Micah

October is the hottest month of the year in Zambia! It is heating up! The thermometer I hung near the back door consistently reads 35+ degrees Celsius by noon each day! One day this week it read 37 degrees. The nights feel quite fine. Tonight it's 26 Celsius.

Our week started at Seven Fountains Farm orphan home. Sue Calder had gone to Lusaka to retrieve her husband, Rod, who had been away for one month in America. Our task was to look after the Calder kids and gang and just be there in case we were needed by the aunties (hired helpers for the babies) and the babies. There are about twenty orphan babies right now. There was no lack of cuddling! One morning while Richard was still waking up I placed baby Richard (named after him) on the bed beside him, just to help Big Richard wake up! It did!

We organized a baby choir with a baby choirmaster! We sang Building up the Temple, Running Over, Who did Make the Fish to Swim? We had lots of laughs and looks from the aunties. Eventually, Queen, one of the aunties, grabbed a baby and joined in as well!
Micah is my special baby! Micah will be two years old in December. He is HIV positive and on ARV(AntiRetroViral) medication. He doesn’t stand yet and doesn’t talk, but his smile and his eyes speak volumes and grab at the heartstrings! I took him all around the garden showing him the flowers and the trees; he just sat quietly on my hip while I did the talking!
I had met his father on the road in April of 2007 as he was heading to Seven Fountains Farm (the home of the ZMF-C orphanage). Micah’s mom had just died, and Micah’s dad had wee tiny Micah fastened securely in a chitenge on his back. I’ve heard since that Micah’s dad is also HIV positive, but apparently not on ARV’s yet. The dad has not had much at all to do with Micah and visits very little. So my treat at the orphan home is to go and fetch Micah and just spend time with him!