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Alimamy

Alimamy

Alimamy was attached to me the first month I was there especially. The kids had some play time outside at night and he would always fall asleep on my lap before the prayer meeting. So he was my first baby. His parents were killed and he spoke a totally different language than all the other kids at the orphanage but he's adjusted quite well now.

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SL View

Scenic views abound...

This is one of numerous great views from the orphanage. There are a lot of gardens and crops in the background.

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Mango trees

Party under the mango trees

A grove of mango trees on the back of the compound. It's really a nice spot in the heat of the day. Beyond the trees are neighbors' rice swamps and other "random" crops. This was the Christmas party for the primary school that meets on the orphanage campus. What a way to celebrate Christmas, huh?!

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Hair planting

Hair planting/plating

Girls doing each others' hair. Weekly ritual.

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Solomon--5 months

Solomon

My (foster) son. This was taken one of the first days he was at the orphanage. He was just turning 5 months at the time (Born in August 2006), but was severely malnourished. He's tiny in this picture, if you can tell or not. He couldn't move by his own power the first day at all. The 2nd day, he could move his legs, but couldn't lift them.

His story: His father died in a diamond pit that collapsed before Solomon was born. His mother died when he was 3 months old of an illness. And he never took her milk, so he hadn't had milk for the first 5 months of his life!! His grandfather who took care of him after his mother's death, was only a poor farmer himself and could only give him a native type of cornmeal stuff...and not a lot of it either. So after about a month, he walked the approximately 40 miles to Bo where the orphanage is to find an orphanage to take care of Solomon. Through some blessed circumstances, I was asked to be his foster mother at the orphanage. I admit I was VERY overwhelmed to begin with though, but I wouldn't trade the experience.

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Solomon--10 months

Solomon--in May 2007

This is a bigger and stronger (and sneakier) Solomon. He continued to lag developmentally for about 10 more months until he passed away. He is missed so very much. Just goes to show us that early nutrition can do wonders for a child, which he didn't have and he really did have problems healthwise (for other reasons, too).
This was right after he stole some bread right from my hand. He never acknowledged solid food before that (though we definitely tried). But babies imitate their mothers and I was eating bread so he did too. While I was there, they never did manage to feed him solid foods unless he saw me eating them. HA!

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Sierra Leone village

A village on the road between Bo and Mattru.