Tumaini

Ferdinand is Back!

Last night Dan texted me to let me know he had contacted Ferdinand. Ferdinand arrived back at Shadi last night. Today, Dan went out to Tumaini to take the meat for their evening  meal, take care of the children's medical needs and to meet with Ferdinand. I probably won't see Ferdinand until Saturday, but I'm looking forward to hearing how his vacation with his family went. I also would have loved to see how the children responded when they saw that he was home. I'm sure they were thrilled.

Tuesday

The Eads and I headed out to Tumaini this morning with a plan to work. Dan took care of the clinic and treating the children while I worked on getting the week's food supply ready. Jana headed up to Dan's office to get some uninterrupted language learning time in. Abel, our maintenance director, had gone on Monday and purchased the month's food supply for January. When I entered the room, I couldn't get anywhere near the food bins or the shelves because bags of rice, beans, flour and sugar were stacked everywhere. Thankfully, Abel pitched in and helped move bags, fill the bins and get the room organized. I got all of the bags filled and in between Dan would ask me to come look at a wound or a sore and I would ask him for translation help, since he is so much farther along than Jana and me.

When it was time for us to leave - a little earlierl than usual - we had to take Peter, Juma and a caregiver along with us. On our way back to Sweya, we were dropping them off at a nearby clinic so the boys could be treated. Peter had two boils on his lower leg. We were hoping that perhaps the clinc could lance the boils and give Peter some relief. Juma had cut his hand with a knife from the garden and it was not looking good. We took Juma so he could at least get a tetanus shot and see if he needed stitches. In the end, Peter's boils were not able to be lanced because they weren't ready. Both boys received a tetanus shot and antibiotics to guard against infection.

Encouraging Words

A doctor friend was visiting for the holiday and went out with Rob when he left for Tumaini to treat the children for the day. When they returned, he said he was impressed with how well outfitted our clinic was. He was also encouraged by how well many of the children were looking (considering some of the problems they've had).

Christmas Day

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Tumaini children. There was a combined service at the church in Shadi and we attended and sat with the children. Dan Eads was in charge of the children's church service, of which the Tumaini children make up a large majority. He did a great job, especially considering this was his first time giving a Bible lesson in Swahili.

Medical Charts

Since the nurse has taken her vacation, Rob, Dan and I will be responsible for the next week and a half to make sure all the children are cared for as far as medical needs go. Today I amended a medical chart so we could all keep up with who had been given what and when.

Saturday

Today we headed out to Tumaini with a full car. We had three adults, 6 children and 1 pig. The pig was deposited at the farm shortly after our arrival. This week Kara was able to join us. It was enjoyable to have her help and watch the Tumaini kids play with her. Andrea claimed her hand right away and seemed to stick by her like glue. At the end of our time there in the late morning, I walked up to find her drawing pictures with several of the children in the dirt, a favorite pasttime of theirs. Dan was also nearby with his children playing in the dirt with several Tumaini kids.

Juma Maganga

    Juma has some health difficulties as well as some mental deficiencies that require him to visit the doctor each month and take medicine daily. He is able to care for himself but he can't got school. He enjoys visiting Rob's office up at the Institute building. If you are looking for Juma, that's usually where you will find him. Ferdinand said he often "disappears" up there when it is time for the older children to work in the garden. He is capable of the work but for a while was not required to participate because of his health. It seems he has gotten used to not having to work in the garden and knows when to make himself scarce.

He likes to run and when he does, he sticks his arms straight out and pumps his knees up high. While he is doing this he will make a noise like a motorcycle or a vehicle. You can usually hear him coming before you see him. He also enjoys a special treat that Rob will do for him occasionally. When it is time for us to leave for the day, sometimes Rob will open the driver's side door and tell Juma to climb up onto his lap. Then he will let Juma "drive" up the driveway to the gate. Juma will jump out and kind of strut back to where the other kids are. I think it makes him feel special to get to "drive." It's fun to see the pleasure he gets out of it.

Playing

I spent the early morning  walking around the house, greeting everyone and inspecting things. Then I spent a couple of hours studying Swahili. At lunch time I walked up to the house for beans and rice and helped out with meal time. After lunch, I worked on filling the food bags for the rest of the week and tidying the store room. Once I was finished, I had about an hour or two to spend with the children before leaving for the day.

Often, when I have time to play, the little children will ask me to carry them on the monkey bars. Since they are so little and not yet strong enough, most of them cannot go across the monkey bars on their own. I will lift them up and help them grab the bars and then either hold their legs or let them sit on my shoulder as they go across. They really seem to enjoy it because they will ask me to do it everytime I come to the playground. I will only do it once for each of the children because they would keep going forever if they were allowed. Some of them were brave enough to try it on their own. Judi or Julia and Shigela were the only ones to get over successfully. Yuvith tried and got stuck so I helped him to get down.

After that, we played kuku, kuku, mbuzi (chicken, chicken, goat - our rendition of duck, duck, goose). They still remembered how to play except we had trouble staying in a circle and they kept picking me to be the mbuzi. After several turns I stepped out and picked someone else to go for me. I'm finding it's hard to get out of a squat - in the dirt - and run in a tight circle too often! I'll let the little legs do that.

Then, I went to sit quietly on the porch and several of the children joined me. I tried to get them to teach me some of the songs they sing during their Bible story time. They were shy at first but finally Judi or Julia, started singing and I tried to catch the words as they went. By that point it was time to leave for the day so maybe I can get them to sing for me again soon.

Another Soda Day

After chai this morning, around 10:30 a.m., Rob told me to pass out soda to the children. This time each of the older children had their own bottle and the younger ones had half of a bottle. Although soda has a lot of sugar, at least I tried to give Coca-Cola to the older children and Sprite to the younger ones. Even with that precaution, when we left at noon all the children were very energetic. They really enjoyed the special treat as well as collecting the bottle caps.                                                      

Zena

We heard from the doctor this week concerning Zena's x-ray. She has an infection in the area of her leg where she had surgery. He suggested Zena take an antibiotic for a month and then have another x-ray to see if there is improvement.