It was a cold, windy night in Nairobi, Kenya in late
December with sheets of tropical rain beating down throughout the evening. In
the huge slum adjacent to our St. Mary’s Mission Hospital an unwanted child was
born in secret and thrown out naked into a fetid garbage pile. All night long
this child lay exposed to the rain and cold. The next morning some kind people
from the slums discovered her in the garbage pile and brought her to St. Mary’s.
She was gray, wet-wrinkled from the rain, so cold a thermometer couldn’t record
her temperature, and barely alive with only feeble remaining gasps.

     Using hot water bottles to gently warm her, oxygen,
glucose, and liberal amounts of love, St. Mary’s nurses were able to bring this
little child back to life. Bugs from the garbage pile that had crawled into her
mouth and ears were removed. By the next day she was able to begin
bottle-feeding. Named “Hazina” (meaning “‘treasure”’ in Swahili), this tough
little child is now a happy resident of our newly opened Maternity Ward. We
thank God for the gift she is to us as a “Catholic Center of Health Care
Ministry In Service To The Poor.”