Wednesday 26th June and Friday 28th
June 2013
So June closes as my first full month at The Nest. It was nice for me, the house mothers and
also the babies to have a little routine with my visits twice a week and it has
me looking forward to the end of the week.
So far I have volunteered 40 hours for June and it has cost me 80AUD in
taxi fares there and back for the month.
I do feel like I am starting to become part of the family and slowly
losing the ‘mzungu’ tag and hopefully gain a ‘house mother’ status if not on
the official paid worker status but as an honorary non mzungu-mzungu volunteer. Some more birds have flocked The Nest this
week. Francesca was adopted and picked
up by her new Kenyan family on Monday and Caro finally left on Thursday after
some last minute complications she too was also waved off into a new Kenyan
family and as I have mentioned before, as sad as it is that the babies leave it
is also a celebration that they have this wonderful second chance at life and
it makes your heart sing that they will have a loving family and safe
environment that all babies should have and command when they enter our crazy
world. All the best Francesca and Caro,
your smiling faces will certainly be missed.
Now that I am becoming a token house mother, I am seeing
these amazing women as friends and also my Kenyan family. So who are my new family members that have
taken me under their wing?
Let me introduce them to you.
The House Mothers:
Maggie
Catherine
Virginia
JoAnne
Ruth
Milka
Linda
Mercy
Pauline
Suzanne
This week was not the best week; actually I think it was
the worst week that has hit The Nest since I have been going in the 2
months. Everyone seemed a little flat on
the Wednesday and with the weather really crappy it rubs off on everyone and
our spirits seemed to reflect the cold and overcast days. There were sick babies this week, and not
just sniffily nose sick, but diarrhea, not keeping food down and temperatures
on the high side. it was that serious
that James and Mercy had been admitted to hospital on Tuesday to be observed
and fed through a drip as they were very weak and needed to get some nutrients
into them. There were a few other babies
who were being kept under a watchful eye to make sure that they wouldn’t get as
sick as Mercy and James. Mercy came back
to The Nest on Wednesday morning, but after a follow up visit from a doctor she
was sent back to the hospital in the afternoon-the poor thing. I held Mercy in my arms for around half an
hour, talking to her and trying to make her feel as comfortable as I could as
Maggie got some things together to take her back to the hospital and with her
small cries every now and then, cold hands (we had a hot water bottle in her
blanket) and wrapped her up like a little burrito she left the orphanage for
her trip. Considering she is only 2.5
weeks old, a serious sickness is a serious business at that age. When I returned to The Nest on Friday, I
popped my head into the office to say my usual hello and Irene had 4 week old
Bakita in a baby Bjorn strapped to her chest, which is unusual until she told
me the news that baby Mercy had passed away that morning in hospital. I was shocked and saddened at the news that a
new life had been taken so suddenly and I think for me it was totally
unexpected. It wasn’t like we didn’t
know she was sick. We knew, she was in
hospital and getting the treatment that she needed, but I guess at such a
tender age, her tiny body could not cope trying to ward off the infection that
she had. I thought the other day that we
were down, but that news just knocked the whole orphanage for a six. It is amazing how a small baby of 20 days old
can make an impact but I think Mercy is an Angel that was sent to show us just
how precious life is, no matter what age you are and that it can be taken from
us at any time. Poor Mercy didn’t get a
chance to live her life to her fullest, so for you all out there that have bad
days, think of Baby Mercy, dust yourself off- and LIVE LIFE.
With a sickness in an orphanage environment if not
contained can spread like wildfire.
Another little one is was also sick, poor Caro has also caught the bug
and she is due to be picked up this week by her new adoptive family. So there was an urgency not only to get her
better, but to get her well enough for her to be able to leave The Nest. The doctor came back in the afternoon to
check Caro over and she was given the full look over with the stethoscope, the
ears checked, she was weighed and her throat checked. It seems she is over the worst of it with her
temperature down and with a plan of paracetamol and hydrolytes-hopefully she
will improve overnight for her big day on Thursday with her new family. I spoke to the British doctor when she came
back in the afternoon and she said the babies were sick from bugs and germs and
the most probable cause is from people not washing their hands before handling
the babies and they have got sick via transmission. It is not only The Nest, the doctor had seen
2 other cases at the hospital with the same symptoms and apparently it is a bug
that seems to be going around. A deadly
one at that if not caught early, especially for the smaller babies whose immune
systems are not that strong yet. This is
why Bakita was being kept separate from the rest of the babies, more so because
she is only 4 weeks old and in needs to be watched a little more than the older
babies. To be honest I didn’t realise it
was THAT important to wash your hands. I
always washed my hands before I leave home for the orphanage but I know for a
fact that every single mzungu that comes through the doors of the orphanage has
not washed their hands and this is something that needs to be addressed so that
more babies don’t get sick.
RIP BABY MERCY.
You are now in the hands of the Lord.
There was some good news and that was James was out of the hospital and
back with us. He was in quarantine
though, so was sleeping and getting fed separately from the other babies, but
he was back and I have to say his shy and mild manner has grown on me since he
arrived 2 weeks ago.
I didn’t get to see Rachael on Wednesday as she was at
the doctors. Nothing to be too worried
about as this was her check-up day but during the week one of her contact
lenses fell out. That is all the
information I was able to glean from everyone, so hopefully it can be fixed
without surgery (I’m not sure if it was surgically put in or are the everyday
contact lenses) but can you imagine trying to put a contact lens into the eye
of a 2 year old. Yeah I wouldn’t want
that job for the world. But I did get to
see her on the Friday and she was in high spirits, her bandages were off, her
eyes were open and she gave me a wonderful warm welcome when I arrived. She is such a smart person and because she
has been without sight for so long her senses are amazing and she can pick a
voice from a mile away. It was great to
see her in and she really was a happy chappy.
