On Tuesday afternoon a very young girl- young as in 10- dropped an unnamed baby boy off at Sanyu. The mamas named him Marc Alexander. I knew before I signed up for this that I should expect to spend a lot of time looking after babies and toddlers, but I didn't fully understand the condition most of the children, especially the younger ones, would be in. The ones who still aren't used to eating full meals or being in the hectic tide of Sanyu daily life will throw up after every meal, and constantly wet themselves.
They're guessing Marc Alexander is around 18 months due to his length, his full mouth of teeth, and probably other things that I don't have enough experience in babycare to know. Marc's skin is a dull gray and sags around his little skeletal frame giving the appearance of a wrinkled old man. When you pick up his naked torso to change him, the skin around his ballooned stomach follows you up to his armpits. There's nothing holding his skin to his bones. What's most disturbing is the absolute silence of this baby. He is totally complacent- you could do anything to him and he won't cry, he won't fuss, he won't even make a face, he just takes it. And his appetite is nonexistent.
That was Tuesday afternoon. On Wednsday morning Grace and I accompanied six of the children to a certain hospital in Entebbe (near the airport- about an hour drive form Sanyu). We took Simon- a relatively new toddler at Sanyu and one with a terribly bloated stomach, David- a 3-4 year old from the west, Gloria- who 6 months ago arrived at Sanyu in Marc's condition but now looks like any other Sanyu baby (though her stomach is still a bit swelled), little Marc, Peace- a very tiny and malnourished baby girl, and John Paul- one of the bigger toddlers who always looks confused.
The hospital itself was beautiful- it was gated off and on a hill, and was open-aired, something you'd never see in the U.S. for sanitation reasons but for a building with no AC on a grassy hillside it makes perfect sense.
Part of the hospital:
You can see on the glass-walled building to the left that the top two rows of squares are glass but then theres a railing and under the window rows its all opened up.
The view from the hospital waiting room,
taken through one of the open air gaps in the wall
Of course there was a lot of red tape that went into getting the children to see the doctor, but luckily no one got turned away today! Here's Grace entertaining some of the kids for the good hour and half we waited:
David in the Green, John Paul in the plaid, Gloria in the pink
I was handed Marc Alexander at 7:30am and he was under my care until 1pm that afternoon. I didn't mind this for the accompaniment to the hospital and back but I was upset that I was left alone with him once we were back at Sanyu because I was afraid. I don't feel that I'm qualified for that, but it was a busy day and all of the permanent infant staff brushed me off as fine.
I held Marc as he got his finger pricked for a blood sample. He made an "eh" sound for a second and then sat there and let the doctor squeeze 15 drops of blood from his hand onto a card. All of the other children cried.
on the way to the hospital
I have a special attachment to a new boy, who only arrived at Sanyu two days before I did. He is clearly older than the other children in his class- 3 or 4, but comes here from a village in the west.
outside the classroom
The reason we had to go to that particular hospital an hour away is because David needed to be tested for HIV. It was negative- he's cleared! All in all the hospital trip went well. Simon might have stomach worms, and Marc, Gloria and Peace were issued special packets of goo that look and smell like a blend of butter, peanut butter and sugar, that are heavily caloric and protein filled to help get their weight up. Gloria by the way was found abandoned in a public women's restroom about 6 months ago, but apart from her swollen stomach you'd never know- Sanyu has helped her tremendously. She's in the process of being adopted right now by an American family!!
Not So Fun Fact of the Day: Marc puked on me after we got back to Sanyu- a lot.
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