My first visit with Baby Mahafavor Mumbi

Holding Baby Maha in my arms outside the house Mary shares with her grandmother. I've seen walk-in closets in the states that are bigger than Mary's house.


I love babies...Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love babies.

It's a mystery to my mother as to why she doesn't have grandbabies... it's actually a mystery to me too. But one of us (mainly me) is at peace with it.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy every minute with the little bundles of joy who pass through my life.

Last Thursday I rode for 20 minutes down a rutted road and then further into the bush on what could barely pass for a footpath in the same vehicle - Kenyans will drive anywhere - to visit yet another beautiful bundle of joy, Mahafavor Mumbi.

Her mother Mary Kathambi is 15-years-old and has AIDS. She was infected from birth and both her parents died from complications to AIDS. I met her about 6 years ago. Her grandmother, Ruth, asked me to take her to the doctor because she was sick. Mary was covered with the AIDS rash. But I'm not a doctor so I took Mary and her grandmother to the hospital. Mary had a CD4 count of 3. The doctor said she shouldn't even have been walking with a CD4 count that low. Mary had walked 2 hours to get to where I lived so I could take her to the doctor... I looked at the doctor and said, "This little girl is a survivor. Give her ARVs, she'll make it." And she has. I took Mary to Ripples International, a Kenyan non-profit the does HIV/AIDS awareness, education and intervention. Mary received counseling, food support, ARVs and was part of a group of other kids with HIV/AIDS.

Part of the reason she made it this far is because she is unbelievably stubborn! Her grandmother is illiterate and told Mary that she couldn't have children, so Mary's getting pregnant was simply a way to prove her grandmother wrong. No thought of the consequences - of how her life would be forever altered. Ripples saw to it that she had good pre-natal care and there is a good chance that Maha does not have HIV.

A group of women from First Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud, MN donated some baby items and money for Maha and Mary. Judie and I brought the baby items to Mary when we visited her last week. She was thrilled.

Maha got fussy right after we arrived so Mary poured milk from a thermos into a sippy-cup and proceeded to feed her two-month and three day old daughter, we supplied a bib donated from MN. She tried one of the bottles we brought, but Maha was used to the sippy-cup so Mary reverted to plan A. Mary, Judie and the social worker who came with us from Ripples, Florence, proceeded to change Maha's diaper and clothes and then more photos followed.

Her grandmother insisted that we stay for "tea". Mary also brought an avocado. So we had hot chocolate (without milk) and avocado slices.

Neighbors who had seen me around from time to time dropped by to nicely tell me it had been a long time since I visited and to please come more often! We spent about two hours with Maha, Mary and Ruth. It's always hard to leave because they live in such poverty. It breaks my heart to leave them. I can't explain it, but this time I felt a sort of peace. This family is in God's hands - he has a plan for their lives. He brought them into my life and I will forever be grateful for being able to be the bridge for God's healing hand. I don't know what's next... but I will follow wherever God leads.

Judie holds Baby Maha shortly after we arrive at Mary's house.

Mary and Maha

Mary's grandmother, Ruth

Mary feeding Maha on the bed she shares with her grandmother and Maha in her small house in Nkubane, Meru District, Kenya. The newspaper on the walls is put up to cover the spaces between the boards that let air pass through. Meru is in the foothills of Mt. Kenya and colder than other regions of the country.