A baby saved

The baby lay in a hole dug in the ground and was clothed in a child's old jersey which had been fastened with a safety pin to act as a diaper. The baby had chronic diarrhoea and was in the last stages of dehydration. The hapless mother had dug a small hole in the ground so the child's body waste could flow with dignity into the earth. I had been passing the small house in the shanty town when the child's sister rushed out to me, and - utterly distressed - had quickly brought me to where the baby lay in the back yard tended by his mother. As I arrived at this sad scene, the baby's eyes were already sunken; the poor little mite was near death. Within minutes rehydration therapy and emergency treatment had been organised, and mother and child were transported to the faraway hospital in our clinic van. This little boy survived his ordeal, much to the joy of his family. Thereafter we organised classes in community health for the people in the shanty town, with much success in improvement of living conditions. Once the baby returned home from hospital, I went to visit. His mother was pegging out the laundry, and said without preamble, "I knew you were coming that day, you know". Intrigued, I asked her how she had known, as I had not been due in the shanty town for a clinic that day; only an off chance had led to me carrying out an unscheduled clnic visit. "Because I asked God for help, and I knew He would answer," she said simply, and went back into her house with the laundry basket. Clean water, good sanitation, access to a nearby clinic or hospital, medications, good hygiene and education in health matters are essential needs. There are areas which do not have ready access to such basic needs for various reasons. Please consider raising funds to help those at work in those areas, or to volunteer your services for a period of time in an area needing assistance in the spirit of Lumiere - brining light into others' lives.