Twins Ezra and Agatha had all odds stacked against them from being born prematurely, losing their mother at birth, and coming from a vulnerable family. No one knew if the twins would make it, but our staff didn't give up, and now the twins are healthy and happily reunited with their family.
Ezra and Agatha were born prematurely at seven months
Ezra and Agatha's mother had birth complications resulting in heart failure while in labor. Doctors operated on her to save both her and the babies the best they could, but sadly their mother didn't survive the operation. Because they were premature, the twins were weak, vulnerable, and in danger of malnutrition.
Ezra and Agatha were brought to our home and admitted into our care on 6/9/2021.At that tender age, they were so tiny. Hopes were few that these babies would survive, but our staff was determined to fight for them. We facilitated the twins into intensive care and funded all medical support. As a result, they made little but positive progress each day of their lives.
Twins Ezra and Agatha after admission
Conducting the first family assessment
Once the twins were stable health-wise, our home carried out a family assessment. Our findings indicated that Ezra and Agatha's family was vulnerable. They struggled economically and could not immediately take the twins back home, even though they wished to.
However, we didn't give up on their family either; we kept creating awareness and providing familial education on the importance of family-based care. As a result, their family was receptive. It was agreed upon that the twins would be reunited with their aunt as soon as possible.
Ezra and Agatha at 6 months old
Pursuing family-based care
Once Ezra and Agatha reached 6th months of age, on 12/4/2021, we were able to arrange for resettling the two into their family's home under the care of their loving aunt.
We recommend that babies be back in their homes in their best interest since studies show that children do better in families than in institutions. Children may grow out of an institution, but they will never grow out of their family, which we believe in family strengthening and bonding families.
Resettlement packages help in the short-term
At Lira Babies Home, we try to foster as much love, awareness, guidance, and emotional empowerment in families before reunification. Ideally, we would love to provide resettlement packages and financial empowerment for the family's self-sufficiency in the long term.
However, we're also still caring for the babies within our home. As a result, funds don't typically allow us to offer more than a small resettlement package at the beginning of resettlement.
Our resettlement package helps ease the transition, but we would love to provide something more sustainable to strengthen the reunited family economically.
The day we reunited Ezra and Agatha with their family (pictured is some of the items given as a resettlement package)
Seeking a long-term family-strengthening solution
For Ezra and Agatha's aunt, we were able to give the small resettlement package, support, guidance, and awareness, but to sustain this family in the long term will require more economic empowerment. With what guidance we could provide, we educated Ezra and Agatha's aunt on how best to care for her baby niece and nephew at home until she felt empowered.
We plan on closely following up with their family and aunt periodically to assess progress after resettlement. Still, we have high hopes that this family will be able to stay together from here on out.
Appreciation and recognition
Lira Babies Home's goal is to ensure that children are safe and provided with a loving and favorable environment for their growth. We're so thankful that we could reunify the twins with their family and community.
We thank God who has enabled us to do what we have done to save the lives of these babies. We thank Ezra and Agatha's family for cooperating with us from the time of their admission and their aunt for being so willing to care for them.
We thank Susan, the direct caregiver at our home, and the Lira Babies Home staff for working hard to see the babies grow and leave the institution.
Living to promote the best interest of babies and children
To support sustainable family-based care, even though funds are limited, we try to use our follow-up visits as moments to guide and build upon the opportunities observed and identified during our assessments.
We wouldn't be able to care for children in our home and reunify children with their families without donor support, so thank you, dear donors and readers, for your interest in our mission and work.
If you feel called to join us on our mission of pursuing sustainable family-based care, consider donating to help us better follow-up and provide family-strengthening services to reunited families.
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