of a new baby named Amber

When I was halfway done writing my last post, Banni busted into our room saying there was people downstairs that wanted to give their newborn to the orphanage. So I of course put the post on hold and ran downstairs with Elliot. A man was sitting with two women, who turned out to be relatives of the newborn's family, outside of the office. After some business was settled, Mrs. Waid, Elliot and I jumped into a rickshaw van with Banni and Rosemary and the family in a van behind us. We rode about 5km to a village I've never been to.

We pulled up to mud and cow dung house and walked inside the dark room to find a man and woman lying on a small bed. The man was half paralyzed from a stroke and the woman was extremely weak--from what we don't know. Besides the woman was this small, brand new baby. As the parents spoke to Banni and Rosemary about their little girl, both began weeping at the thought of giving her up. They had two boys who would go to the local mill to beg for small bits of rice and an older girl who had gone to live with their grandfather. There was no rice, dhal, meat--no food at all. Banni and Rosemary translated that the little girl was five days old and because the parents couldn't work, they couldn't keep her.


Mrs.Waid had brought tiny pink baby clothes and a diaper for the baby. After wrapping the baby up, Mrs. Waid gave the baby back to the momma to be breast fed one last time. The mother had barely any milk to give and wept as she let the baby finish. While holding the baby for the first time, Mrs. Waid asked Elliot to take a picture of the parents for the baby to have when she gets older. It was a heartbreaking scene that makes me cry even as I think about it now.

Mrs. Waid gave 1000taka to the man who came to the orphanage so he could buy food for this poor family. It may not seem like much to us but it will buy so much rice and staple food for them.

We all took turns holding the little angel on the way back to the orphanage. Because the baby has the same birthday as Mrs. Waid's daughter Amber (October 22), the name stuck and little Amber arrived at BanglaHope. [Mom I know that's your birthday too but you would have only gotten a middle name so I'll name a baby we'll pick up next week after you lol] We noticed little Amber has mosquito bits on her face and for some reason her soft baby hair was shaved off recently. I'm not sure what the reason behind that was but she is still the cutest little angel.

The heartbreaking thing is that Amber would not have been able to survive if she stayed with her family. Even though she is five days old now, she is still wrinkly, which suggests dehydration already. Even if her mother could produce a little milk for her, the chances that the milk contained all the necessary nutrients are slim. Before leaving, Mrs.Waid assured the parents she would be taken care of well and given a good education. I still can't imagine the agony the parents must be in right now...

I have to say this: I don't know about you, but seeing these impoverished conditions makes me want to do something. If you are interested in sponsoring a child here, please do so! I've seen first hand how the money is spent here and I assure you these kids are so much better off being at BanglaHope than any other orphanage. It costs a $100 USD to fully sponsor a child each month and if that is too much, it's only $35 USD per month to partially sponsor a child (three partials make a whole). Please just think about it--and please don't make a rash decision that you won't be able to follow through with. The hardest thing to do is to tell a child their sponsor can't help anymore. BUT if you have thought about it and are able to do so for the long term, please call BanglaHope headquarters in Kennewick, WA at 509-586-4259 to join the sponsorship program. I'll even help you pick out a good one (*wink wink* just kidding, they are all so special!).

I really hope everyone who reads this realizes just how lucky we are to live in North America...

ami tomake bhalobashi :)