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26 June 2008 Dear Friends, I'm asking for your prayers. We have a 6-year-old girl at our school named Eleanor Banda. She has been in poor health since I first saw her when I came last August. Her face and limbs were puffy and she was listless. This year she has become increasingly weak.
Last month, she was so weak she was not able to eat. We took her to the hospital where she was admitted to the malnutrition ward, because she was anemic and severely malnourished. She weighed only 14 kg, about 6 less than a normal child her age. They drew some blood and determined she also had malaria, so she was transferred to the regular ward and released after 3 days. Since her mother died two years ago of AIDS-related complications, we had her blood tested for HIV. We were thankful that it was negative. When she returned to school, we started giving her multi-vitamins, a blood building tonic and soy protein fortified porridge each day. She slowly started to improve, and we were praising God for each day we saw a smile on her face. Since she was too weak to walk the mile to school, our staff members went by bicycle to pick her up in the morning and return her home in the afternoon. On Monday we noticed that her condition had deteriorated, and on Tuesday she refused to come to school because she felt so poorly. Fortunately, our staff member persisted and brought her after some coaxing. She said to him, "I don't know why I have to die like this." We immediately took her to the private clinic in town. They said she is still anemic, malnourished and has a severe protein deficiency and had lost 1.5 kg (about 3 pounds) since May. She also has malaria again. They drew blood from her groin because it was the only place they could find veins to jab. They had to poke her three times; all the time she was crying and screaming to me for help, "Auntie Dru, Auntie Dru." It was horrible. Because she was vomiting so severely, they had to give her the malaria treatment by injection. Then they stuck her again with medicine to stop the vomiting and diarrhea and again with medication to lower her temperature which was rising rapidly. I wondered how much more this tiny little girl could endure. We reluctantly took her home, because we had no other alternative. She lives with an aunt and uncle; her father has nothing to do with her. She is often left home alone with other children with no adult to look after her. We were concerned that she would not receive the food she needs and the medicine she was given (about 7 different types), so we arranged for her to be brought to school every day for medicines and for me to take her to the clinic for the malaria injections. She has to go two more days. Yesterday when she came we managed to get her to eat about 1/2 of a scrambled egg and drink a small amount of milk. Her aunt said she ate some more egg last night but refused the porridge I bought her. This morning she would only drink a few sips of milk. I'm afraid this precious child of God has given up on life. She has stopped fighting and has refused to do what she needs to do to live. The only medicine that will help her now is the prayers of the saints. Please pray for Eleanor, that God will touch her in a special way so that she will want to live and can be happy, that the suffering will stop and she can be a normal little girl. I pray for the day when I see her jumping rope, singing and playing with her friends here at Lifesong School. Please also pray that her family will take care of her special needs, not only physical but also her emotional need for love and acceptance into an already overextended family situation. Our school is more than just a place where the children come to learn to count, read and write. This is a haven where they find safety, physical care, nurturing, and above all, the love of Christ. It is an honor and privilege for me to be a part of this ministry to the "least of these," the orphans and vulnerable children of Zambia Compound. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer. God bless and keep you, Dru Smith
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11 June 2008 17 December 2007 08 December 2007
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