Government Hospital Visit

Today my family celebrated Easter together. A day late, but we were in Tabenkhulu(sp?) yesterday, so we decided to do it today. We colored Easter eggs and then ate them and then made cookies. Very interesting I know. Don't worry I'm not just blogging to say that, what I wanted to talk about is my experience at the Mbabane government hospital this evening. We went to Spar and got some lolly-pops and chocolates to bring to the kids in the hospital. I had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. Oh..... my..... goodness.
The first two rooms were occupied by at least 15 kids each and their mothers or whoever was sent to take care of them. Yeah....they have to make sure a family member or friend goes with them to the hospital, because if they don't the child probably won't get fed, bathed, or even taken care of, much less a check-up. There were kids from the age of just a few months, to 10....I'm guessing. With injuries such as : burns from hot pourage, broken legs, injuries caused by car accidents, pneumonia, HIV related illnesses, and some with the flu but dying from it. As soon as we started to hand out the sweets, the mothers all rushed up to ask for one for themselves, lol. We spoke to all of the children, wished them Happy Easter and took some pictures. My mom prayed with a lady and her son, who has pneumonia, the lady was very scared. There is a mentally retarded boy that has lived there all of his life, who was going around helping all of the children and talking to us, he is so sweet.
The third room is where the abandoned children stay. We spent the longest time in this one. I fell in love with a little boy, John, he is soo adorable. I had to hold the lolly pop for him to lick it because he is only a few months old and doesn't even have any teeth yet. He smiled at me the whole time. The abandoned children are soo desperate for love and they just want to be held. When we left, they cried. I almost cried. They are mostly all healthy, just don't have anyone to care for them. I wish I could take all of them! One of our friends, Robin Pratt, runs an orphanige here called Sandra Lee. She usually takes the children in the abandoned ward, but has no more space and has to wait for another home to be built. For now she has to refrain from going to the hospital, because she knows she will want to take them all home with her. I can't wait till these kids get to go with her. They just have to sit in their cribs all day long and most all of them were wet, dirty, and stinky from not being taken care of. Just sad. I hope to go back there soon and visit these kids. They are starving for love and attention and it is so good to know that God has a plan for each one of their little lives.