...of Birds and Babies

Those that know us, know that we love our feathered friends. Africa has a whole new world of birds and we have been enjoying them from afar as well as up close. Since we live in a flat with a very nice little courtyard, we decided to see if we could lure in some of the birds that wake us up every morming with their varieties of song. We went to a garden center and bought a small birdfeeder and it took about 5 minutes to attract our first visitor. The Afrikaaners call this one the Swartkeelgeelvink, the local Zulu's call it the ihlokohloko, Reenie calls him Al Jolson, but we looked it up and it's the Southern Masked Weaver. Much easier for the Americans to pronounce and to remember. Below are a few shots of the male at our feeder.

This is the handsome male. He is known as the casanova of the bird world. He can have up to ten broods in a season, all with different females, and he builds a nest for each lady. The red eyes are very haunting and his primary color is a Goldfinch yellow.


Here is the home that the Masked Weaver built in our courtyard (without hands!). You can see immediately why they are called 'weavers'. He builds the bag nest to attract the female and if she does not like it, she will snip it off at the branch and knock it down. She did it to this one and 5 days later he had built another one which I guess she liked, because she raised a brood in it and they have already fledged.


If you want to see the look of conceit he conveys regarding his good looks, double click this one and check out his face in closeup. I must admit, this was a lucky shot!

And as they say...'into every life a little rain must fall'. We are in the city, so of course- put out a free meal and here come the locals to cash in and make a mess. Reenie likes them however, because they talk to her, so I can't shoo them away. The pigeons tend to cast most of the seed out of the feeder and onto the ground, but that attracts the laughing doves, and they are quite nice. Sorry for not having a photo of them.

This charming fellow is the African Ibis, known fondly as the 'Hadedah'. The Hadedah is almost the size of a Canada Goose but much more sleek. They have a call something between a laughing gull and a crow, but twice as loud. They can give you quite the scare if you're not aware of their presence, but they keep the grub, roach and slug population down to a minimum...a very unique looking and sounding bird.




Blankets @ Baragwaneth





Last Tuesday, Reenie went with several of the lady missionaries to Soweto. Soweto is the huge township that was created for the black population to live in when South Africa was under Apartheid. Even though Apartheid was eliminated 15 years ago, that area remains the home of many (over 2,000,000) members of the native African population. There is a huge hospital, that has been there for many years, and is the primary medical facility for the people of Soweto. It is named the Baragwaneth Hospital and since it is the public hospital, most women from the township go there to have there babies. So many women go there each day in fact, that it is the largest birthing center on earth. They average 150 births a day! Each woman entering to have a baby there is charged 40 Rand, or $4.15.

Many of the ladies in our group of missionary wives, use their spare time to make baby blankets and caps for the newborns, and the mothers are very appreciative since they generally do not bring or get blankets to take their babes home in. When you hear the story of birthing at Baragwaneth, I believe you will be taken aback.


Here are Reenie and Denise Heap with armloads of blankets being handed out to new moms. Many of the women would immediately unwrap their babies from the orange institutional wraps and use the new colorful fleece blankies.


These women arrived at the hospital just a few hours ago, have already had their babies, and while awaiting their discharge from the facility, get to wait on hard wooden benches in the ward. Their babies are in bassinets to the side, and after three to four hours of post delivery 'observation', Mom and baby are sent home by public taxi.

Here is a proud new Mother with her 4 hour old infant wrapped in one of the carefully made, soft and colorful baby blankets. Notice the anything but soft seat that the woman is sitting on as she recovers from childbirth. Wow. The small cups on the bench are filled with formula for the newborn. Each baby gets one cup before being sent home.

Someone's 3 hour old bundle of sweetness.

Sad as it is, not all Mothers leave with their babies. Reenie mentioned that this woman had delivered already, but had no baby with her. She received a blanket for 'next time'. There were 5 babies that died during birth this day and one Mother who did not make it as well.

Here is the waiting area after a busy morning of delivering babies and all seem happy to have their gifts of blanket and cap. There is only one Dr available for C-sections and serious complications.

All other births are assisted by midwives.

Having had several children and many grandchildren, I am well familiar with what a woman goes through in the birthing process. These women are really amazing! All of these ladies delivered babies on this very day...are now smiling while sitting on that hard bench... and will be back at their humble homes before dinner.

All but 16 of the 150 blankets and caps were given out on this visit. There was another ward in the next wing, but not enough blankets for all so our gals did not go there. Here is Reenie giving out the last of the load to the most recent Moms.

From left to right are the satisfied missionaries. Sisters' Wright, Heap, Taylor, Mickelson, Noll, Godfrey and Von Stetten. Job well done ladies.

"Wherefore, be faithful,

...succor the weak,

lift up the hands which hang down,

and strenghthen the feeble knees."

Stay well