If you’ve been following along with us over the past year, you may remember hearing the tragic news about the loss of Hope, a twin girl of one of the ladies in our program. Hope passed away from being severely malnourished due to a medical condition, just hours after we visited her and were met with incredibly discouraging road blocks to her care by a corrupt medical system.

Fast forward to last week when I was back in Zambia for a quick trip...

I was walking around the center during a break from our 6-hour Entrepreneurship Training. My brain was fried from teaching this course and fighting jetlag simultaneously. I stepped down from the staff office into our training room. Standing at the bottom of the step was a woman and her daughter speaking with a visitor who came with us from the US. I quickly acknowledged her with a traditional “Hi, how are you?” which was reciprocated. I went on with my break and training, racking my brain from how I knew those familiar faces. I just couldn’t place it.

When we got back to our Airbnb for the evening, Tara, the US visitor, informed me that the woman and the toddler were actually Mirriam and her daughter, Faith. The mom and twin sister to Hope!

I was stunned. Shocked. Mirriam’s eyes were full of life and joy. She stood tall and confident. And Faith – the most unrecognizable of all. The last place I saw her was in a tiny hospital crib crying out in pain and loss amongst a sea of other severely malnourished babies and toddlers in horrific conditions. She seemed like she was the size of a 9 month old baby when she had just turned 2. I recognized Faith’s eyes at the center the other day, but her body was transformed. She stood tall, smiling big with a full face and full belly. She skipped around the center like every little almost-3-year-old should. That’s why I didn’t recognize her. She was healthy and thriving.

Her mom told us that though the grief journey continues and tears come to them often, they are all doing well. Mirriam is feeding Faith nourishing foods such as avocado to fill her little body with all the fats and vitamins she needs to grow. You would never know that this Faith was the same little Faith in the hospital just 8 months ago. I know many of you were heartbroken for this family. You cried with us and you provided the funds for a proper funeral for baby Hope. You gave money towards food for the tradition of family coming to stay from far away to mourn the loss of baby Hope and hold up the rest of the family.

While we can’t take credit for the survival and thriving of Faith (that was a miracle!), we do know that your prayers, funds, and friendship have carried Mirriam and equipped her with all she needs to care for her beautiful girl.

With all that was going on last March, we didn’t even know about the other children in Mirriam’s family. Faith has an older sister, Dorothy, full of giggles and funny faces. Mirriam also took in Richard, her sister’s son, after her sister passed away just months after Richard was born. Mirriam remains married to her husband who has been supportive through all that life has brought them over the past year. Below is a photo of Mirriam, Dorothy, Richard, and precious Faith.

We miss Hope. We wish she was still here and a part of this family photo. And in the midst of that grief is also gratitude that Faith has survived. And now she thrives. Joy + grief. Gratitude + pain.

Maybe this explains your holiday season, too, as you miss a loved one or are walking through a season of suffering. We see you. We hold you close, just as we hold Mirriam and her family close. Thank you for being in our CiH family.

With Chikondi (Love),
Amy

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