Remember the lyrics of the Christmas song of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? As you sing it in your mind “But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?” This is the song that goes through my mind when I think of Marius. He is the most famous baby in my mind of the babies in the Infant Feeding Program. They are all precious but the Lord in His infinite wisdom has made us all so unique that we are more ‘drawn to’ some than others. Marius and his mom have had a special place in my heart since they day they came into the Infant feeding program. I met Marius and his mom March 1, 2010, Marius was four months old and weighed 2.85kg (6.27lbs.) He was long and thin. His mother a lovely Christian woman was always praying over him and overcame many odds to keep him alive and make it to the ship for help. She was unsure of what to do next she was trying her very best to feed Marius with his bilateral cleft lip and palate. She was breast feeding him with the very little milk she had and feeding him corn porridge once a day.

Proverbs 30:25

Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;

Some of the beauty of Togo captured by a fellow crew member Allie.
"O praise the greatness of our God! He is the rock, His works are perfect, and His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." Dueteronomy 32:3-4

Obre is a baby who has a bilateral cleft lip and palate. He was referred to the Infant Program by a pastor from Benin. When he arrived he was 4 months old and weighed 2.81kg (6.2lbs). He did not register on any of the growth charts. He had a tube down his nose, put in by a local hospital to feed him. He was tiny for his age but alert with a lusty cry.
April 13,2010 Obre is still with us on the Ward now weighs 2.9kg (6.38lbs).
Often mothers become outcasts and are blamed for their babies being born with cleft lips and palates. Obre's mother and father are Christians. We met Obre father for the first time and heard his testimony of he too was born with a cleft lip.

Anne and Annie

The babies look so BIG and healthy in this picture. Their last visit was April 5, 2010 at an age of 6 weeks;Anne wieghed 2.12kg (4.6lbs) and Annnie wieghed 2.70kg
(5.9lbs).

Precious Anne being fed by mom.

This is baby Anne one of the babies in the Infant Feeding Program.

The feeding program is designed to 'fatten up' underweight babies to prepare them for surgery. Most of the babies in the program have cleft lips and/or palates.

There have been two small exceptions to the rules. Anne and Annie are twins who arrived at screening with their mother and father, when they arrived at screening they were just a couple of days old weighing 1.72 kg. Two tiny precious packages with downy hair and pink skin. Anne came into the Infant Feeding Program because of her club feet. We could not care for one baby in the program without caring for the other as well; hence Annie was admitted into the program as well. The orthopaedic surgeons put three tiny sets of casts on Anne's feet in hopes of straightening them, however after three sets of casts the orthopaedic surgeons decided that they may be doing more harm than good, and therefore decided Anne would need to be reassessed at approximately one year of age. The decision was made that even though the babies were not surgical candidates they could stay in the program because there was no other follow-up for them in Togo until after six months of age.