Our First Girl - Our First Birthday Party

"Sissy" at her first birthday party

When we were just beginning, we accepted every child that came to our attention. Interestingly, our home quickly filled up with little boys first. With a house full of women (housemothers), we were all wondering where the little girls in need were.

A couple of months after opening, we finally got a call for a little girl in need. This sweet little girl (we'll call her "Sissy" for this post), was living quite a ways away from us. Her social worker was calling all over our district trying to find a safe home for her and we were her last hope. She had no transportation options for bringing the child to our home (part of the issue finding her a safe home), and this child had been in hospital far away for several weeks. Thankfully, we had learned of situations like this from our mentors at a baby home in PE. They had told us stories like this and talked about ways to help. We agreed to drive the almost 2 hours drive to fetch our very first girl. Once we accepted, however, the social worker was able to work with her agency and found a way to bring the girl to our home herself, allowing the child's mother to visit and see the home where her child would be cared for.

"Sissy" came to us at 9 months old. She was the oldest child we had accepted at that time, making some of our team nervous. She also came to us with bruises and marks from all of the medical devices she just recently had attached to her at the hospital. We quickly learned that she was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition (SAMs). She was our first case of SAMs and we had a lot to learn about this condition. We have had several children with us after this child who came with this diagnosis. But we are grateful for our first girl who taught us how to work with specialists in our area to safely help our children move from severe malnutrition to healthy.

Our first girl also helped us set the tradition of birthday parties. She turned 1 while in our care. We knew, as a team, that how we handled "Sissy's" birthday would set the bar for how we would celebrate every other child's birthday while they were in our care. We worked hard to think of things we could do for "Sissy" that we could afford and would make the day special for her, and all of the children in the home at the time. We worked with a local grocery story baker to find a budget-friendly cake for her, found some treats for the children who were old enough to participate, found some low-cost balloons, and our director Auntie Kris bought us a number 1 balloon that we could refill for future birthday parties. All of this teamwork added up to a beautiful celebration of this little girl's life, and allowed us to take photos that she will have for the rest of her life.

After she progressed into the healthy range, "Sissy" was later adopted by her aunt, who lived even further away. We walked a long road with this auntie as well, learning how to set up visitations with new family members before the final court date to make transitions easier for the children and family. We learned how to handle disappointment when final court dates are rescheduled due to paperwork issues. And we learned how to handle our first departures because of our "Sissy" girl as she ended up being the first child to leave our care as well. Leaving the court for the final time without our "Sissy" in our arms, Auntie Kris made a statement that has become a team motto for future hand-over days, "Our arms are empty but our hearts are full." We know, with each child, that we have done our very best to help each child. We know that we have poured love into every baby that comes into our home. And we have seen God do amazing things through each child's life. So final court days have become a beautiful moment for us, while still being hard, all because of our first girl "Sissy."

We are forever grateful for our "Sissy." We have heard from her aunt since she left our care and she is thriving in her new home with her big brothers and sisters! And our team is stronger, better capable to provide the best care, and able to work together knowing each child in our care will be leaving us one day, all because of the blessing of "Sissy."