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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Dedicated Mum

Several times before I've posted about the angel in our Tanzanian home. Regina is not only my house-lady who cleans, does the washing (laundry) and ironing  before going over to work in the Guest House for the rest of the day. She is also the cats' devoted and doting mama when I'm away in South Africa.

Regina's husband, Phillip works for the mine on Thys' production team; their two little girls, Serevia and Anna attend the school down the road from my house. It fascinates me when I see Regina riding past on her bicycle in the morning with both little ones safely perched on the bike with her. She drops them off at school and then cycles back up the road to my house.

In October last year, Regina told me she had to take Anna to the doctor for treatment. Anna had just turned five and been diagnosed with an over-active thyroid and the doctor prescribed a three-month course of medication. This treatment was very expensive and as Regina is a private (cash) patient, Grant and I footed the bill.

In February I asked Regina - since the treatment was over, - if Anna had improved any. She told me that Anna had shown improvement for a mere six weeks and was back to square one.  She was listless, she had no appetite and she'd lost a lot of weight.  Regina asked me to look in SA for better medication for this ailment.

While on leave in May, Grant and I - with the assistance of a consultant - went through the self-help medication in our supermarket pharmacy. Eventually we decided on a herbal three-month-course of thyroid medication. Ever since I've been here, I've given Regina a hamper of food staples at the end of the month: ugali (ground maize meal); sugar, tea, coffee, rice, dried beans, gravy mix; 15 kg of fresh vegetables and fruits; biscuits and sweets/candy as well as a bottle of peanut butter and jelly mix, these last three items especially for the little girls.

Every day Michael (my outdoor angel!) visits a man up the street who has a cow in his garden. There he buys me three liters of milk and I boil it on my stove. Regina sieves it into a bowl and when cooled, she decants into clean 1.5 liter empty water bottles. She takes one bottle and Michael takes the other for his children at home. 

A few days after I returned from leave, I asked Regina to bring the two girls in before she took them to school. When they arrived, I placed them on my bathroom scale respectively and weighed them. I recorded their weights and the date in the back of my prayer journal. Next month Regina will bring the children back again and I will check on their weights. As you can see, I weighed Serevia as well as Anna, so as not to make any distinction.  

I believe with a natural remedy for Anna's problem as well as wholesome meals and monitoring her progress, we could help the little girl over this hurdle.

Here's hoping...
Anna (five) and Serevia (six-and-a-half) look very solemn while posing for Bib's camera! 
 Regina loads the two little girls onto her bicycle
Regina is very gentle in everything she does; it shows when she deals with her children and also with our three cats!
Mother and two beautiful daughters!
Even when I was in my early thirties, like Regina is now, I'm not sure that I could have comfortably lifted two young children on a bicycle!
Big smiles and the girls are off to school!

I am linking today's post with Our World Tuesday which you can access by clicking here

7 comments:

  1. You and Grant are such wonderful people, Jo!! Not many people would take this on and continue to follow up! I do admire you so much!! Thank you for all you do and for sharing with us!!

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  2. Dear Jo, it is great that you and Grant are helping this young mother and father. It is such a hardship for most of the people in Africa who try so hard just to get by. I know that any medical issues make it that much harder. I do hope the treatment helps the little girl. They are both so sweet looking. God bless you dear Jo and may his loving hand extend in health and healing for this little one and keep her family safe. xx

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  3. WHat a lovely thing you're doing for these two sweet girls.

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  4. Looking at those pics you see such a dedicated mum. How easy we have it just being able to bundle the kids in a car and driving them to school. And to you and your hubby, you are angels with a very special place reserved for you one day.

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  5. Jo, You and your hubby are so kind to help Regina. I do hope Anna feels better with the treatment. I agree, Regina is a strong woman and a great mother. Have a happy day!

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  6. Oh, Jo, I almost cried sentimental tears looking at the photos of the girls and their mother. What a sweet family, and how fortunate you are to have Regina, who loves your animals and takes care of them when you're away.
    We have friends who love to have Lindy come for a "visit" and we're so grateful they love her almost as much as we do.
    Our grandchildren's dog went missing on Sunday after being left, along with her mate and one of their grown pups, at a boarding kennel. The grandchildren and their mom (Dick's youngest daughter) are distraught.
    Please pray for Monica and Wes, and Kayen and Kiana, for the safe return of their darling Jezy.
    Love, K

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  7. A lovely family and hopefully little Anna will get better soon.

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