Day 1

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Day 1:

We woke up early, despite the lack of sleep in the past 2 days. Our house is really nice! It’s on a dusty broken street but the house itself has lots of room, 2 bedrooms adjoined by an open doorway. Ella and I are sharing a room and Sharon has her own. We have a shower with hot running water, a TV ( although we haven’t turned it on yet), a fridge, a washing machine, and even air conditioning. But despite the heat, we haven’t used the air conditioning yet. There is a cherry tree in front with ripe cherries on it. Our place is only around the corner from the Medical Teams International Office. At the office, we have access to internet, tea and water. The staff is very nice and are willing to help us with anything we need help with. MTI is very organized, and I am learning more and more what a great organization this is.

We spent the morning discussing with Yulduz, our translator, and Shukhrat, the man who organized our trip, our agenda and the plan for our stay here. Then we visited the orphanage for the first time with Yulduz. Yulduz is a 27 year old lady native to Uzbekistan. We had a tour, met some of the staff and the caregivers, and observed some of the children. What struck me most was that the children don’t play on a regular basis, if at all. We learned that some of the older children do engage in sports, and even attend special olympics competitions. They have activities for the capable children with the less severe disabilities, such as swimming and horseback riding. They take the kids on walks, and let them outside on a regular basis when the weather permits. But the kids don’t really have things to play with, and many of the younger bed bound kids lay on their backs and on their sides, looking at the ceiling. Some of them are tied up so they can’t use their arms. This is so they don’t scratch themselves. We saw one of the older kids who was tied to a bench and hiding his head in his arms. The caregivers said this is because he tends to hit other kids and get out of control.

We went to a market in the afternoon, and Yulduz helped us buy foods that were good to eat and at a fair price. I’ll talk more about the markets here later- a cultural experience for sure! By the end of the day I was EXHAUSTED, and struggling to stay awake. I took a long nap and slept a long time that night, catching up on the sleep I’ve been missing in the last few weeks, and especially the last couple of days.

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Photos

Medical Teams International
The sign at the entryway to the offices

The orphanage
Grounds

Waiting in front of the orphanage
Yulduz, Sharon and I in the orphanage courtyard waiting for our ride