Abandoned Babies Part II - Africa

Working at Viva’s office in Kampala, I hear a lot about abandoned babies through the city-wide network, CRANE (we’re in the same office!) Nearly 200 babies are abandoned every year in Kampala alone, the capital city of Uganda. One lady I’ve met, Grace, has a special story about an abandoned baby though – Grace became a mother when someone else didn’t want her child.

Grace remembers falling in love with baby Nabulungi as soon as she met her in the hospital where she works. Nabulungi was tiny – a premature baby of only a kilogram – and the fact that her mother had abandoned her at the hospital made her seem even smaller. “Seeing her arrive to the world, so vulnerable and small, I bonded with this little one that needed so much attention and care,” recalls Grace.

For the first few weeks of Nabulungi’s life, Grace’s job was to care for her. She wasn’t sure where it would lead. As the time drew near for Nabulungi to leave the hospital, Grace couldn’t face the fact that ‘her’ tiny baby would be going into an institution… she needed a family home. 

Adoption is a difficult path for a single woman in Uganda to take. Long talks went on with family and friends. Some of them were very much against the decision because they were worried that she would find it harder to marry and have the chance of her own family. But five months later, Grace bravely made the decision, supported by her mother and brother, to adopt Nabulungi. “Actually there was not much to think about really. Nabulungi needed a family and I just wanted to try and give her a happy life.” 

The adoption process was challenging, but thankfully a working group from the city-wide network was able to help Grace. Projects that are part of the network who care for abandoned children have come together to set up the Families for Children working group. Their work is to find homes and families for children whose mothers couldn’t raise them, for whatever reason, and sadly had to abandon them in desperation. 

Families for Children holds a regular coffee morning where adoptive families can meet, share experiences and stories and encourage one another. Grace started coming to these meetings and so loved the support she got from other parents who had chosen to adopt too. Because of the positive experiences she had at these coffee mornings, Grace says “I now want to adopt again and bless more children through adoption!”

In order to be the best parent for Nabulungi, she also attended the Adoptive Parents’ Training Course put on by Families for Children. Grace learned that adoption is a life-long process. She also learned how to tell Nabulungi she was adopted – a scary and difficult thing for any adoptive parent – and how to plan ahead and deal with other problems that often arise. 

But for the moment those problems aren’t at the front of Grace’s mind. She tells me: “Every day is a new adventure and Nabulungi’s personality is very special. She is so expressive! I feel very blessed by the many expressions of her love; she is always showing me how much she loves me. She has given me much more, it’s amazing to arrive home and see her always happy, always waiting to see me, every day she gives me something new and beautiful. She is such a joy. I cannot imagine life without her.”

It is my hope that through Families for Children, and through all the amazing connections of the network, more of Kampala’s abandoned babies can find homes as loving as Grace’s.

~ R. in Kampala