The busy street in front of the mosque was crowded and loud, people coming and going to work, dirty faced children playing with homemade toys in the garbage strewn streets, banana carts being pushed through the mud, mangy street dogs sniffing by, people calling to one another and no one noticed the little one sitting alone by the door. She was patient for a while, then hungry, then anxious, then scared. Dark eyes that filled her face searched the crowd. This was probably not her first time to be left alone. Someone always came. But not this time.
No one knows how long she sat there, maybe an hour or two, maybe all day, dirty diaper, no food, no milk, no water.
It gets me just there behind my heart and stomach. My chest feels a deep anxiousness. I cry for them. You see my sisters and I lived this life here, right here in America the land of plenty, the land where a puppy found in the trash can is heart wrenching national news and people get organized to stop it. But a baby abandoned in a pit latrine, too much, we don’t want to hear it. Let’s talk puppies.
Many of our babies at Neema were abandoned with grandmothers who are too old to care for them. So were my 3 sisters and I. Four little girls abandoned with an old grandmother, its not unusual anywhere on this fallen planet. You see abandoned babies is not an African problem. It is a heart problem. Real poverty in a life and poverty of the heart happens everywhere.
Neema’s newest baby was left by the door of a mosque. The police were called and came to pick up the baby. That is where the second baby’s story comes in. “There’s another one,” somone said. A baby boy left at the open air market. So the police pick up both babies, take them to the local government hospital who checks them out and then calls Neema Village to come pick them up.
Estimated to be about 2 months old, the nannies named the little boy, Brim. Hi Brim, we love you little one.
The nannies got to name Jade too. She is beautiful and is estimated to be about a year old. Precious smile little one. Grandmommy and Papa will be there soon to hold you.
Bless you for caring about these babies at Neema Village in Tanzania, East Africa! You wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t care. Please pray for these babies in our care at Neema. Pray that they will soon find their forever family and never be abandoned again.
We cannot say thank you enough for your support of this precious ministry.
Love,
Michael and Dorris Fortson