Well our blog has been mostly inactive for awhile. Life has been very busy. We've been working hard at our adoption process, and have come a long way. All of our American paper work is complete, and the final steps rest in the hands of the Congolese Embassy. Also, our son was born on June 17th, Father's Day. Before you ask I'll tell you that "yes he was the best Father's Day present ever". Sorry, but I've been asked that a few times. We've also spent our summer doing our usual travel adventures. This year we were pleasantly surprised by the White Mountains, and lakes of New Hampshire. Just this past weekend we traveled to Kansas to see two of our dear friends wed. Not to mention a few trips to the beach.
But while life has been good here for us our dear little Agape has had very much the opposite. First off, let me remind you that the Congo is a very bad place to live. The average family usually eats ONE meal EVERY OTHER day. Basically I have eaten more food today than the average person in Congo does in a week. Orphans are not even as fortunate as this. I don't have a statistic or fact about how often Agape eats, but frankly, I don't need one. It is very bad. To make matters worse she has jiggers. If you are unfamiliar with these they are flea-like bugs that live in the sand during the dry season in the Congo. A jigger burrows itself into the feet and/or hands of a host where it lays its eggs. It then dies and falls off as the skin is replaced. By then the new eggs have hatched and have most likely found the same host. It's an unending cycle. The jiggers are extremely uncomfortable and painful. Some children have such severe cases that they can not walk. Left untreated could lead to a serious infection and possibly a loss of limb/s. Worst case scenario could be death. Agape also has a very bad ear infection. She was taken to the doctor in March for an ear infection when our adoption director visited the country. It is unknown whether this is a new infection, or the same infection that was never treated properly. Regardless, an ear infection that is left untreated for too long can lead to permanent hearing loss.
What has to be done? Agape will need surgery to remove her jiggers. Our adoption agency is raising money to cover the costs of having all the kids in the orphanage treated. However, three volunteers are needed to help care for the children in a different location to ensure that proper wound care is done, and that the children don't become reinfested with jiggers. Otherwise they would be at great risk for more complications.
This is where we need your help. My wife has shared a link that contains a flyer explaining how our adoption agency is responding to this. Check it out HERE. Keep in mind that the children who have these belong to a family who is desperately waiting to bring them home where they can be cared for properly. Please take time to read the flyer and consider how you can help these children.
Thank you for reading.
http://projectfeet.wordpress.com/
