Baby turns 1 year old!
This time one year ago, baby was fighting for his life. Baby's mom was not coping. Single, jobless, family-less, she was having a hard time handling the stress of a newborn.
Fast-forward to last saturday, as I arrive at baby's house, mom comes running out side with her arms in the air cheering "Oh Alli! Can you believe my baby is one year old today! I am so happy!" We went into her house that she was proud to show off. She and her friends were busy making potato salad and chicken. She proudly showed me baby's cake. I lost count of how many times she said, "thank you God, thank you Alli for helping me with my baby". She goes on to tell Bethany, me and her other friends how this baby should not be alive. She was practically jumping up and down while shouting, "Alli, my friend, I am so much better! I am not so sick, my baby is fat!".
I have been working with Tonya for about a year and a half. After deciding to keep her baby after baby's daddy left her, I got involved in supporting her during her pregnancy. It was a rough pregnancy and an even harder first 3 months of baby's life. In and out of the hospital, we discovered that baby was extremely sick. Baby Safe was extremely involved in their lives, including encouraging Tonya to get onto some life saving medicine. This was scary for mom, as she was fighting stereo-types and common misperceptions about this sickness. Months after getting on the medicine, both mom and baby look and feel amazing!
This is why I live in Africa, to help young mom's like Tonya raise their babies!
**story have been used with permission, names have been changed
May 16, 2011
umbilical cords
She's 20 years old, 5 months pregnant with her 2nd child and she has no idea what an umbilical cord is for...
As Jenna and I sit on the pavement next the drug apartments, I show her pictures of what her unborn baby looks like at 5 months. It's with excitement that I show her pictures of how her baby's eyebrows and eyelids have already formed. I tell her that her baby is now 5 inches long and about 5 ounces. She can not help but smile.
I have been working with Jenna for over a year and a half. A pr*stitute and Tik (crystal meth) addict, she has already had her first child taken from her because she would beg with him on the street, rain or shine, for spare change for her drug habit. Unfortunately, she never heeded my pleas to get the contraceptive injection. The father of the baby is in prison for theft. Mom continues to drug and walk the streets at night.
Jenna dropped out of school in the 8th grade. She was never shown these pictures, she never had a sex-ed class. It is on the street, 10 feet from the gamblers, that I explain what sex really is. Yes, she is proud of the fact she can "operate with the men", but she has no idea about the scientific/biological side of sex. So how would she know what an umbilical cord is? I explain in the simplest of words that "whatever Jenna eats, baby eats. Whatever Jenna smokes, baby smokes. Whatever Jenna drinks, baby drinks". I can tell she is embarrassed, she puts her jacket hood over her head and stares at her feet. We both smell the Tik chemical seeping out from her pores. I continue to encourage her to get registered at the local clinic for anti-natal check ups and the baby's birth. She is overwhelmed, she doesn't know where to begin the process. She asks me to help her book her first appointment and go with her. She is nervous, all of the nurses know who she is. They will scold her because at 5 months, this will be her first appointment. She is also nervous for the mandatory AIDS test. Right there on the street, I phone the clinic and book her an appointment. I'm also nervous, I'm nervous Jenna's addiction will continue to rule her weekend and monday morning she will not pitch for her appointment. Jenna goes on to tell me how she wants to be a proper mom for this baby. She feels it's going to be a girl. We dream about what this little "girl" will be doing in 1 yr, 5 yrs, 20 yrs. I tell her the first step to being a good mom is to make sure baby is healthy. 2 ways Jenna could make sure baby was healthy is by not using Tik and marijuana and going to the doctor appointment to get babies vitals checked.
Unfortunately, Jenna never went to her doctor appointment and I have not seen her since...
As Jenna and I sit on the pavement next the drug apartments, I show her pictures of what her unborn baby looks like at 5 months. It's with excitement that I show her pictures of how her baby's eyebrows and eyelids have already formed. I tell her that her baby is now 5 inches long and about 5 ounces. She can not help but smile.
I have been working with Jenna for over a year and a half. A pr*stitute and Tik (crystal meth) addict, she has already had her first child taken from her because she would beg with him on the street, rain or shine, for spare change for her drug habit. Unfortunately, she never heeded my pleas to get the contraceptive injection. The father of the baby is in prison for theft. Mom continues to drug and walk the streets at night.
Jenna dropped out of school in the 8th grade. She was never shown these pictures, she never had a sex-ed class. It is on the street, 10 feet from the gamblers, that I explain what sex really is. Yes, she is proud of the fact she can "operate with the men", but she has no idea about the scientific/biological side of sex. So how would she know what an umbilical cord is? I explain in the simplest of words that "whatever Jenna eats, baby eats. Whatever Jenna smokes, baby smokes. Whatever Jenna drinks, baby drinks". I can tell she is embarrassed, she puts her jacket hood over her head and stares at her feet. We both smell the Tik chemical seeping out from her pores. I continue to encourage her to get registered at the local clinic for anti-natal check ups and the baby's birth. She is overwhelmed, she doesn't know where to begin the process. She asks me to help her book her first appointment and go with her. She is nervous, all of the nurses know who she is. They will scold her because at 5 months, this will be her first appointment. She is also nervous for the mandatory AIDS test. Right there on the street, I phone the clinic and book her an appointment. I'm also nervous, I'm nervous Jenna's addiction will continue to rule her weekend and monday morning she will not pitch for her appointment. Jenna goes on to tell me how she wants to be a proper mom for this baby. She feels it's going to be a girl. We dream about what this little "girl" will be doing in 1 yr, 5 yrs, 20 yrs. I tell her the first step to being a good mom is to make sure baby is healthy. 2 ways Jenna could make sure baby was healthy is by not using Tik and marijuana and going to the doctor appointment to get babies vitals checked.
Unfortunately, Jenna never went to her doctor appointment and I have not seen her since...
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