Mihret Lakew is an 11 year old girl child suffering from the devastating effects of meningitis. She contracted the disease due to not receiving the vaccine when she was young. It affects her ability to walk, to talk, and to control her bodily fluids. It prevents her from getting to do things any child would want to do. At 6 months she was a normal healthy baby and some time after that she began showing symptoms. She lives with her younger brother and grandmother who does the best to take care of her but with the minimal income coming in from selling injera, Mihret has been approved for the BCI sponsorship program and she's been involved with the organization for two years. She does have another sister who is currently living with their mom.
Mihret is a happy child who attends Zion Church regularly. If you pray around her, she will join you in saying "amen," as is custom for Ethiopians whenever they are in agreement with whatever you just prayed whether it was the end of the prayer or not, but her responses to other things are limited. She can hear you but can't speak to you. The living conditions are better than some and difficult as most. With Mihret's disability comes extra expenses and care that unfortunately some of her immediate family have made negative comments about that the grandmother is ashamed to mention. As of now, 100 birr ($5 USD) of her monthly sponsorship goes toward the purchase of diapers needed for the 11 year old. As you can imagine, this is not enough. The grandmother uses two diapers a day for her and she goes without at night sleeping on plastic that covers her bed. This is because she doesn't have enough diapers throughout the month so the grandmother is forced to stretch them out.
As if caring for Mihret does not bring it's own trials enough while living in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia, the rest of the family have informed the grandmother they are planning on moving back in to their house and have made mentioning of kicking them out. As you can imagine, two diapers a day on a child who cannot control herself brings an odor. This is said to be the reason why they want to kick them out.
There is a very old one room space that currently serves as junk storage in the back of their two room home that they would be considering living in again. Two years ago, this was their home. The walls are gone, the wood is falling out of the thatch and pieces of it are broken, and there are holes in the roof as shown in the picture above. The room is not sufficient for them to stay in. Their immediate need is a new home. While we are believing and have prayed for Jesus' continual healing as we have seen evidence of His miracles in that Mihret is making attempts at taking steps while scooting her bottom along the side of her bed, at this point in time she still requires a wheelchair. Having a wheelchair is a blessing and a curse as many homes, roads, and schools are not made handicap accessible. Most schools in Debre Zeyit do not accept children with disabilities. There are no special needs classes. Most of it is because of lack of training in how to care for these individuals among other developing world issues. The grandmother informed us Mihret was attending a government school, but the kids in the class were not nice to her so she withdrew her from the school. Seeing as Mihret is still using the wheelchair, the construction of a new house or the move to another house would require extra funding to build a concrete ramp for the family. The projected cost for serving this family is in the works as I want to help this family.
Will you please support me in helping this family live a healthier life while being His hands and feet? What could or would you sacrifice for Mihret to have adequate diapers and a place to call home in the future? Will you help this willing grandmother take care of her disabled grandchild? If so, please visit www.blessingthechildren.org/donate to contribute toward loving the Lakew family.
No comments:
Post a Comment