Getting chubby...

Well, maybe not quite chubby, but certainly healthier. This week I was able to go back to the Missionaries of Charity home run by sisters looking after babies, kids and adults suffering from a variety of problems including malnutrition, HIV and TB. I love this place! The last few times I have been and spent time with the children. I just can't help but love it. The sunshine beams out of those little faces as we arrive, and little hands reach out and cling on. The little girl who on my last visit had been displaying very strange behaviour (very violent, very jealous of any other children and the attention they were getting), had clearly mellowed. We had a great time getting out picture books and pointing to things while I held and fed one of the babies, silently praying fervently for each child as I interacted with them. The last time I saw her she was pinching and punching me every time I went near another child. Something is clearly changing.
The biggest change was in the tiniest of the children. The babies I had seen in the weeks previously were so malnourished it was difficult to see how they could survive, but this week...one of them looked positively fleshy! It was such an awesome sight and brought a lump to my throat to think that this fragile little life might continue, when a few weeks ago I was pushing out of my mind the thought that they may not be able to fight much longer. I am still not sure in what context these babies will grow up, with parents, a family or as orphans, but there is a great sense of hope and determination in the bones of this place, the more I go, the more it gets in my bones! Ines who is head of Mercy Ministries and takes the group each week, is keen for me to go and be the 'regular' person visiting the children.
Just before the end of each visit the children receive their lunch. That in iteself is an adorable experience; they are all placed in a circle and stripped down to their nappies (to save on the washing!), very few of the children are given help to eat, they are pretty independent, but it is quite a sight to watch. The tiniest of the toddlers manages with a spoon, failing that, ditch the spoon, and then some kind of mad dash with 2 hands right in the bowl of rice ensues. Not a grain goes wasted, the little fists polish off every one (except for those less experienced ones who finish covered all over their tummys in rice!) Then one little boy, Ben, turns over his bowl in a determined 'I've finished' action and bursts into tears in the realisation his bowl is empty, desperate for some more he looks to one of the sisters and thankfully there is a bit more to go around. Though I'm not sure I could eat all of that rice they pack away!
It's great to see how well looked after the kids are, despite less than perfect circumstances, and so few staff. Going to help for just one morning seems quite futile in a way, but if those little ones are being blessed as much as my heart is praying and yearning for them, it is defnitely worth it!