James Nganga's Bio & Scrapbook
Haven on the Hill Children's Home Gacharage, Kenya
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James Nganga arrived at his new home at Haven on the Hill on
18 Jun, 2008 at age 1 yr. 10 mos.
Birthdate: 03 September, 2006 (estimated)
James Nganga was taken to Nairobi Hospital by both parents in
April, 2007. He was 7 months old. The parents disappeared.
No one knows what happened-they could have died. James’s home
became a rusty, rickety crib.
Baby James, now a roly-poly baby of 1 year and 10 months, is our
third baby at Haven on the Hill as of 18 June, 2008. He
is an amazing child, full of love, laughter and smiles despite
his circumstances. You can feel the spirit of God on this baby.
He is shaky on his feet because he didn’t get much time to walk
around. During the previous 15 months, the majority of his time
was spent sitting or standing in his crib. When we took baby
James out of the hospital his eyes were watching everything. I
wish I could have read his mind. I set him down on the ground
and he kept rubbing the ground, his hands getting dirty for the
first time. His face was glowing with delight.
Feb, 2009: Trena says "Baby James is growing like crazy! Since he has learned to walk his legs are beginning to straighten. And he is starting to talk a lot, too. So cute. I love to hear him say, "An-Tena" (Auntie Trena), which is usually followed by a very bossy, 'Kuja hapa!' (Come here!)"
Oct, 2009: Auntie Naomi says "James knows that he is the youngest boy in a family of six and sometimes takes advantage of it. He is the toughest of all the boys. The only time he cries is sometimes when he is eating and is either afraid of the food or doesn't like it. When James first arrived he had bowl legs and couldn't walk or even stand without falling. Now, his legs have straightened and are strong...He is recently potty trained...His favorite game is playing with dirt and pouring it on his clothes.
Oct, 2009: Phil says "James is a very sweet and cuddly boy. He loves to shove the other boys out of the way so he can be hugged the most. On long walks he tries to keep up with Tyson the speedster but his legs won't yet carry him at the speed he wants to go and he ends up on his face a lot. He doesn't seem to mind, he just gets up and moves forward again. However, he knows that when he gets tired enough he can just sit down and you have to either stop with him or carry him. He loves to climb and swing at he playground and have people make adulations over his abilities. I've always been impressed with James' determination to do what he sets his mind to do, not in a stubborn manner but in just not giving up. Don't let that sweet face fool you though, he is capable of scheming. One night at supper he was caught taking a hand full of his food and putting it on Joshua's plate-maybe he was just being generous... He loves to talk and makes up words which we talked about assigning to a language and creating a meaning for. One night mom Beatrice asked the boys what they want to do when they grow up. James said he wanted to remove his clothes. I'm hoping he misunderstood the question. The next night, when asked again, he said that he wanted to eat when he grows up. Neither response seemed to be a lofty ambition but hey, he just turned three (we celebrated his birthday during my recent stay there). A few days later the pastor of the church that the family attends paid a visit. Surprisingly, after a brief Bible lesson and before he prayed over them, the pastor asked each boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. I held my breath as the question was presented to James. To my relief, James said he wanted to be a gas station attendant. Thank God he no longer wants to be a stripper! James' most profound facial expressions occur when he is praying. His eyes are squinted shut and his mouth emits the words with great intensity. I'm sure that God has a mighty plan for his life."
May, 2011 - Phil Says: "When we were preparing to bring home more boys, we had questions in our minds about how James, our youngest, would react to having two younger brothers plus two others his age. Well, even though you can see it in his eyes that life has changed for him and that there is more intense competition for my attention, James handled it like the trooper he is. Also, one of the new boys is also named James and we tried calling the new James 'Jamie". Well, the new James would have no part in being called Jamie, but our original James actually suggested we call him by his last name 'Nganga'. Problem solved!"
Nov, 2011 - Phil says: "James is still a very determined and fearless young man. He approaches his school studies with typical James determination. His current ambition is to be a doctor when he grows up. We keep encouraging him in this by calling him 'Dr. James Nganga'."
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