Monday saw us back at the orphanage after our NY break. Any order we had introduced - buying boxes to store nappies and baby clothes, dustbins for the rubbish strewn around - has gone out of the window and nappies were nowhere to be seen and more disturbingly, we couldn't find any clean clothes to change the babies after bathing them. Still, we turned up to find one of the older children, 12 year old Benjamin, had a massive hole in his shin down to the bone. He wouldn't tell anyone how he it happened but we at least were able to take him to the clinic.
Once Madame realised she had clinic escorts, she piled a further three children on to us. Zoe who was very listless and had V&D; Mia who had had a convulsion the previous day and baby Lena now 4 months old,with various lumps on her head. In the heat of the morning, 3 volunteers, each carrying one of the babies, plus Isaac one of the teachers, who was showing us where to go, and Benjamin made a sorry line along the road to the clinic - only to be told when we got therethat it was a private clinic so they couldn't treat the two - Benjamin and Mia - who insurance cards but could treat Zoe and Lena - at a price of course - who weren't covered. Seemed perverse but we couldn't do anything other than leave and go to the public clinic located on the other side of the orphanage. By this time we were all hot and bothered and poor Benjamin was struggling to walk,so we decided to take a taxi. The taxi driver we spoke to, knew the kids were all from the orphanage and were sick -and still wanted to overcharge us by about 10x, to take us the 500 metres or so. Contrast this with a taxi ride that Kerstin and I had had in Accra when the taxi driver, on learning we were volunteers,refused to accept our money for the considerably longer ride. But TIA .....
So we walked ... we were seen surprisingly quickly - all of us trooped into the "Records Room" where we had to explain the problems of each child in turn.Next we sat and waited for the nurse who was pleasant, knowledgeable - and had the measure of Madame! So it transpired that my charge Zoe had malaria and worms, Mia they weren't sure but gave her paracetemol, Lena turned out to have psoriasis and poor Benj finally confessed to how he'd hurt himself - using agarden implement that he hadn't used correctly. Medicines given out toall, wound was dressed (he was to go back next day for an injection) and we were on our way back to the orphanage. We each explained to Madame about the medication of our charges, and she said she'd take care of it herself. The nurse had advised Madame last week she should have a person dedicated to looking after sick children ensuring they take their medicine correctly, have someone responsible andto whom the kidswould go when ioll. Needless to say, this hasfallen on deaf ears.
Tuesday was our final day and to mark the occasion, Kerstin and I took in some goodies for all the kids, not just those in our care, but all those who hadn't gone "home" for the Xmas break, so about 50 in all. After being told that Benjamin's wound was getting bigger and it really needed to be looked after otherwise he'll get septacemia (spelling?) and seeing that all 3 babes who'd gone to the clinic the day before looked slightly better, we went into the dining room with all 50 children and handed out the various goodies - then all the boys and girls stood up and sang thank you songs for about 10 minutes, clapping all the while. Madame had initially told us we couldn't take pix but must have mellowed a bit as she gave us permission at this stage. Singing, clapping and eating over, they all trooped out and we decided to ask Madame if we could have our photo taken with her - you can see for yourselves now what she looks like! She even gave us a hug but I don't recall her saying thanks ...
Then it was time to say goodbye to our babies and that was naturally the hard part. Each one has touched me in some way - Kwame (so called as he was born on a Saturday) has loads of energy and smiles beatifully as he pushes over the other kids to get what he wants. Kofi (born on a Friday) often to be found hanging round Madame's feet knowing she'll give him some food. Richard with face markings which signify that he won't come back to a second life). The other Richard with a chubby face and lovely disposition. Mia (named after the main benefactor of the orphanage). Zoe who's really intelligent, understands everything but her physical development is very slow. Miama who was the oldest of the babies and is really quite aggressive - but it's a good way to get what she wants. Pamela at 9 months can't crawl and her leg muscles are very weak but she is totally adored by all the volunteers. Baby Lena is the youngest at 4 months, is similarly engaging and often makes her presence felt by crying! Omar also cries a lot but it's hardly surprising when all 10 of them are vying for attention ...
Sadly for me, Zoe was asleep due to her malerial condition so I had to say goodbye to her sleeping body and of course was overwhelmed with emotion as I wondered how her life will turn out, with Madame as her role model.
Then we were off - though I did promise to return before going home to the UK, not least to say good bye to Zoe and to Sofia who wasn't there this week.
I still want to make a contribution of some sort that will help the orphans so I intend to talk to Tina at the office who organises all the volunteers, to see what's needed and what's possible. I'd like to start with having a proper enclosure for the goats and to get rid of the dogs and cats, all of which contribute to the ill health of the children. I don't suppose Madame will agree to this so until it happens, anything I do will be paying lip service to progress so I'll see what comes out of my conversation with Tina. Watch this space ...
