One Doll is here to honor and remember Phides Chibuye, the Sunshine girl. Thanks to this special little girl, it is our purpose, our goal, our calling, to support grassroots charities that help feed and educate children around the world.
This page offers a glimpse into the short but vibrant life of Phides.
Kerry Reath at the Garment of Praise Children's Home in Ndola, Zambia, sent Tracy this note.
Hi Tracy,
The Garment of Praise home is going great and all the kid's are fine. The home was started in June 2001....
I can tell you whatever you want to know but you asked about Phides....I would love to tell you her story. She was my little sunshine girl....I'll attach a photo so you know why I called her that.
Phides Chibuye......female.....born February 10th 1996
It started when I asked a friend, Happy, to start doing some investigations and assessments in a rural area just outside Ndola called Chiwala. He moved from village to village assessing how many orphans there were and what kind of needs were there. At one home he found a grandfather and grandmother who were looking after 2 children. The grandfather was very sick and the grandmother was struggling to look after everyone. The older of the two children was a girl and she was sitting out behind the house also very sick. Happy came and told me about this little girl who had been sick for over a year and something within me told me we needed to go and see her right away. From the report I heard it sounded like she might not live long.
We went there the next day and what I saw broke my heart. This little girl was taken out of the house every morning and just set on a sack behind the house. She could hardly stand or move. No one helped her to the toilet and she received very little food. It was like they were just waiting for her to die. Her stomach was swollen up like a balloon and her legs and feet were also very swollen, even cracked and open because of the swelling but her arms were like toothpicks. We had to argue with the grandmother, even threatening to take her to the authorities, just to agree to take the child to the hospital. But finally she did agree and we took Phides to the hospital on Aug 7, 2003.
She spent the next 3 weeks in the hospital where they did multiple tests and she was given blood transfusions and other medications. After 3 wks she was released and she came to stay at the Garment of Praise Children's home and the grandmother was released to go home. It was only 5 days before she was admitted back into the hospital. They finally diagnosed the problem as a chronic liver disease and TB of the abdomen. She seemed to respond to the medicine so she was released after some time but only to be readmitted again within just 3 days...she was finally released on Sept 11...(2003) and seemed to respond well to the TB meds.
I took a course on researching child and adolesent issues and I had to do a research project for it. I did it on the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of orphanage setups....I interviewed some of our kids for the same....
I remember one specific question I asked them.
"Is there any male influence in your life...any uncle or father figure that you value?" Without hesitation, Phides said "yes, God".....and it's true she knew God as her father.
She stopped the TB drugs around March of 2004. She seemed to be doing ok but then she started becoming sick again. I was back in Canada at the time and so I don't know all of the medical things that happened but she was in and out of the hospital a number of times again. We were told she kept loosing blood...I'm not a doctor as you can tell cause that is obviously not the right way to say it....but she became very anemic.
She passed away on August 10th, 2004.
Her time with us was very short but I know she experienced "life"... meaning she knew what it was to laugh and even run. I remember the first day I saw her try to run after she came to the home....I cried.... she struggled so much to get those legs to move but she was SO happy and laughing.....
It breaks my heart to think of her and I often ask God why she passed away but I know that He is in control. I thank Him for every day that we had together.....
This is my favorite picture of her and the reason I will always remember her as my sunshine girl.
May God bless you in your endeavour,
Kerry
As One Doll grows, Tracy plans to create the Phides Foundation. A percentage of everything the business brings in will be donated to the Phides Foundation, and grants and donations will be made to small grassroots charities working closely with children all over the world.