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Published: August 7th 2006
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Last Saturday was spent at St. Theresa’s Orphanage and Montessori School. This is the orphanage where Josephat lives - the little boy I met my second day here at the Aids clinic. There are 32 orphans who live here and another 30 join them for nursery school during the day.
I am pleased to report that Josephat is doing better - feeling well enough to go home to his village for a few weeks to visit his grandmother. There is a school break for the month of August. My only regret was that I couldn’t deliver hand made cards sent to me by Emily (age 4 - almost 5) and David (age 7) -- my niece and nephew who live in Edmonton along with their sister Grace. David and Emily are the first to send me mail from Canada - and it was a very exciting day when the envelope arrived full of hand drawn pictures, including the cards for Josephat. I am so touched by their sweetness and thoughtfulness. I have tucked Josephat’s cards away and will be sure to get them to him when he returns.
On our way to the orphanage, Hanif, a friend Sharone and
I made a stop off at the Chemist first to purchase deworming medicine, multi vitamins and malaria medication (Kevin - age 6 has Malaria). The visit to the Chemist (aka pharmacy) was an experience and introduction to the pharmaceutical company’s pricing regimes. Sharone is just finishing medical school in the UK (she is home vacationing for a few weeks) and having her along was hugely strategic because she was up to speed on drug names - meaning we were able to get the generic drugs at 1/5th the price (ksh 40 versus ksh 200) for one dose. I fear that if Hanif and I were alone - we would have ended up buying the expensive brand name - because that was the only type shown to us initially. Can you spell tourist? Saw us coming a mile away! And this speaks to the challenge of getting the most affordable medicine to those that need it!
Our next stop was SunCity, a grocery chain, to pick up chocolate for the kids. We figured we were going to need treats to get them to take the medicine - taking a page out of Mary Poppins! And we were right!
We
were greeted by twelve children at the orphanage and their caregivers - one very ill -we think with Malaria too. The other orphans, like Josephat, have been able to go to their home villages for a few weeks. There was much excitement - lots of singing and smiling. We lined the kids up youngest to oldest (2.5 to 9) and proceeded to give them both the de-worming medicine and vitamins --- of course followed by a chocolate bar chaser. We were very popular! Worms are very common here and the FACES clinic had recommended we treat the children after they examined Josephat. And of course the orphanage does not have the resources to buy medicine and vitamins. For $19 we were able to help out. While modest, the orphanage is clean and tidy. The kids sleep two to a bed and have mosquito nets. They were very proud to show us their school - which is impressive - both in terms of space and teaching materials. All three of us hope to spend more time at the orphanage over the next number of weeks - playing and reading with the children. We also have been talking about taking them to
see a movie - an adventure. Sister Theresa is back in a week and I look forward to spending more time with her and learning of the challenges she and the children face and the opportunities to help. Hanif needs to be commended for making arrangements to install a shower block and upgrade the toilet for the kids. The new facilities should be ready next week. We finished our session with a sing-song and a photo session with the kids showing us where they sleep. They love the digital camera - just like my nieces and nephews - love to see the pictures of themselves!
So let me provide some perspective -- there are an estimated 800,000 children orphaned in Kenya due to the HIV/Aids pandemic. This number grows by the day. Your heart can’t help but break as you look into these children’s eyes...many of them also HIV positive. You also can’t help but smile - because they are children after all - full of beans and life. Full of so much potential. - if given the chance! So we are back to the reason I began this journey - how do we support, educate and nurture these
children - how do we enable and support the caregivers on the ground? So far I am impressed with a program offered by C-MEDA - who is working not to institutionalize these children but to keep them in their home villages - either with relatives or family friends. I want to learn more. Still all questions no answers!
Ciao for now, Jan
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