Perrysjournal

The day started early today with a phone call from a friend.
"She�s dying in my arms and I don�t know what to do".
I recognized, through the tears, the voice of Nancy Dimmock
and knew immediately who she was referring to, little Angellina
William, the most recent victim of hunger. Five months old and
weighing just over 5 lbs, Angellina came into the Dimmock home
referred by Social Welfare. The mother is in the hospital dying,
apparently of AIDS. She had been told to stop breastfeeding
Angellina a couple of months ago because it was taking too
much from her strength. The family, however, had no other
means of feeding the child so she had largely survived on tea
and a nutrient-poor porridge.
Distracted by the mother�s illness, no one really noticed that
Angellina was wasting away. Mother had been in the hospital
for a week before another friend of ours was visiting and
noticed the child and notified Social Welfare. She was brought
to the clinic on Friday afternoon for an evaluation. In any
place in the U.S., she would have been admitted to the
intensive care unit but knowing how understaffed the local
hospitals are, I felt she was in the best hands with Nancy.
Too weak to even sip from a cup, we place a feeding tube into
her stomach and started feedings slowly and carefully. She
had a fever and loose stools so she was also started on
antibiotics. We stopped by the Dimmock�s house to check on
her on Saturday. She was tolerating feedings very well but was
still having loose stools and fever. Brenda held her as the kids
touched her tiny hands. We prayed for the Lord�s hand on her
young, difficult life. What a beautiful child of God. Yet this
morning, the Lord took her home.
I couldn�t get back to sleep so I thought I�d get up and journal a
bit. But, even as I write, I examine my feelings. Why had the
Lord brought Angellina into our lives only to snatch her away?
I am reminded that, with all its beauty, Malawi is a land where
death is very familiar and very real. Children like this die every
day in Malawi�but not in our arms. Perhaps this is the Lord�s
confirmation that we need to help. Nancy and I have been
meeting over the last couple of weeks because the Lord has
laid it on our hearts to be deliberate in our response to the
many severely malnourished children in Malawi. We are
making plans even now to utilize a portion of our ward to care
for these children until they are stable, eating and gaining
weight. Angellina�s death has spurred in me the desire to
move quickly through the details of staffing, financing,
formalizing protocols, etc., and get it ready before more die.
10:30am Just after 6:00 am, I headed to the Dimmock�s house
to see how I could help. Nancy�s eyes were swollen from the
tears she�d shed for Angellina and her family. Fletcher
Matandika was there as well. He was the one who had first
notice Angellina in the hospital and alerted Social Welfare and
Nancy. We were soon joined by Molly Longwe, a mature and
caring lady from our church. I went into the room were Angellina
was. I removed the feeding tube I had placed just 36 hours ago.
I cleaned off her precious face and wrapped her in a bright
chitinji. The three of us had a prayer, thanking the Lord for
allowing us to be a part of her life for this brief time.
Mrs. Longwe felt it best to go to the hospital to inform the father.
I stayed in the car while they went in. The Lord had already
arranged for two of their neighbors to be there and come with
us to the village to bring Angellina�s body. The father felt that
the mother was too weak to take the news of her daughter�s
death. We drove far back into a village to the home where this
family had been living. As we entered into the village, the
neighbors who were with us, and were quite composed for the
entire trip, suddenly began to wail in grief as if to announce
that it was time to mourn. The family home was an 8X8 foot
mud house with a dirt floor and light shining through large
holes in the grass roof. This family had nothing. The neighbors
gathered around to see what had brought an Azungu
(white man) into their little village. We were taken to speak with
the deputy chief of the village. On the way we passed by the
local pub, another mud hut serving a cloudy, home-brew in old
tin cans. Several men returned with us to the family�s home and
stood and discussed the funeral arrangements. Since she was
so young and no one had really known her, it would be a small
funeral with just the women (likely not very many at that since
the family was new to this community). As we left, I thought of
how this tiny, insignificant life, to some hardly worth mourning,
had change me. I also wondered how many other tiny,
insignificant lives had also ended this day in Malawi. None of
them were insignificant in God�s eyes. You see, God can
change the world with a tiny, seemingly insignificant life in a
small, humble shack with dirt floors. He did exactly that over two
thousand years ago when He became that helpless child in an
animal�s shed. Through Jesus, God has shown His power and
His compassion, His Holiness and His grace.

Journal of Dr. Perry Jansen, ABC Community Clinic Physician