It's A Boy!

You heard me right.

It's a Boy!

Wait!

It's a Girl!

Actually......

 It's Twins!!!!  

(see how I combined blue and pink together there?? LOL)

Saturday morning, just before 8 AM, a mother of seven children delivered her eighth and ninth babies--healthy twins--a boy and a girl.

Two hours later she hemorrhaged and four hours later she was dead.

She left behind a grieving husband with seven children and two newborn babies.

Several women from the community brought the babies to us at 4 PM. They begged us to help care for the babies. When questioned about whether there were any other women available to help, they all vigorously shook their heads. We were the only option, they said. 

The babies' father is a welder by trade. In a tiny community like Kazembe, work is hit and miss. He will find it impossible to afford formula in order to bottle feed the twins.

The babies are so new that they don't even have names yet. When we asked the family what they wanted to do about that, they asked us to name them.

We promised we would give them Bible names.

Jasmine and Troy decided to name them Luke and Leah (Zambians pronunciation = lay-ah) so, technically Bible names, but extra fun for my geeky family.

Taking in twins is going to mean a big change here. Thankfully they can sleep in cradles for the first month or two and so the bed situation isn't an issue, but it is going to push our staff requirements up by a lot. Right now 2 women per shift (one at night) look after the seven babies ranging in age from 6 months to 24 months. Now we will need another nanny for at least the night, if not the day shifts as well, if Jasmine and I intend to get any work done.

Each additional nanny (we'd probably need to hire 3) costs $100 per month.

Milk for twins will cost about $120 per month at the beginning and about twice that before they are a year old.

If you have considered joining up as a monthly donor, this is a great time to start! Even $50 a month will make a difference in reaching our budget needs and will allow us to concentrate on giving Luke and Leah the loving care they need.

You can click on either of the Donate buttons on the left hand side bar, or click on this link to pay by Paypal

We are so grateful for the opportunity to care for these precious children and to partner with so many of you around the world. Thank you!