Nursery ward nurse attendants Helida Akinyi (right) and Diana Joto admire the four days old 'Malaika' baby girl with severe injuries on her face at the Coast General Hospital's nursery wing. Photo/FILE
By SANDRA CHAO schao@ke.nationmedia.com AND WINNIE ATIENO watieno@ke.nationmedia.ke.com
Posted Wednesday, April 4 2012 at 22:30
Posted Wednesday, April 4 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
- Three weeks after being rescued from stray dogs, she is on her way to full recovery and a promising life
A radiant and bubbly Baby Malaika continued to win herself more admirers as she rides a tide of well-wishers to full recovery and a promising life.
It is exactly three weeks since she was rescued from a bush where stray dogs had mauled her right hand and bitten her on the face, forcing medics to amputate the limb and stitch her angelic face.
But after the first anxious two weeks during which medics and management of Coast General Hospital placed her under close, constant surveillance, the baby girl is in her own way paying back with an unmatched zeal to live.
Baby Malaika’s soft-tissue wounds have all healed. Her face, which had been masked by the stitches and a feeding tube running down her nose, now freely radiates joy as the scars gradually vanish.
When awake, she would bubble and mumble like all infants do as she playfully flays her left hand in the air.
And for good measure, she has added weight too, a clear demonstration of the extra effort her dedicated minders at the hospital are putting into caring for her.
“She weighed only 1.9 kilogrammes when she first arrived at the hospital but today she is 2.4 kilos, a weight that we are amazed by,” said a matron at the hospital, Ms Amina Ali.
That her stories regularly featured by the Nation have continued to touch hearts locally and abroad is evident in the number of visitors to the hospital who request to see her.
From abroad, inquiries have continued to flow in from a host of philanthropists who are expressing willingness to support her in whichever way possible.
In a bid to protect her from much bother and ensure she enjoys her quiet times, the hospital management has enforced a strict vetting and clearing procedure for visitors.
Baby Malaika’s celebrity status is also benefiting other children in the ward who share some of the supplies that donors bring to her.
The scars have healed
“There is a Swahili saying ‘Mgeni njoo mwenyeji apone’. (Welcome visitor and save the host) The donations we’ve been receiving for Malaika have been so overwhelming that they will be shared with every abandoned child in the hospital,” the matron added.
On Thursday, the ward was the scene of joy when a delegation from Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited.
“She is recovering remarkably well and I’m impressed. I saw her on NTV and my heart went out to her, Oh my God! She is a beauty to behold and look, the scars have healed!” said Ms Hazel Koitaba, a KNCCI women’s representative.
The team brought her and her fellow children a heap of baby care products that included five boxes of pampers, bottles of baby wipes, powder, baby jelly and Sta-soft fabric softener.
“Children are a special gift from God. I would like to encourage other Kenyans to donate to Baby Malaika and other abandoned children in hospitals so that they, too, may have a chance in life,” Ms Koitaba said.
Ms Ali, the matron, said Malaika was now feeding orally.
“I only wish to urge more well-wishers to support the abandoned babies in the hospital,” she said.
During an interview in an earlier visit, Dr Mark Solomon, who conducted reconstructive surgery on her, said the scars would slowly diminish with time. “As she grows the scars will go away. She will have her amputated arm replaced with prosthesis,” he said.
On the flipside, Baby Malaika’s mother, Ms Grace Mwadziwe Mwinga, will on Thursday have a date with justice.
The case in which Ms Mwinga has denied child neglect is set to be heard this morning at the Kaloleni Law Courts. She is currently in remand at the Shimo la Tewa Maximum Security Prison in Mombasa. (READ:How baby survived dog attack after mother left her in the bush)
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