Mama Luta

Flying in the MAF Caravan

Me and Mama Luta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How it All Started

Several months ago I got to fly with Rod and his Aunt Glenda and Uncle Ken to Semendua.  We lived in Semendua for a year in 1997 and 1998.  During our visit I met up with a woman named Mama Luta who had been running a nutrition center for malnourished children while we lived there.  Today she is not receiving funding for a nutrition center but she is doing much more than ever before.  She shared with me stories of children in desperate situations and how God provided what they needed when they needed it.

One class in the girls' school

What's in my Pocket

She also told me how two other MAF wives had encouraged her, one who taught her how to study the Bible and another who encouraged her and supported the nutrition center.  As we were leaving the village I felt burdened with all the needs we had seen, not just under Mama Luta's care but at the hospital and at the local girls' secondary school.  I had some money in my pocket and felt I should give it but I wasn't sure to whom I should give.  It was some money not a never ending supply.  So I gave it to Mama Luta since she seemed to be responsible and had the wisdom within the culture to know which situation was most in need of it.  The story doesn't end here.  Read below to find out what happened to the money I gave!

The Hospital Laboratory with lots of broken slides.

The hospital emergency room

These two women had c-sections and are waiting for family to pay the bill.

A Thank You Note

This week I received a thank you note for the money

from Mama Luta

with pictures and four stories of how she used the money. 

Story #1

Mama Luta shared that this little girl is four years old.  In 2010 her mother died of tuberculosis.  This past year her father died of meningitis.  She is now living with her grandparents.  She obviously is malnourished.  Mama Luta met her at the hospital and began feeding her healthy foods from her pantry such as peanuts, corn, squash seeds and beans. 

 

Story #2

This baby is 4 months old and weighs only 3 kilograms or 6 1/2 lbs.  Her mother is only 14 years old and weighs 22 kilograms or 47 lbs. Her mother is intellectually disabled and does not want to attempt to feed her baby. Mama Luta says that the father is not good.  The baby is already showing signs of retardation.   Mama Luta provided clothes for both the mother and baby.  She also is helping them with their nutritional needs.

 

Story #3

Mama Luta shared the story of one of the children in this picture.  He came from another village after his mother got very sick and became physically disabled, she could not walk anymore or do any work.  She was from a church associated with the Semendua church so she came to the Semendua hospital for treatment.  Mama Luta is now helping both the mother and child with nutrition.

An Orphanage 

Behind the children is a storage room that was given by the Swedish Baptist to Mama Luta so that she can fix it up as a home for the children.  She plans to put beds in there for them and have women help her watch over the children.

Story #4

Mama Luta says this is a picture of her and the children on Christmas Eve.  The Swedish Baptist missionaries sent treats for her to give to the orphans.  The boy she is holding had a very severe case of meningitis.  Mama Luta took him to the hospital and God healed him.  He is now intellectually disabled.  Both his parents have died and his grandparents were not able to take care of him.  Now Mama Luta is helping him little by little.

I am very touched by the work that Mama Luta shared that she is doing.  My hope is to find clothing for the children she works with there.  She has a lot of wisdom in helping the most desperate situations in her village.  When I visited with her she was looking at ways to help the elderly too since many are not able to keep up their own gardens to feed themselves and their children either are gone or can't help them for some reason or another.