Little Natalie is about to turn 11. She is such a “prissy” little girl!!!

She was less than a year old when her father brought her to us in our Malnutrition Clinic. Her mother died during or after childbirth, and her father knew he had to bring her to our Malnutrition Clinic because she was losing weight and she was near death! By this time, Natalie was so frail and malnourished. But when she recovered, we looked everywhere for her father, including their remote mountain village. He was never found.

So we took her in… This happens quite a few times when a mother brings a malnourished child to us. The father (or mother) does not want the responsibility of the child. For this reason, we must have all our “ducks in place” when we take in a malnourished child. We will take care of the child, but the parents must feed him or her, and take care of them.

Natalie has been with us since she was a baby. If her father came now, we would never give her back. There are some cases where we can understand if there is no food and a mother is overwhelmed, but when a father does not make any effort to care for a child he has fathered, and he walks out, the Bible calls him an “infidel.” Natalie is better off with us, and with her brothers and sisters, that truly love her.

Sherry