In my last posting I talked about a preterm baby who was discharged from the hospital against medical consent due to the family unable to pay for hospital bills. He was so small, maybe a few pounds in weight, and not doing very well. To top it off, he is from a Badjao family.
The Badjaos are a Filipino Muslim Ethnic group of sea gypsies. They are an extremely poor ethnic group that depend depend mainly on fishing for their survival. Badjao communities fall under the category of government DDU areas: depressed, deprived, and underdeveloped. Although they have been age-old boat dwellers, Badjao's now live on floating houses built on stilts above their boats and fishing paraphernalia. It's sad to see them exploit the water below for a wide range of purposes which includethe deposit of bodily waste and garbage as well as bathing and fishing. Due to their extreme poverty and lack of education (they don't even know their own age), we make exceptions for them regarding our policy of care at the clinic. For example, we will accept them in labor even if they haven't come for any prenatal visits.
That being said, when we heard that this little baby was taken to his community, we didn't think there was much hope of his survival. How could he in such living conditions? But for God, nothing is impossible. A few days after being discharged from the hospital, my friend (the baby's midwife) miraculously found the family and was shocked to find the baby still alive!
Last Sunday I went with Maria to visit the baby. Because of his poor vital signs and weight loss (imagine!) the time before, we asked them if the mother and baby could come back to our clinic for a week of supervision and breastfeeding support. She unexpectedly agreed, but lasted only one night before begging to return to her family.
The baby is still unstable, but seems to be doing somewhat better. Realistically, medically this baby should not have even survived. But praise be to God, His ways are above that which "should have been." Because of this truth, we undeservedly experience His mercy and grace.
Even though we don't know what will happen with this baby, we know that God is bigger than any of life's questions.
Miracles still happen, but I don't believe they take place by chance. Instead, they are beautifully, perfectly instigated by the hands of God; it's in those hands I know I am secure.
Miracle baby :)
Badjao community...at low tide
1 comment:
What an amazing story - both the description of poverty and the miracle of a preserved life! Thank you for capturing those sights in photos for all of us back home!
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