Caring

A few nights ago, I was happily bouncing a smiling, filthy dirty baby in my lap when I was told that her mother is HIV+. Both live in the street. My heart sunk as I quickly connected the dots and realized that her baby must be positive as well.

Apart from our little girl at CDA and an occasional meeting, I have never been in daily contact with so many with HIV until now. And I can feel so helpless beyond just being there for them and being their friend. But watching the video in this post, "Dying and Rejected by the Church", reminded me that sometimes that's all we can do.

And it is considered significant by those surviving even though rejected by "normal" society. Every day, every night, when I offer a listening ear and a word of encouragement or share a laugh, I see a light come back in their eyes. Could it be hope?

Words cannot describe how privileged I feel to be able to live here, surrounded by need, spending myself on behalf of the weak as we walk side by side. Since last week, that includes keeping track of 3 medications, multiple tests and doctor/lab appointments, and seven days of 9pm injections for one of my friends from the bridge. And that's just ONE of my friends... It's exhausting, but I cannot imagine doing anything else.

As I type, I hear little voices float up to the office. It is snack time, and the prayer included a blessing for the street children. So young, and yet already ministering.

Watch the video and think of who you can love today.


Ten years ago today, my family had the court hearing in Russia that made Emma "ours"! Today, a Bolivian couple has their court hearing to become the parents of our 20 month old boy F. Exciting!

enjoying life

Somebody special just a had a birthday!! Hard to believe, our A is now three!



She arrived a tiny, quiet, peaceful newborn in November 2006. Aww....

Even after so many knocks in the road both health-wise and in the family department (two failed adoptions - in fact the only two we've had to this point), she is still a delightful little person who brightens the day of everyone she comes in contact with!

Thought you might enjoy the Alseths account of making A's day special. (In an effort to use their limited resources wisely, all the kids at CDA III are having more personal, small "family birthdays", which is still really special to the child!)

We took her out to see a dinosaur movie and go to an arcade. The movies were buy one get one free that night so we took JG with her to celebrate. They both had the best time ever experiencing everything. A couldn’t get enough of the rides at the arcade and they both enjoyed eating their candy popcorn.

They were so entertained by the movie, which was a surprise to us because they don’t usually pay attention to things that long when we’ve put movies on the television at the house. They were the cutest! Their laughter was louder than the movie sound system and every time something funny would happen; A would look over at me and repeat everything that she just saw, and then laugh all over again. I couldn’t understand half of what she said but, her sound effects were the greatest. I was laughing at her more than the movie!

Even the people around us thought our kids were the highlight of the show. Fun, fun, fun!

See for yourself:

Happy Birthday, A, and many, many more!!!

{pictures courtesy of the Alseth Family}

Child History 9.0

Each child comes with their own unique story:
heart breaking, tragic, with conflicting details, many unknowns and doubts...or all of the above. Here's the story of my "birthday present" two years ago.

Josue’s story is long and winding. His mother gave birth to a stillborn baby before him, that his father didn’t claim as his. She hadn’t wanted the baby either. Then she got very sick and the doctors said that getting pregnant again would help, so they conceived another. But the mother didn’t want him either and refused to go to the hospital even while in labor. By force she was taken, but she never accepted the baby that was born: Josue.

Soon after she abandoned the family and Josue went to live with an aunt. The aunt mistreated him and this upset the father, so he again took Josue to live with him. Eventually he moved to another city in Bolivia and met another woman. When she passed away suddenly, Josue again lost a mother, and his father had the shock of learning what she had died from: AIDS. Testing revealed that he was now HIV+, as well as the son they had bore together (Josue’s stepbrother).

The boy stayed with his grandparents, while Josue and his devastated father moved back to Cochabamba to begin putting their lives back together. But Josue’s dad was now rejected by his family, and suffering a lot under the weight of all the life changes in such a short time. It was also not working out for Josue to follow his dad around to construction and repair jobs.

So on my birthday in 2007, volunteer Amber and I were running all over the city helping some people who live on the street. In the course of doing that, we spoke with the psychologist of the Catholic’s HIV/AIDS program. She told me about the dilemma of Josue and his dad, and asked if we could possibly help temporarily. I said I’d consult with my staff and get back with her. A couple hours later I was trying to rehearse with the church praise team (I say try because I got there late and my cell kept ringing) and she called back saying “He’s here and wants Josue to move in with you right now!! Can you come talk to him?” Yikes! I ended up leaving rehearsal early and going back to her office downtown.

