Day 3, Thursday, working at the orphanage.... so difficult to see all the sadness around but such a joy to be with those children and seeing them smile for the first time we've been there. We usually get there between 9-10...shortly thereafter the 10ish to 24month olds are getting ready for lunch. They're all lined up in their chairs (no actual baby chairs with trays) & shockingly they just sit there....that's not a good thing. Developmentally they should be trying to escape and crawl around. So thankful to see that they are feeding them healthy mushed up potatoes or rice with carrots with bits of chicken. But by the time your a preschooler you get beans & rice with bananas. The disgusting part is that you are feeding 2-4 children at a time with 1 spoon & 1 bowl. Coming from a clean hospital setting in the NICU where I wash/sanitize my hands over 100 times in a 12 hr shift, this is polar opposite. At least 1/3 of that group of children have some sort of respiratory infection with a cough, runny nose & wheezing. One girl I noticed had measle-spots & was breathing fast. The nun has the role of nurse... I asked her about the child and she said she was just in the hospital for IV antibx. I think they discharged her too soon!!!
So the children are just beautiful! They made strange the first day. Some wouldn't eat from Chloe or myself but by the second day they would come to us no problem. The older ones wouldn't let us go. The girls working there didn't want us to hold them too much bc they don't want them to get use to it (understandable). So we would sit & cuddle but sometimes I didn't care... I just picked them up😛
After the toddlers were done eating they would have to be changed from head to toe. They first sit on a potty for about 20min. The diapers they wear are strips of cloth with a thick plastic bag (something you see on the outside of a brand new mattress)... so thankful we brought cloth diapers!!! They are usually changed 3-4 times a days (top to bottom) & bedsheets bc everything soaks through. It's like an assembly line. A 16yr old boy with cerebral palsy has the chore of taking each toddler to their crib after he/she is cleaned up. By the time you leave the room some have hopped from crib to crib. The crib railing is only to their belly button or below. The first time I was in the orphanage with Dominic I always wondered why these toddlers/infants didn't get out of their cribs...well they do!!! Chloe and I are forever traumatized by witnessing 2 children fall a good 3 feet head first into concrete. Dominic like most of the children leave with a scar on their foreheads, now I know why. It is common to see workers leave these babies/children on 3 1/2 ft high counters to change them & just walk away. Their is so much that is wrong there but what is the alternative, these children abandoned, dying on the street??? I feel so helpless watching all that goes on but what resources do they have. I also can suggest or state anything when I'm an outsider that comes in for just over a week... I really have no clue what any of them (children, nuns & workers) endure day in & day out. To be honest I had a big cry when I got back to the hotel thinking of the things my son endured the first precious years of his life when he should have been cuddled, comforted & protected & loved. I so thank God he didn't have to wait longer than the 20months!
The last little bit I'll share today is that chloe & I had planned to bring small little things in each day...The first day was sandals. The second cloth diapers, rattles/small toys & balloons. Today we brought soccerballs & bubbles. (And it was a hit with the kids!) Even the girls that work there (who can be quite cold to us but they're warming up) wanted to try blowing bubbles. When I'm there I'm always feeling that I cant really change anything in their lives but watching them smile I pray changes a little. I'm thinking God brought us here to change us!
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