The miraculous story of baby Angeer
Reflections
“Because I had been flown from Juba in a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane, I was able to arrange for baby Angeer to be airlifted to a hospital in Juba. She was held lovingly in the aircraft on the way,” says Bishop Daniel Abot from South Sudan
Please be aware that this reflection may be distressing for some readers.
I am dictating this as I sit under a tree outside my parents’ home in Shrikat, a new suburb of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. I am visiting my mother because she is unwell, suffering paralysis on one side of body from a suspected stroke.
It is hard to get a wheelchair in South Sudan. They are also very expensive. So while I was in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, visiting South Sudanese orphans whom our Diocese supports, I bought her a wheelchair.
There are currently 13 South Sudanese orphans in Uganda and 11 orphans in South Sudan – both boys and girls – ranging in age from seven to school graduate age. Some of these orphans live in a children’s home and some live in the homes of “foster” families.
I am grateful to Anglican Aid Abroad in Brisbane, The Parish of Dalby, the Anglican Men’s Society and individual parishioners, as well as HumeRidge Church of Christ in Toowoomba, for their ongoing support of the orphans.
Most of the parents of these children died in civil war in my country.
The money generously given pays for their school fees, accommodation, food, clothing and other basic needs.
I started caring for the orphans in 2016 when I was serving as the honorary Bishop for the Diocese of Duk.
After decades of war there are thousands of orphans, including thousands in the Diocese of Duk alone.
I remember speaking to Bishop Cam about the situation in 2015. I shared that I had to do something, but felt so overwhelmed. Bishop Cam said, “Let’s pray about it.”
Then in 2016 I took a first step after much prayer and Bishop Cam’s support.
I decided to start with 10 children, choosing kids from the most disadvantaged communities.
Then on 28 November 2017, 56 women and children were killed and 53 were abducted, leaving more than 10 children without parents.
Two of these orphans are girls now living with “foster” families – one in Uganda and one in South Sudan.
I found these two girls as babies, one four months of age and one six months of age, lying next to their dead mothers in a village that was attacked.
I visited the village as soon as I could the same day, at around 6am, after I found out its people had been attacked.
I found these baby girls two hours after their mothers had been shot.
One of these babies, six-month-old Angeer, had been shot in the arm. She was conscious, but unresponsive.
Because I had been flown from Juba in a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane, I was able to arrange for baby Angeer to be airlifted to a hospital in Juba.
She was held lovingly in the aircraft on the way.
It was miraculous Angeer did not die from dehydration because it was summer and well over 30 degrees.
We arrived in Juba at 6pm, 12 hours after I found her.
She was rushed into the surgical theatre where the doctors operated and put a cast on her arm.
She awoke at 11 o’clock the next morning.
Every time a woman walked into the ward, Angeer would look hopefully and then start crying when she did not see her mother.
This was too much for me to bear and I had to leave the ward at least three times because I was crying.
Even now as I dictate this story, I start crying at this memory. It has really affected me.
Angeer was discharged after a month in hospital and lived with her father for two years until he died by suicide.
He was unable to cope with the tragic loss of his young wife and caring for Angeer and her three older siblings.
After she was discharged, I bought her father a cow so Angeer could be given milk.
I checked in on Angeer, seeing her in her home monthly while I did my pastoral visits.
After her father died, Angeer ended up in a camp in Uganda, where I visited her as often as I could.
In 2018, I was invited to speak in Toowoomba at a Mothers Union conference – I was asked to share about what I did as Bishop for the Diocese of Duk.
I explained to Mothers Union members that what I had to share would be confronting.
After I told my story, a Mothers Union leader approached me offering to privately sponsor Angeer’s care and education.
Because of this generous offer I was able to arrange for Angeer to move from a camp and live with a “foster” family.
Angeer is now eight years old and in Year 1 in Kampala.
When I visited her in Kampala recently, she excitedly ran around telling the other students, “My dad is here.”
She is happy and doing well. She is easy going and funny – always making people laugh.
I need help from an anglican focus reader with governance experience to assist me with setting up a registered charity so the orphans I am helping care for can be better supported.
Editor’s note: If you are able to assist Bishop Daniel, please contact the anglican focus editor, Michelle McDonald, via focus@anglicanchurchsq.org.au.
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