Pepe

Sorry for the long break in posting my blog. The last 10 days I have had to put on my "mothering" hat. Long story short, we had to have emergency care for a 11 year old girl named Pepe. She will be 12 in May. She was very sick and needed special attention. Her brother, Mfana was admitted to the hospital but they did not admit her which was good in that she is very afraid of them. We could not find a Swazi home on such short notice, so I became her caretaker for a brief time. She was very sick and weighed only 17 kg (37 lbs). She wears a size 5-6. She looks good but is on so much medication and had pnemonia that it was hard for her to keep in food down. Since I am the only missionary who is a mother but without children at home, I was the perfect person to get the opportunity to care for Pepe. I feel for the father who just was unable to care for them and had reached a point of giving up. Pepe and Mfana lost their mother several years ago and their aunt 1 1/2 years ago to Aids. It was a roller coaster of ups and downs all week as we sat at the doctor's clinic most mornings and got antibiotic injections to keep her out of the hospital and had to take so many meds, I had to write it down on a schedule. Pepe is a trooper at taking her meds though; as you can see in the photo. She's a pro!!! I don't think my grown sons could swallow all the pills she has to take. She has an adorable smile but often when we tried to take pictures she was not feeling up to showing her smile. She would smile and light up when we showed them to her. The tux shirt was mine (okay Michael's) that she used for a night shirt. The pink is a new outfit she picked out including shoes. (Girls are still girls even in Swaziland and she wanted to be sure to get matching shoes with her new outfit!!)

Pepe has been active at the Kakhoza ("Ga-ko-zah") CarePoint, also known as Gigi's Place, since Children's Cup began working there 4 years ago. Teresa, our nurse, has been seeing her the 2 1/2 years she has been here. Pepe has had a long struggle including a month in the hospital last year. Her brother, Mfana only recently became extremely ill. He had been going to school the first 2 terms last year (there are 3 terms in the school year here) until he became ill. Pepe completed the CarePoint school but has never had the strength to attend the government school. She is very bright. She speaks a little English and I speak very little Siswati. An interesting combination. She talks little but then she would blurt out something and shock me several times with an English phrase -- "Let's go home", "Go to sleep", "mayonaise" (still haven't figured out how she knew that), and "cooked egg not fried" (meaning she wanted a hard boiled egg). I learned that "chips" are french fries and "emasi" is like buttermilk and she loves it. She loves grapes but peels them like they were litches (a grape like fruit that is bigger and has a rough covering). It has been an interesting week. I feel for every working single mother!!! When she was being watched by others she would cry for Auntie Sandra but then when I spent the day with her she would cry for Auntie Teresa. I don't think I would have been able to care for both Pepe and her brother at the same time so I feel for the struggle their father must have had.

Update, Pepe had a good weekend. Her appetite has increased and although it doesn't always stay down, more of it is. We found a group home for her that is actually very close by and took her there today. It was hard. They will take her brother when he gets out of the hospital. When we visited him at the hospital on Sunday, Mfana had a good appetite and was even able to walk us out when we left. He would have never been able to do that a week ago.

As I process all that has happened, I will blog the spiritual journey God has been growing in me this past 10 days. Pray for Pepe and Mfana for their continued renewed strength, adjustment to their new home and that they grow up to become all God has for them to be!!!