Day 27

Day 27--Siku Ishirini na saba

Emily and I went to town this morning and bought some souvenirs at the Maasai Market. Afterword we got Samson to take him to the hospital again. Faraja showed us to his house, then came with us to the hospital. After they re-dressed his head wound, we bought one rice and chicken meal for faraja and one rice & chicken for Samson. It was really nice to treat Faraja, he works cares so much for the children--it's a big job (he hadn't slept the night before because some kids were sick in the night). He was clearly tired and kept telling us how he really appreciated the meal. Samson loved it too. He kept swinging legs, which were too short for the chair. It was like a happy puppy wagging his tail.

Day 26 visiting the hospital

Day 26--Siku Ishirini na sita

We took 5 kids for a hospital visit today. Christian and Sarah got a taxi to pick up Janette, a paralyzed girl living one dalla dalla stop away from the orphanage. We then took her, Samson, Witness, Deborah, and Baracka to the Arusha hospital (the most legit one around, but you pay a higher price).

In the hospital waiting room the kids played with markers and cards. Janette seemed afraid and had a look of concern on her face the whole time. She barely ever said a word in English or Swahili; just nodded or gave a look of alarm for "no" or "I don't know."

My heart goes out to her. She doesn't know how old she is. We guessed about 12 but we could be way off. The doctor originally thougth when she came in that she had cerebral palsy, but after a few minutes admitted that he was wrong. She is not paralyzed and only has a deformation in her foot. This is curable. The surgeon is not in today so we will take Janette back next saturday for x-rays and a consultation.

She is also very, very weak. Apparently she only drinks one cup of tea a day. That's it. We can't even imagine that.

I sat with my arm around her shoulders and tried to make her feel comfortable. Her sleeves around her wrists were SO dirty, even by African standards. I can't stop thinking about her now.

Next Christian said we needed to switch jobs--they need a urine sample from Witness. Oh dear. That was interesting trying to help her--especially with the language barrier. I wished her mother could have been there instead, she looked so confused! But eventually she did it. Nzuri sana Witness! Good job!

We watched them dress Samson's wound again. It's awful and infected. The doctor thinks we should test him for HIV.

These kids were such champs. We bought them chips (fries) in the hospital kitchen afterward. Christian carried Janette back to the taxi. When we finally drove up to her house she let out an audible and adorable sigh of relief accompanied by the first legitimate smile I'd seen on her face. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I'd almost never left my home and had been taken to a hospital by four near strangers.

While Christian carried her inside, Witness started playing with the side view mirror... smiling at herself and watching her finger move in the reflection.

I love these kids. It's goign to be so hard to leave next week.

Day 22-25 Orphanage, HIV talks

Day 22--Siku Ishirini na mbili

I was super sore today and did NOT want to get out of bed. In the dalla dalla this morning Emily and I looked up the word for "hurt"--uma, so we could explain to the children that our legs hurt. This turned out to be an important word because during afternoon class little salina came up to me and said "tumbo uma", that she her stomach hurt. After class when she was still looking glum while the others were playing, I asked if her stomach hurt "kwa sababu njaa?" because of hunger? She sort of nodded so I bought two little bananas and we discretely brought her to the office and I fed them to her. She was so cute and I was so happy to be able to do even a small thing to help.

(Salina and her twin brother Bryson... they've got to be two of the cutest kids of all time)

But when we went back outside she promptly threw them up onto the dirt in front of her. Oh no. Pole sana Salina [very sorry/sympathy]. I rubbed her back and Moiva brought over some dirt to cover up the banana mess. "She is very sick" said Justin one of the school 'teachers.' Yes I can see that Justin. Faraja felt her head, it was warm, and said he would take her to the hospital this afternoon. Poor girl. I pray that the next pages of this journal are filled with the details of her speedy recovery.

Day 23--Siku Ishirini na tatu

Salina was at school today. She looked ok--they said they took her to the hospital and she's sick because she drank bad water. Sarah, another volunteer paid for her medicine.

After school today we went with Rajabu to do a community HIV talk. Rajabu is our translator, but he's actually more qualified than we are. He's probably the smartest most competant person I've met in Tanzania. He's been all over the country doing HIV talks and is employed by USAID and an Illinoise university. He really knows what he's talking about--he answers questions including cultural ones (there's still some stigma about HIV around here) better than any of us could.

Even just taking the dalla dalla back to town it was interesting to hear his thoughts on Obama and Africa's expectations and reactions to his presidency. People like Rajabu give me greater hope for the future of this continent.


Day 24--Siku Ishirini na nne

Today I bought food for the orphanage. 41,000 tsh for 15 kilos of rice, 10 kilos of beans, and 5 liters of cooking oil. But this means that Stella had to cook so I taught the baby class. They are SO difficult. In the afternoon Stella was just standing around talking to Simone outside while I struggled to even keep the kids inside the classroom (much less sitting and quiet). That really annoys me--when teachers slack off because volunteers are around. I've heard that this happens at the public schools too. When volunteers come in, the usual teachers just take more breaks. Very frustrating.

After school though, we took some of the older kids to the Tengeru market and bought them new tennis shoes. We bought about 4 new mattresses and blankets. I bought 100 bananas for 3,600 tsh. (About $3.50!) Granted the bananas are half the size of the ones sold at home, but still. We also bought 21 green peppers to add to the rice next week for about $2. And I got more andazi (african donuts) for a snack. 2 for 100 tsh. ($0.10) :)

Afte rall that I slept for at least two hours but it's all so exhausting that I'm somehow still tired. So now I'll nap more. Night!


Day 25--Siku Ishirini na tano

I was in a good mood from the time I woke up today and it made my day awesome. When a few kids started running towards us as we arrived at Farajas (as they always do) I ran at him too until we collided in a hug.

The kids in the big class were relatively well behaved in the morning during math lesson. While Yenna and I taught, Emily and Christian delivered mattresses.

After breaktime, we rearranged the desks into tables and had fun time! Each child got a colored pencil and a colored sheet of paper. Sarah helped some of the older kids make paper chains and some kids did puzzles. We hung the chains on the windows and the drawings on the walls. Then each child got a banana and then rice and beans.

After that we met Jenny (another volunteer--our housemate) at Craddle of Love. Craddle of Love is a very well funded orphanage for babies and toddlers owned by an American. The facilities are beautiful inside and out, but with so many babies, they are always in need of hands just to hold the babies and give the toddlers attention. We held babies in the intensive care unit. They were SO CUTE! Mine fell asleep in my arms. Jenny's had giant eyes with big pretty lashes. Then we fed them bottles and moved on to the toddlers. We took some outside to the swingset and play structure. This one little boy was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I basically want to take him home with me. When I tickle him he laughs and scrunches up and giggles and giggles. We helped feed the toddlers and then had to pull ourselves away or we would not make it home before dark.

[end journal entry]
I come home in two weeks and I can't believe it! Can't wait to see you all!