A baby is born in a small Kenyan village and the Rodeo assists.
Neighbors use a hoe to scrape the placenta into a canvas sack to cart away. Adrienne delivered her baby in the yard on a potato sack only a few minutes earlier.
Amanda and Alex help Adrienne settle in the corner of the kitchen.
Christy encourages Adrienne who looks on at her new baby girl in Amanda’s arms.
The first visitors: Greg carrying Vanessa, Adrienne’s 4-year-old cousin, and Allan holding 18-month-old cousin David.
An anxious kitchen waiting room of family and neighbors listen to moans and cries from the corner.
Amanda gives the baby a little whap to get her to cry and the blood flowing. Alex watches while holding the scarf the baby was wrapped in from the moment of delivery – straight from around Christy’s neck.
The bundled up baby girl is passed around the room.
Far from a baby room in a U.S.A. hospital, Amanda holds the newborn close to a jico of coals.
Joy comes in the morning. The next day, a rested Adrienne laughs over her new baby – still without a name.
Less than a day old, she is a sight to behold.
Amanda gives her the first bath now that the weather is warmer.
Christy’s scarf, the baby’s first swadling cloth, is handwashed clean. The evidence of the beginning of a new life airs out on the laundry line under the Kenyan sun.
Adrienne delivered her baby girl on Thursay night. Friday brought the first smile and laugh from Adrienne – and the first bath of the baby girl. On Saturday, Adrienne chose a name – Amira, meaning a woman leader, a name suggested by Cassie. The two climbed into a bus and headed to her aunt’s house for the next few weeks. Hopefully, after Adrienne has recovered she and Amira can return to her cousin’s house in Kiminini.
