Tear jerker

I know I have a link to the blog I read from the CSC directors, but I just had to re-post this one.

Warning- it's sad, but it has a happy ending.

Jovan's Story by Marlys

On January 14th we received an urgent message that there was an extremely ill child in a squatter village near the city bus terminal, so one of our nurses, one of our social workers and I went there immediately to assess the situation. There was no place to park so the government workers brought eleven month old Jovan to the vehicle. It was hard to believe that Jovan was even alive, as he was so emaciated and malnourished. His bones and veins were barely covered by a thin layer of skin and he was so weak that his cry was a mere whimper. He was severely dehydrated so he didn’t even have tears. His mother was out begging when we got there so we took him anyway with the assistance of the local officials. There was no time to wait for her return. Our hearts were breaking as we rushed him through the crowded streets of Cebu for an exam at our doctor’s office. We wrapped him carefully, as he was so frail, and gave him milk very slowly. His little tummy was not used to real nutrition. The desperate mother had been giving him watered down rice water, which was somewhat better than nothing.When Jovan was born his mother gave away his twin sister, as she was so distraught and wondered how she would feed another child when she had eight more at home. The father left his whole family, leaving the mother and nine kids to fend for themselves. No wonder she gave away Jovan’s precious sister. I wonder how she decided which one to give away. (Our social worker is presently trying to find Jovan’s sister.)Later, when the mother returned, she heard that we had her son at the doctor’s office, so she went there right away to watch the exam. I can’t imagine what she must have been feeling as she watched her son slowly fading away from her in the dark and filthy shack she called home. There he was being carefully examined by our compassionate and tender loving pediatrician in a safe and clean clinic, just a few miles from her village where her son was literally dying. (The doctor was so moved by meeting Jovan that he didn’t charge for the exam.)When I pulled in to our yard at the Shelter an hour later, the mother was about to leave with the barangay officials. She was there to see Jovan’s new home, and she met some of the Aunties and Uncles that care so tenderly for our children. She walked straight over to the window of the vehicle and there was genuine peace in her eyes as she stood outside, thanking us for rescuing her son. Maybe she slept a little that night, knowing that Jovan would no longer suffer the pain of starvation, but looking around her at the other eight kids must have quickly brought her back to reality.Jovan was admitted the following day for severe pneumonia and diarrhea, and after receiving medicine for de-worming, he passed an awful worm that was robbing him of any tiny amount of nutrition. Surely, there are more of them that we are anxious to get rid of with several weeks of medication.He has gained some strength, but he’s still very weak and barely able to cry to make his needs known. Yesterday was a thrilling day, however, as he was able to smile momentarily. He tires quickly. One thing is for sure, he will never again have to go to bed hungry, and never again will he ever want for anything. Just as I was about to leave I bent down to say good-bye and was so touched when he put his scrawny and frail little hand on my cheek for a few seconds. Oh my, tears came to my eyes as I thought what a blessing it is to have Jovan under our care!We would like to ask for your prayers for Jovan as his body starts to grow and change with proper nutrition and tender loving care. We pray that Jovan will recover quickly and that he will not suffer life long affects from the severe malnutrition. Thank you being a part of Jovan’s life and for your loving support of this ministry that enables us to take him in to the caring environment at Children’s Shelter of Cebu.Jovan is one of 76 children that we presently have. Each of them has a difficult past. None of them would be here today if not for the faithful partners of Children’s Shelter of Cebu. Bless each one of you!