We went to bed pretty early last night, so we got a good night's rest. We were then ready for the busy day ahead of us! We had some delicious french toast for breakfast, and then waited for a car to pick us up and drive us back to the school. When we finally arrived, the entire school was waiting there, so excited to see us. We all gathered in front of the children as Isaac (one of our nurse chaperones) demonstrated for them how to brush their teeth. One of the younger kids volunteered to do a demonstration for us. She was quite good! Emily and Jen also demonstrated for the children, giving clear descriptions of what they were doing.
All of the children were all very enthusiastic to get started as we introduced ourselves. They all went back to their classrooms as we set up the medical supplies. One classroom at a time, we did a physical examination of around 250 kids. One by one, they would come up and we would check their head for ringworms and eczema. Because they all have shaved heads, it was fairly easy to spot. I would say about half of them had some type of ringworm patches on their heads.
Then we would check their teeth and ask them if they had a toothbrush. If they did not, we would give them a toothbrush and toothpaste. Then, we would check their bodies for wounds. Nearly every one of them had open wounds on their knees and legs because they spend most of their day playing on the ground. We cleaned and bandaged their wounds, and applied cream to their eczema and ringworm patches. Each child's face lit up as they all received a vitamin C tablet. It was very cute to see them protect their vitamin C pills like they were new toys. Some kids had such bad cases of ringworms that they also got to take home a bottle of medicinal paste to apply to their heads every day. You could tell they felt very special to get new presents. We felt accomplished as we left the school, knowing that we had helped nearly every kid feel better in some way, whether it was a cut on their knee or ringworm patches. The kids were all very grateful, smiling and waving at us as we drove away.
We made a quick stop at the leprosy village. Although they have all been cured, many of them have been shunned by their families because leprosy is believed to be caused by evil spirits. We cleaned open wounds they had, most of them on their feet. These wounds were much worse than the ones we saw at the school, and we could tell they were very painful. Several of them were groaning and crying as we applied hydrogen peroxide, saline, and iodine. Nevertheless, they all uttered a heartfelt "akbe" (the local word for "thank you") and smiled as we finished bandaging.
We had a delicious lunch of beans and yams, and laid down for a quick rest before we headed off to the orphanage. When we go there, they were all so excited to see us again. This time, we brought gum, lollipops, crackers, and clothes as donations for all of them. Just like the kids at the school, the orphans were so exited to receive the gifts we gave them. For nearly 3 hours, we all played games and shared lots of laughs. many of the children would not let go of us as night began to fall and we had to catch a taxi ride home. The many shouts of "yevu bye bye!" brought our fantastic day to a close. We are now settling down for a long awaited dinner of banku (a local cuisine if sour fermented powdered yam that is white, smushy, and is eaten by hand). Soon we will lie down for a well-deserved sleep, filled with memories of the day.Goodnight world! May tomorrow reward us with just as much happiness as today!
Chandler
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