Crisis Nursery

This morning I drove over to the ABC campus and picked up two of the new teachers at the Academy, Megan and Whitney, and we all went to the Crisis Nursery. The babies had just finished breakfast and most of them were out on the back porch, enjoying the morning sun and fresh air. The babies are happy and love being held. Some are 'talking' - repeating sounds, and all of the older ones are interested in anything new. For those of you not familiar with Crisis Nursery, it is part of Ministry of Hope. They take in abandoned or motherless babies. Most of these babies are not actual orphans, but they cannot be raised in the village for the first couple of years of life due to not having a Mom. Formula is very, very expensive and most villagers can't afford it, even if they could find it in a shop near their village. Not to mention the problems some of the villages have with access to clean water. So the babies come here, are fed, clothed and loved until they can eat traditional foods and be returned to their families. Occasionally there will be a true, total orphan, with no extended family, but that is not often. Today there were 17 babies in the home. They can take up to 40, but since donations have decreased, they cannot feed and clothe that many at present. The care is given by aunties (nannies) who seem to truly care for the babies. However, they always welcome people who love children to come by and play with the little ones. I have included pictures of Whitney, Megan and me with some of the babies, plus some photos of the babies themselves. Again, anyone who feels led to give to this organization, they are doing good work in the face of economic hardship!