After talking with the father, a priest, and our psychologist friend, we left for CDA II arriving right after dark. It was sweet to see Josue so excited about going to live with other children. We showed Josue and his father around the home, then joined in the birthday celebration they had planned for me. As if reading my mind that I get really tired of cake, cake, and more cake with our constant birthday parties, the staff and kids had prepared api morado and pasteles de queso with powdered sugar (mas o menos like the desert empanadas here)….yum! So that was Josue’s first “meal” in our home.

...And he is still with us because his father disappeared after 14 months of fairly consistent visits, and many ups and downs with his precarious health. We had the joy of seeing the father become a Christian during those months, and attend church regularly with the home. But then he stopped coming. Finally he's contacted us again and he says he will work with a lawyer to get Josue out, but so far he has not begun. If he never follows through, papers are already being processed to provide Josue with a permanent adoptive family.

Josue is a fun loving, very energetic little boy with a serious side. He is extremely smart, artistic, and shows real talent when working on craft or coloring projects. He also likes playing soccer and learning new words in English and recently started kindergarten. He’s a great student!

A few months ago, I was blessed to be part of Josue's dedication to the Lord at church.

Recently, as he's missed his dad more and more, Josue has changed a lot and has become challenging to the caregivers as they try to love and train him. Pray for God to make real HIS love to Josue, and give him the assurance that HE will never abandon him!


*Name changed


Pictures from top of post to bottom:
1) A thoughtful pose (picture by photographer Brad Collins)
2) Josue's new bed at CDA II
3) Riding a horse
4) Playing on a huge slide in a city park

Help provide loving care for Josue for $25/month through Casa de Amor's new child sponsorship program. Download THIS form to start!

Chicken Pox, ahhh!!!

Ah-hem. An interupption in the flow of merry Christmas posts, for a little explanation of the other side show going on since Christmas Eve, before I'm posting pictures of cute-but-speckled babies here....

Christmas morning, right after opening presents with my family and volunteer Elizabeth, and fielding a call from Italy (yes, from my Juanito, what a huge gift!!!), a caregiver from the Baby Home called my cell phone. The night before I had silently suspected chicken pox on our newest little boy, but was ignoring it and pretending it would go away and that I was guessing totally wrong. Still, I planned to call the Baby Home around noon and find out if he had more spots and where. Well, he did. So they called me first. We've never had chicken pox in the Baby Home, and on Christmas week?! Sigh. With babies already down with coughs and colds and right in the thick of staff vacations, of course. (December--February are always our rockiest months medically at the Baby Home, to the point of hospitalizations every year.)

But this will extend far beyond Christmas season, if Hogar II is any lesson. Last year it was a good full two months of spots and sick kids (it lowers your immunities) before it passed through the 15. All that time I wouldn't let the kids be in contact between homes, precisely for A. M.'s safety (and other weak babies).

Picture titled "epidemic" from Hogar II, October 2007

Our first concern was getting our A. M. any special care she would need and then separated out. The first was more complicated since her doctor is on vacation and traveling, and the best ER in town wouldn't answer their phone...or anyone else in that hospital either. Finally I reached the pediatrician (he called me back when he initially missed my call, God bless him!) and he orientated me on what to do for Ana to prevent complications with her. Obviously we were upset that she was even exposed, and of course she's already become a main friend of the new one, but another pediatrician has since told me it's better she just get it now rather than when she's potentially more immune comprimised later.

Amazingly I was easily able to find the med on Christmas Day.

The next task: a safe healthy place for A. M. It was out of the question in our already-crowded home to expect a healthy, overactive, highly sociable two year old to stay put in one room for weeks or months. We put our heads together and decided to call in the cook/housekeeper (aka, thinks she's A. M.'s mom) currently on vacation, to care for her until she's back (Jan. 8) and then we'll go from there. She was thrilled and very excitedly accepted, God bless her!!

So far, New Kid B is super spotty and itchy but no one else. I figure now's as good a time as any, since we do not have any small preemies or even newborns in the home. We hope delicate Twin G (girl) weathers it okay if she gets it. Otherwise, it would be nice if they looked okay by the time the professional photographer is here in a few weeks. And of course we have several babies/toddlers who should be leaving fairly soon (2 or 3 adoptions + 1 back to his dad). We'll be doing our share to pass this through the city..... {grin}

"So, how are the babies doing?"

An innocent question with no easy answer!! More often than not it's like, hmm....."Well, you know, they are really......cute."

The past couple of weeks:

Benito: still needs a hearing aid for one ear. He is not very near passing the much-hoped-for milestone of sitting alone by 12 months. Now, "supposedly" his walking will be severely delayed (all four limbs and his trunk are affected by cerebral palsy).

Esteban: needs hearing aids for both ears. Great news from his most recent CT scan: the fluid left on his brain will drain alone, so he doesn't need brain surgery! His hip x-ray also came back normal.

