Colouring-in & Blending Banana

Day 24- A different education

Ascaris Lumbricoides worms

This morning at the hospital we did rounds with the beautiful Dayana then sat in on the gastroenterologists weekly sermon. Today he based his sermon around a Hillsong song. Hillsong seems to be following us everywhere. Leta has started a free cafe in the hospital as a means to meet people and develop a communication between the community and the hospital staff. It is going tremendously and everyone is so pleased the coffee is so readily available! (Everyone here has coffee with lots of milk, and they all say "Just a little sugar please, 3 teaspoons thankyou!") After helping at the cafe for a while we decided to sit in with one of the internal medicine docs. We saw a few interesting cases including a woman with the ascaris lumbricoides worm which we don't have in Australia and have only ever read about in books.

 We spent the whole afternoon making posters for the education session with the girl's at the orphanage. I have finally got to use my creativity in medicine and spent a whole lot of time drawing pictures and colouring in!

That night we headed to the girls orphanage. We started our presentation by blending all the terrible foods that they eat all the time here with coke and oil and dared them to drink it. We spoke about nutrition and about how nutritious food can still taste good. We made them a banana smoothie using all healthy ingredients which they really enjoyed. We then talked about female sexual development. We also took them through the diagrams I had drawn. They knew most of it from biology at school but hopefully we filled in some gaps. The orphanage parent has asked us to talk to the older girls about sex and relationships next week. This is an incredible opportunity to share the word of God with them. It is also going to be really difficult because some of the girls have been sexually abused. God is going to have to give us the right words to say. We are going to continue with the health promotion approach and tell them all about STD's...oh what fun!

These girls are so beautiful! Even though we don't speak their language they want to know all about us. They want us to play games with them and answer their questions. The orphanage was started by a christian organisation that for some reason had to pull out their support. Of all the orphanages I feel most unrest about this one. It doesn't have that light and happy feel of the other orphanages. It is the most run down. It is comprised of two big cement buildings joined by a walk way. The paint is peeling, it is cold, it smells damp, the electric switches are coming out of the walls and does not feel homely at all. The girls school uniforms and clothes are old and worn. They don't have any colourful bedspreads or curtains to give their rooms a personal feel.

The orphanage is run by one house parent who seems tired and worn out. She doesn't seem to be a christian and the girls do not get to attend church. It seems that  our rare visits are the only way these young girls hear about God. Because the orphanage is no longer financially supported the girls have to find ways to raise money for themselves. They have a very basic vegetable garden who's produce is sold at the local markets. They are also put to work pulling old cars apart and selling it's pieces for spare parts. I was shocked when I heard that the other volunteers had seen the girls, even the little ones working away on these cars so they had money for food.

I would love to help them out but I just don't know where to start. I want to give them so much. I want them to know what it is like to have the silly things we take for granted- possessions to call their own, to go shopping, to have their hair done. I especially want them to have the opportunity to go to university if they want or to be able to afford to do a traineeship. I want them to have the opportunity to escape the cycle that they have found themselves caught in. Where do you start though? How many others out there are in the same situation but aren't even as lucky as these girls? This is something that I really need to seek God about. I don't want to just say all this and then forget about it, forget about them.