Rosie's Story

For those of you that have been here recently, or if you have facebook, you've seen and heard me talk about sweet little Rosie.  This is her story as far as I know it.

Rosie is the 15 month old daughter of 39 year old Belkis and one of two potential 17 year old fathers.  She is Belkis's 11th child.  I don't know anything about the older children but the youngest 5 have become a huge part of my life, and my heart.  Pamela is 12, Arol is 9, Jonathan is 7, Dyana is 4, and Rosio (Rosie) is 15 months.

4 of the 5 kids

 The 5 kids and their mom were kicked out of the apartment they rent on a monthly basis about a month and a half ago.  After finding Arol and Jonathan running barefoot around downtown Tegucigalpa by themselves on more than one occasion, I started investigating.  Evidently Belkis's mom is in the hospital so she has pretty much left the kids to fend for themselves while she takes care of her mother.

Dyana the 4 yr old

Pamela (the 12 yr old) was doing the best she could but she's a baby herself and the kids are all pretty wild.  So after talking to mom and with Reina and Talanga, all 5 kids moved into our homeless ministry building and Reina is watching over them.  When Rosie moved into the building she had a horribly infected rash all over her body that ended up causing 104 degree temperatures and several frantic calls from Reina.  I ended up bringing Rosie home to get her well.  We've had several scares with her health but she's a happy healthy baby now, and I have completely fallen in love with her.  She's obviously had a rough little life and frequently has terrible nightmares, but seems to be adjusting well.

Rosie - before

I don't know what is going to happen in the future with any of the 5 kids.  They've been in a children's home before and spent a lot of their lives on the streets.  All that I can do is love them for today and pray for their futures.

I love this laugh!

Rosie made dinner while I washed the dishes this afternoon.