D.O.B. 21st June, 2001

At first, we were told that Garin’s mum had abandoned him at a hospital, but in my mind this means she had left him and would not return. However, we have since had contact with Garin’s mum. While she has not visited Garin since he has been in our care, she did come to the hospital the day we collected Garin to bring him into our home. Garin’s mum also visited him occasionally while he was in hospital with pneumonia and other illnesses. She, herself, was facing issues of ill health due to AIDS, a new husband and other small children at home and, as Garin is a sick little boy, I am sure that the responsibility of caring for him seemed overwhelming to a sick mum.

At this time we are unaware if Garin’s mother is still alive and we know nothing of his father.

Garin is 2 years and 6 months old but presents in weight, size and development at about 6 months of age. He is seriously undernourished, suffers from a case of oral thrush and has a very swollen stomach because his liver and spleen are enlarged. The organs are pushing up on his lungs causing him to have a very fast breathing rate. When Garin arrived at Home of the Open Heart he was an extremely fussy eater, suffering from chronic stomach and bowel problems. But now he is generally content to eat what is prepared for him and has only occasional bouts of diarrhea.

We have prayed for Garin since he has been in our care and we have seen quite a remarkable improvement. He was tested recently to see how far the AIDS virus has advanced in his body and, while the doctor thought Garin presented symptoms consistent with full-blown AIDS, his CD4 count is relatively high, showing that the virus is not as advanced as the doctor thought.

We believe prayer makes a huge difference in little Garin’s daily life and we continue to cover him in a blanket of prayer and praise. We know that God is in control of every one of our lives, and Garin’s life is no exception. He is a happy soul. He smiles, loves life and is not frustrated by his inability to walk and run like the girls. I believe God’s grace is heavy on his little life. We trust this little fellow to our Daddy God. He is the One who numbers our days.