Japheth has lived at PKC since November of 2013. I got a call one day from one of his neighbors so we went to visit. Japheth was living with his father, stepmother and half sister. His sister was sitting out in the living room happily playing with her mother. She was well fed, well cared for and healthy. Behind a curtain in the living room was Japheth. He was dirty, malnourished and seemed to be neglected. He cried through most of our first visit and his hands were red and swollen because he when he is agitated he bites his hands. Since I saw that they were caring for the other child well we talked to his parents about ways that they could support his growth and development. After a month I went to the District Hospital to visit another child and found Japheth there with his aunt. He had been admitted after his stepmother took boiling hot porridge straight off the stove, added some bleach and fed it to him in an attempt to kill him. His mouth was burned, he was unable to eat which caused him to be even more malnourished than he was before and caused some permanent damage to his esophagus. After hearing this we decided to move Japheth into PKC.
Since he’s come to the house he has made a lot of improvements. Japheth has Autism and is very sensitive to sounds, but after living in a house full of children and all the noise that comes with them we have seen him become more responsive when the other kids come to play with him and is getting more used to the noise.He cannot walk or talk, but is gaining more strength with each day and loves being supported to go on little walks around the house. He went from never smiling when he was with his parents to being such a joyful little boy.
Hillary taking Japheth for a walk outside.
It’s been great to see him grow and improve despite all that he has been through and we are glad that he is finally in a place where is able to be loved and accepted for exactly who he is.
Comments are closed.