She Named Him Moses

"So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying "I drew him out of the water."

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On Monday, Margaret, our Malawian friend and non-profit partner, called to say, "There's a baby at the house." The house is "our" house - the one Dustin and I inhabit several months out of the year. We live there with Margaret (whose own house collapsed during a bad storm last year) and a high school boy whom she sponsors. Our living room is a classroom for women to learn reading, writing, and math. Our dining room is a library, full of knowledge. Our yard is the youth center and training garden.

"There's a baby at the house," she says. Oh? What do you mean? Margaret goes on to say that a five-month-old baby is living with her. The mother had left him at home (which incidentally is the home Margaret used to rent, while in transition last year) while going to work. The baby was first found by Margaret's friend. She called her over to see the baby. He was lying in his own spit-up and feces when Margaret found him.

She took him home and cleaned him up before going to the chief. The chief asked Margaret to care for the child until the mother could be located. Ten days later, the mother came. "You can just keep him," she said. "I don't have time to look after him." Margaret agreed to care for the child. She has been doing so now for nearly 3 weeks.

"Margaret, you know how much we'd like to adopt a Malawian baby," I say through the static of long distance. She knew. She remembered me going to Blantyre to talk to the social welfare department in January, to learn the details of how we could adopt. She remembered us filing an application to become foster parents.

"I know. That's why I'm caring for the child. Because I love you."

The child is Khumbolane (pronounced Koom-bo-lawn-ay), or Khumbo for short. This is what we know of him:

-He was born on October 17, 2007
-He's very "clever" AKA smart (as relayed by the totally unbiased Margaret)
-He has lighter skin and eyes "like a Korean's"
-He was born to Johanna who is about 18 years old
-Johanna's mother (Khumbo's grandmother) has passed away
-The grandfather is not interested in caring for the child
-There is no father involved in his life
-He had jaundice when he was born (yellow eyes) but it cleared up
-He's currently 14 pounds (down from 15 a few weeks prior)

The same day we learned of Khumbo, Dustin and I went out to Stumptown to discuss the whole, crazy idea of us trying to adopt him. It was then that I created the "Journal of Khumbo" from which I'm selecting choice details to share on this very public blog. While there, we began discussing the possibility of giving him a new first name, should he become part of our family. You see, we had looked up "Khumbo" and found a pretty dire, sad meaning. It turns out that the definition was not correct. Margaret now says it means, "what we wanted." But we didn't know that then. All we knew was that Khumbo should probably have an additional name. I said, "How about Moses?" Dustin thought it was great. The next day I asked Margaret what they were calling the baby. "Well, a few people are calling him Sam. But most of us are calling him Moses. You know, like from the Bible?" A chill crept up my spine.

This is the beginning of our story with Moses. Though it is not the beginning of his story. I look forward to sharing with you what we can. From you, I would ask for your respect of Moses' family and the care they gave him in the first five months of his life. Johanna is a strong woman to admit that she cannot go it alone. From her comments to Margaret, we know she loves her son deeply but recognizes that he needs a safer and healthier environment than she can currently provide. She knows about us and has said that she is interested in having Moses stay with us in America.

Nothing is set in stone. But we can't pretend to not be attached to the idea. So we won't. It's like we're pregnant right now and are waiting to get past the first trimester. There's a strong possibility that we will experience deep grief. If/when we do, we'd like you to be by our sides.