Meet Baby Girl Naifat!

We were so thrilled that our house helper, Rehema (Ray), had a healthy baby girl born on September 7.  I got the chance to visit mom, dad Ari and baby Naifat at their home in Msasani today.

I was so happy to see Ray...the proud mama!

So sweet!  Everything is perfect and incredibly tiny.  It's a cliche, but a true one...you really do forget how little they are...

Our friends Jamie and Lyndi are midwives that worked with Ray during her pregnancy, and I'm so glad they also came along on the visit, along with my friend and language-learning partner Heidi! I'm sure the arrival of 4 wazungu women made quite a stir in Ray's neighborhood today.

I'm incredibly thankful that the delivery went smoothly and little Naifat is growing and thriving.  In this culture, a childless woman goes by "Dada," but once you have a child, you are known as "Mama" and then your oldest child's first name.    I think of how painful this last year and a half must have been for Ray after losing her first child shortly after delivery.  She was a Mama, yet she had no child to embrace and so she continued to be called Dada.

I'm happy that I'll now have to switch from calling her Dada Ray to Mama Naifat!