Anabel is a little girl in Ghana who was abandoned by her mother when she was three years old. Fortunately she was brought to my friend John, who helps as he can, and he arranged for her to stay in a local childcare center. She has been there since then.
Obviously it’s not an ideal situation for a child to be staying in an institution but at least she is safe and being taken care of. She has literally no one else to turn to. Her mother has since passed away from drug abuse so Anabel can’t go back to stay with her. Apparently Anabel has some aunts but they have left the area and no one is sure where they may be. So the care center is her only refuge.
The center is also associated with a school and Anabel began attending classes awhile ago now. So she is getting her education. It’s still early days yet, obviously, and she is very young, but we are trying to make sure that she gets a good start in the world.
But this isn’t the day for gloom and pity. Anabel is having a birthday on Sunday. She will be five years old.
The center wants to throw her a birthday party complete with a cake with her name and age on it. John sent last night asking for help to pay for it and providentially, almost miraculously, I have the funds to be able to do it. Not much time for it to get there but hopefully there will be no problems.
We have wanted to make sure that Anabel is treated like everyone else and not shunned like a charity case or a poor orphan who is barely tolerated while the other kids have all the fun. She needs to be treated like one of the gang, like an equal who is as good as everybody else. So the party is important.
But the big news is that Anabel is alive and thriving and on Sunday she will no longer be a baby. She is blossoming into a little lady ready to take on the world.
Happy birthday Anabel.
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This isn’t the most recent picture of Anabel but I thought y’all might like it.