A lonely burial

One of our babies passed away this week. Sadly I didn't have the chance to meet him, as he went to hospital the day before my first shift in the newborn nursery. Baby Bahati was just over a week old. His mother and twin died in childbirth. Bahati's lungs were not drained of amniotic fluid when he was born, so he developed pneumonia.

Nurse Batilda took him to hospital on Tuesday, and he passed away that night. Batilda told us that she waited all night at the hospital until Bahati's aunt came to visit at 5am the following morning, so that she could break the sad news. Bahati's aunt did not have enough money to hire a car to take him to his burial site - so Batilda and Bahati's aunt were forced to take him on the dala dala (the public transport mini buses I have previously spoken about). The dala dala ride cost 2,500 shillings (about $AUD2.50) - that is a VERY long way on the dala dala. To put things in perspective - we pay TS500 (60 cents) to get to Arusha from the baby home, which is about a 45minute trip. So nurse Batilda's journey would have taken hours.

Batilda said she was very scared to take the baby on the dala dala, because she feared she would get in a lot of trouble if people discovered that she held a dead body - so her and the aunty had to stay strong and calm for the duration of the ride while Batilda hid the baby under their shawls. Several hours later they were dropped on the side of the road in the middle of the bush. Bahati's uncle was not there to meet them. When they called him on their mobile phones, he said that he would be there soon with 'transportation'. 3 hours later, Bahati's family had still not arrived. Nurse Batilda was concerned that she had a long return journey ahead of her, and she needed to prepare the other babies for their immunisation shots, and she had to go back.

Batilda found a soap box and placed the baby in it. She said some prayers, and christened the baby 'Peter'. As she was about to leave, his uncle arrived with the 'transportation' - a tractor and trailor, and took the baby into the desert for his burial.

Later that evening, Batilda was laughing and playing with the other children at the home. One of the younger volunteers asked her how she could be so happy after such a long, sad day. She simply said that if she allowed herself to feel sad for the babies who passed away she would be overcome with grief, and would be unable to properly care for those that were still with us. She said that she trusted that the baby's journey in this world was always destined to be brief, and God has higher plans for him.

In happier news, the toddlers start preschool tomorrow. Julie, my roommate (43 year old woman from the US - I love her!) is in charge of school. We took them to see the new classroom yesterday and they were SO excited.

I'm off now to find a safari to do at the end of November. Fingers crossed I can find something affordable!!