The Essa's Story

Well, there is SO much going on here at the Widhalm house that I have not had time to post this month like I had intended.  My plan was to share stories of orphans and adoption throughout the month and the month is nearly half over already!  Oh well...that's still half of the month left.

I've posted this picture before and have talked about these kiddos alot, but I couldn't help but put them first on my list because they are just so special to me.....meet Muhame, Mamie, Jinnah and Sao Essa.  I am reposting their story from Save The Orphan.  They are currently living at The Covering in Sierra Leone, West Africa.   

This is their intake picture the day they were left at the center almost a year ago.

The Covering had the honor to welcome a sibling group with 4 adorable children. Our social worker in Sierra Leone shares their story...

"Jinah & Sao Essa are twins, they are the siblings of Mohamed who is 4yrs and Mamie who is 3yrs old. There are eight children in their family and they are from Tongoh Village were there was a large scale of mining that was going on before the war. You can still see tremendous poverty in the village.

The children's mother died during child bearing of the twins two months ago as medical facilities are not available in their village. Their mother sufferedexcessive bleeding as they were trying to go with her to the big town for proper medical care. Now the father is left with the eight children and unable to farm any more because he has to take care of the twins with nobody to help him.

Two of the oldest kids were brought to Freetownafter the funeral and as of now, TRS does not know if they will be going to school. TRS came in contact with a nurse at the hospital where another TRS child was being treated. Since this case was out of Freetown [235mile away from Freetown] TRS contacted one of the elders that confirm it to us that the kids need assistance. TRS paid for their transportation and they arrived safely where we rescued the children from the nurse who was the contact person. The birth father and one relative came with the twins and the other 2 children. When the father entered The Covering he said, "My children have a future now."
In Sierra Leone, over 2000 women die each year during child birth. That is the worst statistic in the world! Can you imagine if in South Carolina, a state the same size of Sierra Leone, were to loose over 2000 women during child birth in one year? The people of the United States would be outraged and change would be made.

I think of the father of these 8 children and my heart breaks as I try and put myself into his shoes. It is incomprehensible to me. I am so grateful that TRS is able to rescue these 4 children and follow up with the other 4 siblings. They are now covered with hope and love at The Covering and the joy we will gain from their presence will be a blessing to us all.


I can tell you that these children have surely been a blessing to The Covering and a blessing to our family as well!  They are currently still in need of sponsors to help ensure that there are enough staff at the center to care for them and that there is enough quality food to keep them healthy.  Please leave me a comment or send an email if you are interested in helping us out.