Twin boys arrived in the newborn nursery about 2 weeks ago. They have been named Peter and Eric. On arrival they were 10 days old, and weighed 5 pounds. They were SO tiny, and they still had that layer of protective womb coating that babies have, that looks like sunburn peeling (I apologise- I do not know the scientific name of it...in fact, I never knew of such a womb coating before asking Mama Ju why their whole bodies were peeling)!
Eric and Peter's story breaks my heart and makes my blood boil. Their mother suffers severe intellectual and physical disabilities. She can walk, with difficulty, but cannot talk and her non- verbal communication is extremely limited. The point being, she clearly does not have capacity to consent to sexual intercourse, and has obviously been molested. The family said they do not know who the father is - though I suspect it would be someone known to them, because she did not appear to have the strength to venture far from their house.
The plan is that the boys will stay at the baby home until they're 2 years old and on solid foods and then their aunt will care for them.
The arrival of Eric and Peter made for a very busy newborn nursery - 6 babies under 3 months old. Eric, Peter and another little girl named Hidaya, who is 4 weeks old require feeding every hour or two - so the volunteers commenced overnight shifts in the nursery. I did a triple nursery shift before Zanzibar, to make up for having a week off (ie worked from 5pm til 8am on Thursday night and Friday night, and 8am til 12pm on Saturday). Sleep deprivation and what felt like thousands of hungry mouths to feed. I have the TINIEST glimpse now of what the early days of motherhood must feel like!
In the same week that Eric and Peter arrived, our star pupil Martin went home with his new mum. He is 2 years old, and the smartest little boy I have EVER met. His mother, Caroline is a wonderful woman too, and Martini (that is what he calls himself!) is going to have such a fantastic life. She's a human rights lawyer, working as an advocate for the United Nations. Martini will be travelling with her to the Congo, France, Holland, and New York. It was sad to see him go (Mama Ju was heartbroken, because Martini was her favourite baby!) but I'm SO SO SO happy to see him with such a wonderful person. Martini and Caroline are both so lucky to have each other.
Pictured: Peter and Eric in the newborn nursery (it's a sterile environment, and we wear hospital scrubs and slippers); Martini in a jumper that Davo's mum knitted :-)
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