Life again

Short note: we discharged a little girl today. She had been here with her mother and father and older brother since Tuesday - admitted at the JSK centre.

She is 9 months old and weighed only 5.5 kgs. Very undernourished. Had had diarrhoea for the last month. Had visited many doctors. Had been injected and whatnot but still sick.

We admitted her. Took the bottle her mother was still using with her and threw it away. We helped the mother feed the child. We encouraged and prayed.

After the very first day, the infant stopped passing stools. Then she started to eat. Did she ever eat. At the end of 3 days she had gain a whole 1/2 a kg!

As this HIV positive couple goes home with their happy daugther we are reminded about how many do not have such a happy ending. Even this family was at the brink of death. How long the little girl would have survived is anyone's guess. What a blessing to be a part of the solution in this family's life.

There are still some messy corners. Is this little girl HIV positive herself? We are about to have a viral PCR test done to see. The family relationship between husband and wife is fragile. Will the parents be able to look after the child when they return to their slum home? Many questions - few answers - but for now we celebrate that one more little child has been given life.

Hats off to the medical and nursing team at JSK - and all the unsung heroes who work away in other parts of the group - big hurrah for a God who answers prayers of his children. All through whom this family has received life again.