Victoria: currently receiving some intense physical therapy to try to relax her curved, stiff legs. She's 3 months old today and the orthopedist had hoped for more improvement by now. Our physical therapist and psychologist have told me a couple of times now that Victoria does not respond to visual stimuli, maybe not auditory either. :-( Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with her to see about that...

Jose: needs surgery on his umbilical hernia (imagine a giant "marshmallow" sitting on the stomach of a 9 pound baby). He is still on calcium and still trembles a lot, and now has anemia too. At least with the formula we changed him to, he seems to be eating/growing better. In a month we'll see if we need to do anything about his bowed out legs. (He was born with syphilis.)

Jose, Carla, Benito, Ericka, me: battled persistent conjunctivitis for a couple weeks (PTL we're all clear now!)

Erick, Ericka, Katarine: running skin abscesses, "non-contagious" (yeah, right)

Luz Clarita: abdominal sonogram came back normal but needs a special internal exam now

Benito: exam under anesthesia once

Esteban: exam under anesthesia twice

A. M.: got sick for the first time since starting the ARV drugs. Happily, she was only down a few hours before her doctor prescribed medicine, and she's up and running again (and I do mean running!)

Camila: has started speech therapy twice a week

Brandon: taking a break from speech therapy (it's his 3rd birthday today!)

Victoria, Jose, Benito, Belinda: twisted legs, abnormal hip x-rays, bowed legs, etc. I want a second opinion from another orthopedic specialist...when I have time to make the appointment and take 3 of those babies with me at once!

Marcus, Victoria: got immunizations (we have monthly visits to the Baby Home for those, but M & V live at CDA III)

Speaking of CDA III, they've had 2 or 3 viruses in a row run through their house and seem to be in another. Some say it's "that time of year" (as well as with the skin/eye infections due to all the wind and dryness), but you'd be hard pressed to find a time of year in Cochabamba where there's not SOMETHING bad health-wise due to the weather. (Must be all that "perfect, spring-like weather" we have here--HA!)


Other than that, all is just peachy and the kids are doing great! =)

And this is just the health area, not to mention legal and social. We've been very busy in those areas the past couple of weeks too, mainly due to the newest set of kids and upcoming adoptions. Oh, and that meanwhile, Bolivia was often tearing apart at the seams.

Never a dull moment!


PS--See new picture at the bottom of the blog. =)

And another baby...

I think I should be careful what I read. Shortly before receiving our HIV positive baby, I read a book by a Christian surgeon who was HIV+. A couple weeks before getting the baby pictured below, whose mother is deaf/mute, I read a book by the daughter of deaf parents. Then yesterday morning, I read an article on a baby who died from shaken baby syndrome and the multiple injuries the abuse caused, and it listed some stats.....that came in useful just a couple hours later when SEDEGES called. In every case God was preparing me and my mind was opened to a different side of the suffering in this world.

I really don't have a good reason of why we said yes this time, having said no to another the day before. For once, we actually had forewarning that this was going to be a difficult case. SEDEGES said the baby was being released from the hospital from multiple injuries pointing towards child abuse. We still don't have room. Two babies leave "soon", but soon here has an entirely different meaning. And it had only been 8 days since a new baby. Anyway, we said yes and within an hour he was in my arms. He's about 4 months old.

It was awful reading through and trying to understand the many medical reports he arrived with (side note: we're grateful he actually came with so much background info). One from July listed 8 prescribed medicines and no less than 14 diagnoses (I'm translating, hopefully correctly, from Spanish): meningitis, seizures, hygroma, moderate intraventricular hemorrhaging, moderate hydrocephaly, generalized hypotonia, intracranial pressure, psychomotor delay, anemia, oral thrush, cardiac insufficiency, bronchitis, fractured left rib, and-finally!-possible battered baby syndrome. A couple weeks before a forensic report also listed multiple bruises, from head to toe, and that he was at imminent risk of death. By the time I finished, I was nervous to even have him in my care! He was also a little bit cranky...who knows from what? The main thing we notice holding him is how "floppy" he is, from the hypotonia, which makes him kinda hard to hold (although not quite as challenging as our Benito, with CP).

But thankfully, I was out till late with him at our pediatrician and he seems pretty much recovered from all the above. He still needs to visit our neurologist though. Hopefully his need for brain surgery, as listed on one of the reports, is wrong. Poor baby! He has a 3 year old sibling that I want to check on as soon as possible.

This is definitely the dark side of our work, seeing what humans in their sin nature are capable of. Still, I will not throw the first stone. Living my comfortable life, I cannot even begin to imagine surviving the incredible stresses, crisis, and trauma that make up the everyday lives of the parents of our kids. Apart from the Lord, we are all doomed to commit such atrocities.