The other day just as we were starting malnutrition clinic, Karen came in and said there was a sick baby at the gate who hasn’t eaten.

Thee father brought him into the clinic, and told us the child was four days old — and hasn’t eaten yet! Because of the shape of the baby’s mouth, they have only been able to put a little milk on his tongue. He had a very significant cleft palate.

Dad and a friend walked 10 hours to get to the clinic around 10am! (They had been walking since midnight from their home in the mountains.)

Dad said that they had not named the baby yet (possibly because they assumed he would not survive).

The baby actually looked pretty good for a four-day old that hadn’t eaten! His blood sugar was 37.

Hypoglycemic episodes are detrimental to the brain of an infant. I knew that he would not be able to drink from a bottle so I mixed some formula and used a syringe and tube to put it in the back of his throat where he could swallow it without it getting into his sinuses.

I got some formula in him but did not have a very big improvement in his blood sugar. I decided that he would need an IV with some sugar in it.

He didn’t have very good veins and he needed the sugar. I figured if it works in your veins it will work in your stomach too, so I gave him the IV fluid orally and it brought his blood sugar up nicely!

We called HERO and they transported him up to God’s Littlest Angels where they could care for him and teach his family to care for him. He is doing well, gaining weight, and has surgery scheduled for October. So thankful that they brought him to us when they did. He may not have made it another day.

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It’s sometimes hard to have to do your work when all you want to do is hang out and play with the kids.

This little guy and I were making faces and playing peak-a-boo during the opening of clinic while we talk to the adults

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby