Whew. I just got home from my most exhausting day at Home of Hope. A couple days ago we got a new little girl... I don't know how old she is but I'm guessing 2. We're just holding onto her until her mom can take her back. Basically her mom was arrested for stealing and has been held for a couple days and when she gets out she'll take her back. She's a good kid, just one more to look after.
Then, we got Adrian. His mother died of AIDS and so he's been with his dad and step mom ever since then--I don't know how long ago his mom died or how well she did or didn't take care of him, but anyway, Adrian has HIV, and TB, is 19 months old but is literally the size of Lona (who is a small 9 month old), has a face that screams fetal alcohol syndrome, and on top of that has been so neglected that his skin is just flaking off. His diaper rash around his legs and waist are like nothing I've ever seen. He doesn't have any teeth from such poor nutrition. He ended up with us because his step mom took him to the hospital because she "thought he might be sick." Ya think?! And it turns out that this woman is also on a committee in her township for ensuring kids are taken care of...?! Hello?! Your own son looks like a burn victim with skin falling off and you didn't think this odd until now? So, he has to bathed very painstakingly, and his first couple days was wrapped head to toe like a mummy. After his bath he's covered in a vaseline like mixture, and socks cover his hands so he want claw at himself because I'm sure the itching is unbearable. On the upside, he's super sweet, developing a personality, eating well, playing with the other kids, and his skin is improving.
Today, we got Simdi. Simdi was born about a month and a half ago, at only 6 months along. She's been in the hospital and 2 days ago her 21 year old mom left the hospital with her, dropped her at the 18 year old dad's house, and ran away. The dad did what he could but ended up taking her to the police station, knowing he didn't know what to do with her. Props to him for taking her to someone rather than just throwing her out like many other people do. So, she comes to us weighing probably around 1-2 kilos (roughly 2-4 pounds)... could easily fit in a shoebox. Her skin seems so thin and loose on her body. Eleanor has instructed us to take "kangaroo care" with her. Meaning, nearly all hours of the day, one of us needs to be wearing those carriers that people have, under our shirts, with her in it so she can get skin to skin contact. I was the first lucky carrier today :) She's so light that it's not an issue, just slows you down. We instantly knew what it felt like to be 6 months pregnant as far as reaching for things goes! And I don't know how many people got to look down my shirt today because they wanted to see the baby! haha Right now they are working to see if there's any other family to help with the baby, until then, or if there's not, we will have her. If nobody in the family ever takes her then it will turn to finding a foster family. If that doesn't happen she'll stick with HOH for the long haul. Although, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting fostered since she's so young.
So anyway, it just made the day crazy. Everything was slower and after my shift of carrying her, it was time for baths, so I gave 8 baths today whereas we normally alternate. One of our babies is quite needy from spending weekends with a foster family so she was noisy for attention--good news is she's heading to a family tomorrow for good! Anyway, I'm beat. And my back is killing me (bathing the kids and carrying the little one for a few hours--mostly from moving differently I think...)
Tomorrow I traded shifts with another girl so Stephanie and I can go sandboarding and quadding tomorrow. Hopefully I can actually stand up!! I'll be putting up some pics of the new kids...
