Reverend Sarah Malete, an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was very excited when she discovered she was expecting her fifth child.
She narrated to The Weight She Carries, “When l discovered that l was expecting my fifth child, we were all excited. l even wished it would be a girl since l only had one girl. When the scan was performed and we found out it was a boy, this did not dim our excitement.”
Reverend Sarah gave birth via caesarean section to a perfect baby boy at 3.9kgs.
“My baby was just perfect that even the doctor confirmed the same. He beat every growth milestone ahead of time until the age of around 24-36 months. That is when we realised a change in his behaviour.
He was hyperactive which we thought was kind of normal but the change in speech was what got us worried.”
Instead of ‘can l have water to drink?’ he would say, ‘a water drink a to can.’ His speech became confused and backward. He became so hyperactive that he would not sleep at night. He would just be running from wall to wall and they would wonder where the energy came from.
“As a parent l was in denial because it is a difficult thing to accept that there could be something wrong with your child. My husband did mention that Adiel was not speaking properly but all l said was, ‘No, he is fine; there is nothing wrong,’ because l refused to believe in what he was saying…To me it was just a passing phase,” she said.
Rev Sarah visited a nurse friend who suggested that tests be performed on Adiel. All the results were negative. He was prescribed strong drugs, which only enabled him to sleep without any change in his behaviour.
“The time for him to start school came and because of his behavioural disorder, he could not attend a normal school,” she said. “But thankfully there is a Stimulation Centre which caters to children with disabilities and that’s where he attended school. The school did not do much in helping him with his speech but he began to understand.”
Adiel understands four languages: English, Sotho, Ndebele and Shona. And he loves singing. He will sing a song correctly but will not speak.
“As a parent, l could see that there was something definitely wrong with Adiel, and that is when l began researching on his condition on the internet. According to his symptoms, he has autism and requires a gluten-free diet, which is very expensive in our country. And so Adiel just has to eat whatever is in the house, which is not suitable for someone [with] his condition. He is on strong medication up to this day,” she said.
There is a treatment course in India which requires a lot of money. It is a stem cell treatment which will help stimulate his brain into functioning in a more orderly manner.
“My husband and l are ordained ministers with no fixed income and so in the meantime we just wait on the grace of God. Adiel is a big man now and [turned] 22 on the 7th of October,” she said. “It is not an easy walk because most of the time, we do not know what Adiel wants because of his failure to communicate. It is by the grace of God that we continue to push on.”
“God has been my strength through all this. Due to Adiel’s condition l have met a lot of mothers in various kinds of situations whom l have had an opportunity to encourage and strengthen through the strength that God has granted me. I love Adiel so much in spite of everything. I hold on to hope and faith that one day he will be okay. There is a lot of research going on and so l know that one day he will be treated. As mothers we ought to know that children are a gift from God and that he does not give you a load you cannot carry.”
Reverend Sarah Malete
