Update on Mercy

We were unsuccessful in getting the IV started. With severe malnourished children getting an IV started is very difficult. Our Pedisure shipment still hasn’t arrived, but we were able to give Mercy Gatorade and some soup with fish protein powder. Although some food is better than nothing Mercy still needs a lot of care. The dietician tried getting a feeding tube started, but Mercy kept pulling it out. I’m not sure I’d like someone trying to put a tube up my nose and down my throat either without being sedated. Please continue to pray for this little girl. She is truly alone in this world. Her father stopped by today and greeted Mercy with  “I’d thought you would be dead by now.” What a horrible thing to say to your daughter who is dying – a daughter you neglected. I have never been more thankful for our child protection services in the US. This horrible father, if he even deserves this title, would have been arrested for child abuse and Mercy would at least be put into foster care. (I know our foster care system is far from perfect, but it by far surpasses the system here in Ghana.) Here since the father refuses to give up his rights and refuses to care for Mercy she is stuck in the hospital where the nurses have begun giving up on her. Mercy’s only hope is a miracle. She needs someone to care for her, encourage her to eat, take her HIV medication, and love her. Please keep Mercy in your prayers. We are only at the children’s hospital for tomorrow then we return to running community clinics.  Dr. Anderson knows the hospital’s dietician so I’ll be following Mercy’s story closely.