Every day something happens where I think “You wouldn’t see that in Australia!” though I have to say they are usually at the more extreme end now.
In this past week I have had to transport one of our girls to and from the hospital, about 20 minutes away by car. Her mobility and balance are affected by cerebral palsy and she had a fall a few weeks ago. The swelling and pain in her leg had not abated so Monday it was decided it could be broken. She was duly admitted to hospital to have a plate put on a fractured tibia. (Or anyway, that’s what I’m guessing from a conversation conducted in Swahili!). On Friday I went to the hospital to fetch her back. She had had the surgery - invisible mending it was not! It brought to mind the mending on red rattler leather train seats. Neat and even 1/2 inch stitches in a herringbone pattern. The student’s mum had been staying with her at the hospital to bring her food and to look after her personal needs, so I brought Mama W back to Olkokola too. I had the tailoring assistant with me to help with translation, and the student stretched out on the back seat, so her mother travelled crouched in the ‘very back’ of the RAV along with all the needful equipment - bucket, basin, thermos, mugs and plates! I’m so glad the road to the hospital has been recently graded. This time last year it was rough and potholed, the drains were rocky ravines and in the wet the slippery mud was treacherous. It would have been a nightmare rather than an amusing anecdote.
This is nothing to do with the theme of the post - just an excuse for a picture! A local ELCT pastor came to teach the students how to make rag rugs from bags and scrap fabric. It was a very social event and much enjoyed. Maybe some of the students can turn the skill into a money making enterprise.
On Wednesday when I was about to come home I noticed clinic patients had left shukas (Maasai blankets) and picnic debris near where I’d be wanting to drive. I wandered over to ‘consolidate’ it into one pile that would be easier to see and miss as I backed out. It was then I realised one of the shukas held a tiny baby, fast asleep in the shade. I had nearly stepped on the little mite! I put all the other stuff close to the baby and backed very wide of it all. It wasn’t until I was driving to the gate that the mother came strolling around from the front of the clinic and I think had a bit of a start! I hope so anyway - the clinic medical officer will need to speak to the families again about where they leave their infants, and indeed where they sleep themselves, as cars are coming and going all the time in our grassy parking area.
Also Wednesday one of the nurses came in to my office to use our printer to make copies of a handwritten document. It was double sided and had 8 sets of numbers written in a rectangular array, each starting at 28 and increasing by one up to variously 185, 315 and other assorted numbers in the 200s. I could see it said it was for children from 6 months and that one column was for boys and one for girls. I couldn’t get any sense from the nurse what it was used for. I made her the three copies she needed. I told her I could generate the document on my computer - dead easy using excel - and now have to her delight. When we get back from Namibia I will make it my mission to find out how it is used!
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