I mean there were moments we had the terrible tow moments, but
considering what she has been through the last few weeks, she is a remarkable
kid and hopefully with more sight than what she had the world will become her
oyster as she grows. I spent some time
with her while I was folding and she remembers the 2 songs that we always sing
and she was also mimicking what I was doing with the washing trying to help out
folding, it was so cute. And now that I
think about it, she must have been able to see what I was doing to even mimic
me-WOW that is amazing!!!!
With the weather being cold and overcast again this week
and it is still a struggle to get the clothes washed and dried. The house mothers scrap the drawers and
wardrobes for dry clothes and some of the combinations of what the babies come
out dressed in is hilarious. Irene likes
the babies to look respectable all the time, which is fair enough, so the house
mothers need to watch what they do actually dress them in, but some of the
combinations could be chaotic. The
weather makes the babies sleep longer, and as the clothes are not dry enough to
fold I have had some spare time, which I always come prepared and read my book
during the 1-1.5hours of downtime we have while they are having their afternoon
kip. I found the mood of the house
mothers a little dark, but I guess with sick babies in the house, babies
leaving and not many new comers it makes it a little more stressful. They also have copped a little of the flack
with the no hand washing rule, so everyone is accountable now and now that I
know just how important it is, I will make sure to let visitors know and point
them in the right direction of the basin and hand soap. Even if they think I am being bossy, I don’t
care as literally the lives of the babies rest in the washing of all sets of
hands that come into contact with our babies.
This was tested on Friday with the American teenagers
back again. Apparently they have come a
few days this week and today there was a mini bus and a minivan bringing 27 of
them in today. When we only have 15 babies it is a little overwhelming to say
the least. The sun had reared its head
at around lunch time so there were finally some dry clothes to fold, actually
not some, but baskets and baskets of clothes to fold, which I like as it keeps
me busy when the babies are asleep and it is a chance for the house mothers to
eat, chat and the washing pile-which we toss onto a blanket and then all sit on
the ground and fold-is also like a bonding time for them and me. If there are some non-sleeping babies, we lay
them on the clothes and they too are just happy to sit and lie there as we work
away. We did get into trouble at one
point from Mary when we were laughing, as Mercy had passed away, we should have
been more respectful apparently. Poor
Pauline copped it and I only found out when I asked what Mary had said as it
was discussed in Swahili. But like
Pauline pointed out later, it is passed, poor Mercy has gone to heaven now and
we need to keep the spirits up of the house mothers and of course the other
babies. I can see where she is coming
from, but unfortunately life does carry on doesn’t it. The US teenagers arrived about 15 minutes
before the babies were awake but this was a blessing in disguise because as
soon as the first of them came down to the nursery I asked them politely to
wash their hands before they touched the babies this week. They were cool with it and all of them washed
their hands, but this is where it all starts and I will not apologise or feel
bad asking people to do such a simple thing and I think the house mothers were
thankful that I did ask them and I think it is just easier coming from a mzungu
to a mzungu…..
Because the teenagers have been in Nairobi for 2 weeks
and have made several visits to the orphanage on my days I am not there, they
have all gotten attached to certain babies.
When they arrived I asked Pauline whether we should say anything about
Mercy and we both agreed it would be best if we didn’t. Well that last 5 minutes after their hands
had been washed and the babies were starting to wake up one of the younger kids
asked where mercy was. I looked at
Pauline and said that she wasn’t here and they got all excited and asked if she
had been adopted out and I said no……. and I looked at Pauline again and she
just nodded her head yes, so I had to tell a 13 year old girl who had held
Mercy over the last 2 weeks that she had passed away that morning. There were a few of the others around that
heard the news and they had a million questions which I tried to answer to my
best and again I think the house mothers were just glad that I was there to
answer them on their behalf. The kids seemed
genuinely upset and curious to what had happened and I think my opinion of them
changed in that moment. They really are
happy to see the babies, even if they are doing the over the top mzungu thing
of snapping photos willy nilly and passing the kids around like they are
puppies, their hearts are in the right place and the news subdued them a little
as the word spread around the group, which wasn’t a bad thing with Mary not wanting
to have a lot of happy faces around today.
As I was leaving I said goodbye to office Rachael and she
always thanks me for my help and I offered again to take sheets and blankets
home next week. I also passed on my
condolences to her for the passing of Mercy and she asked if I wanted to go to
the funeral tomorrow. I asked where it
was and what time and the details hadn’t been finalised yet. I haven’t been to many funerals; actually I
have only been to 2 in my whole life.
The first one was back when I was at school and my Indonesian teachers
baby died of inherited disease at the age of 6 months and then the only other
one was the funeral of my mum a few years back.
You see them on TV all the time and even though I know they are TV shows
they are still very emotional for me, also when I see cemeteries, but I think
that is because it has memories of my mum attached to them. So to go to Mercy’s funeral would have been
heartbreaking and not knowing the final details I think it was a sign for me to
not go and not only that, but it would cost me 50AUD to get there, as harsh as
it sounds-I just couldn’t afford the trip this time, but it doesn’t mean she
was far from my thoughts on Saturday.
So it was a low week at The Nest and unfortunately the
days are not always smiles and milky burps, but then when a child is bough to
The Nest, it is not always for good reasons, but if we can make them smile and
given them love, then we are making the best of what is a bad situation and
that is all anyone can do with their life, whether it be with anything that
doesn’t go right in your life. That IS
life and we need to make the most of every single day that we have on this
planet.
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