Chapter 8: Nomsa is being DISCHARGED from the hospital tomorrow!

Nomsa's twins Leah and Rachel.

Today I am filled with joy and thanksgiving.  I got an SMS message (text message) from Nomsa asking me to call her.  It took me a while as Ian and I were in an all day attempt to get our Drivers Licenses renewed, so I didn’t call her right away. Five minutes later I got another message to call her so I feared the worst.  When she answered the phone I could hear joy in her voice and she almost screamed at me, “Janine, they have just discharged me from the hospital!”

What??  Only two weeks ago they told her that her Culture had come back positive, not for Tuberculosis, but for another lung infection that she had picked up at the hospital.  They said it should be cleared up in a month, but already they have test results back which show that she is no longer infected with Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis OR the other new infection. She is ready to leave the hospital.

Wow.  I am in awe.  Our prayers have been answered and just yesterday we started clearing the land for the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz where Nomsa will be able to live, work and grown in safety. 

I had to tell Nomsa that I couldn’t go and pick her up today, but would come tomorrow. I expected to hear her disappointment, but instead she said, “That’s okay Janine. I sill have work to do here.  The woman who is the mother of Baby Rahab is refusing to take Anti-Retro Viral medication so I will spend time today trying to convince her that she must take it to live.”

I told Nomsa that Baby Rahab (who is now living a the El Roi Baby Home) is HIV negative and Tuberculosis free so her mother has a good reason to take her medication and live. Nomsa has a mission for the next day and I pray that she will succeed.

Future site of the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz.

No one can predict the future and I don't know how it will go for Nomsa, but I do believe that she is mentally, physically and spiritually ready for a fresh start.  “Sicalo Lesisha” means “New Beginning” in siSwati and that is what she will get. Nomsa will move in to the Farm Managers Building on Project Canaan temporarily and will live there until the Kibbutz is built.  She will work on the farm (likely at the Khutsala Artisans Shop) and be a part of starting the jewelry making/sewing/crafts team.  She will remain on TB medication for months, but we can help manage that here at the El Rofi Medical Clinic, which should be open in June.  El Rofi is the Hebrew name for the “God who heals”.  I believe that Nomsa has been healed and has been given another chance.

Tomorrow she will come to Project Canaan for the first time and she will see her babies, Rachel and Leah for the first time in months. I have tears of joy just thinking of that reunion. I will take a photo and post it in this blog after she has been with them.   They will not go and live with her until she is fully healthy, stable and ready to take them.  That may be a year or two down the road, but these two babies will not be orphans.  What a great beginning to a new chapter.

From now on, this blog really will be Wednesdays WITH Nomsa.  Thanks Beth Blaisdell for pointing that out J.

Doing the happy dance in Swaziland.

Janine

PS – the sign on the door as you leave the hospital says, “Thank you for visiting me. Please come again”.  Nomsa and I will surely be back to visit others.