to eat and to live.

Thank you for the ways you have chosen to sponsor – your sponsorship truly brings life saving and life changing results.  Please help us to keep spreading the word for the families who are not yet sponsored, so that we may be able to not only serve them, but also extend hope to the many who we have to turn away.

You can direct them to the families in need of sponsorship at www.EmbracingHopeEthiopia.com/sponsorships/