Mama Abertha and Baby Michelle

I may have trouble finding the right words to express how deeply I am touched!  Just over three months ago I was at the medical clinic and saw a young mom, 16 years old, holding a starving child.  I talked about it then and showed you their picture (look at Day 2 under my first visit to Africa or Back to Africa, Vol. II, pictures tab). 

Abertha had been working the streets of Accra as a prostitute since she was around 15 years old.  She dropped out of junior high school and had no skills training, so she did what many young women do who are hungry and thirsty and feel they have no future and no options.   Then she became pregnant.  Here in this community, ending the pregnancy is not only NOT an option, it is not even thought of or considered.  So baby Michelle was born.  Abertha was living with her dad and step-mom, who had a little one-year-old girl.  For whatever reason, after Michelle was born, Abertha again decided to go back to the streets of Accra.  And for whatever reason, when Michelle was nine months old, Abertha decided to leave Michelle with a friend who was in the same line of “work”.  This friend took Michelle, but apparently didn’t feed her for 3 weeks.  Abertha came back, her step-mom heard about what had happened, saw the baby and brought them to the Buduburam clinic.

True, Michelle was nine months old, but she looked three months old at the most.  Abertha was 16, but looked 13 or 14.  It was heartbreaking!  When we left in August, we had heard Abertha had given up her baby for adoption and had returned to the streets.

Imagine my surprise when I returned and asked after Michelle, fearing that she might have died.  One of the Neighborhood Watch Team, a volunteer public safety officer for the camp, said she and her mom lived near him and he had been keeping an eye on them for us.  Beyan took me to see them.  I almost cried with joy!  Abertha was there, looking so much healthier and alive than she had when I first met her—she had life back in her eyes!  And Michelle?  I didn’t even recognize her!  I asked Abertha where the baby was and she gestured to a round-faced little girl who was practicing walking right in front of her, “There!”  So incredible! 

Michelle still has a ways to go, of course.  She is one year old (as of November 11^th), but she is still wearing size 3 months to 6 months clothing.  Abertha has been bringing Michelle to the Nutrition Center twice a week, getting food for her from the program Point Hope is a part of and getting her regular nutrition check-ups.  I asked Abertha what she was doing for herself.  She said she wanted to go back to school, but it was hard.  I asked her if she would go back and finish if we could get Michelle in the nutrition daycare center so both of them would be in a good place.  She nodded eagerly and we set up an appointment for her to take the baby in for a thorough evaluation to determine in which of two nutrition daycares (malnourished or severely-malnourished) Michelle should be placed.

In the meantime, Abertha’s father, Clay, hasn’t got a job, but does have six children, a wife and a grandbaby to help support.  Before the war drove him out of Liberia (when Abertha was 2 or 3), before they scattered and Abertha’s mother ran one way and he ran the other, so they became separated and he was never able to find her, before he came to be an unemployed refugee, he was a carpenter and interior designer.  I asked him if he was aware Point Hope had a carpenter school, where he could enroll, sharpen his skills, graduate with a recognized certificate, and find work.  He hadn’t heard, but was eager to sign up.  (I spoke with our instructor and he has agreed to accept Clay into the program, even though the new class began three months ago.)

This family is struggling, but they are together and that means a lot to them.  The younger children haven’t known anything but this refugee camp and hardship.  Not all of them are in school—they ran out of money to send the twelve year old, although two younger boys are still attending, as the fees were a little less. 

I marvel at the smiles on all the faces and I wonder how they manage to eke out enough food to sustain them all.  I wonder if Clay feels overwhelmed at times and if Abertha will apply herself to her studies, receive her certificate and continue on in the medical field like she dreams.  I wonder if Michelle’s belly-button-hernia (let’s face it, I’m not in the medical field) will go away on its own, or if she will need surgery later.  I don’t know, but I do know God loves them and has a plan for each of them and Point Hope can be His hands and feet right now.  I am honored to be the hands that were able to hold Michelle and tickle her while I laughed with her and marveled that she is still alive and that Point Hope has something to do with her miracle!