The White House in Malawi: And...She's BACK!

To keep everyone safe, information disclosed, but to inform you of the recent happenings I’m proud to announce GOD ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS!

After a few discussions, three trips out to the community, answering some hard questions, and some wise advice, we now have Esime in our home! If you were not aware, Esime is the baby I posted a picture of and have taken care of medically since she arrived at Crisis Nursery at 3 weeks old & 1.9kgs! When Esime would get really sick we’d keep her at the clinic on IV drips and Jeff and I would help take care of her.

So, to backtrack for a minute, Esime left Crisis Nursery late May. One day Jeff and I went to visit her and she was gone. Her family had requested she come home and she was just….gone. I struggled for a while wondering if she was ok, was someone loving her, did she have enough to eat, did she know we didn’t abandon her. But then, after praying, crying, grieving, and asking for forgiveness I had given up on Esime. I hate to say that it only took a few months for me to do so, but it was the way I guarded my heart. I continued praying for her but in my heart had given up hope that she’d be ours.

Then, in August, I was able to go with Jeff and Grace and Crisis to visit her in the community. After that visit some things happened that made us believe the family couldn’t care for her. Long story short, we went back to visit 2 more times and Esime was placed in our home with the consent of the social worker. This social worker is literally the reason I know God’s hand has completely been on this situation. If any of you know the grumblings we’ve expressed about some of the social worker system in Malawi, then you know why. We were able to meet Esime’s aunt and uncle that have been caring for her, her biological sister with her baby, the grandmother, and countless other chiefs, uncles, cousins etc.

On the drive home I wouldn’t let go of Esime. I guess she was overwhelmed but she fell right asleep and I just held her the entire way. When we arrived home, Grace and I decided it’d be best to shave her head since her hair was damaged badly. Well, in the process of the shaving we found she had….LICE! YIKES! I just knew I’d have it. My main concern was that Hollis didn’t get it so we wouldn’t have to shave his beautiful locks we’ve been working on for months now.

After cleaning/quarantining everything Esime had touched, we bathed her, fed her, and just stared at her in awe. I took her to be checked by Dr. Young at the clinic and she turned out fine. She was underweight but we knew that with some good consistent nutrition she’d grow in no time. Es did have some transitional diarrhea, but overall her health improved.

Since pictures speak louder than words, I’ll let the pictures show you HOW excited we were, how Esime knew she was back with her “family”, and how excited Hollis was to have his “Ehm-mi-me” back.