This was a busy day for me, it started early, that I was woken by the coughing of Helen. I helped Sarah go to school at 7 am. Then I heard that one of our dogs, Rafiki, was lost. I w
alked all over the compound, no Rafiki to be seen. Maybe she escaped when the gate opened?? Half an hour later I was called, they found Rafiki, she was in our pit latrine. We have (besides our normal indoor toilets) also the latrine, which is a deep pit (5-6 mtrs deep) and you use it by squatting above a small hole, as you see in the picture at the right. Rafiki had entered through the whole and was laying down in the feaces. We got a to
rch, and she was still alive. You can see her laying down there. How to get her out??? Why did she go there in the first place???When Simon came at 9 am, he looked and left to get help. He came back with two men, they made the whole bigger and with robes and stick, they managed to get a loop around Rafiki's head and they pulled her up. She didn't struggle at all, she just let them do their work. We paid the two men and then the cleaning up started. Miranda and I have done the job, it was stinking!!!!!!! We put the water hose on her and then with buckets with water and Omo we washed her. It was a very dirty job, but the good thing is that Rafiki was so co-operative, we could do all we want to do with her. At the end we got my laundry softener with lavender smell and we used that at the end. Then we lay her to dry in the sun.
alked all over the compound, no Rafiki to be seen. Maybe she escaped when the gate opened?? Half an hour later I was called, they found Rafiki, she was in our pit latrine. We have (besides our normal indoor toilets) also the latrine, which is a deep pit (5-6 mtrs deep) and you use it by squatting above a small hole, as you see in the picture at the right. Rafiki had entered through the whole and was laying down in the feaces. We got a to
rch, and she was still alive. You can see her laying down there. How to get her out??? Why did she go there in the first place???When Simon came at 9 am, he looked and left to get help. He came back with two men, they made the whole bigger and with robes and stick, they managed to get a loop around Rafiki's head and they pulled her up. She didn't struggle at all, she just let them do their work. We paid the two men and then the cleaning up started. Miranda and I have done the job, it was stinking!!!!!!! We put the water hose on her and then with buckets with water and Omo we washed her. It was a very dirty job, but the good thing is that Rafiki was so co-operative, we could do all we want to do with her. At the end we got my laundry softener with lavender smell and we used that at the end. Then we lay her to dry in the sun.
After that I had to rush with 10 of our children to the hospital for a blood test. They are all on ARV's and we check their blood levels every 6 months. We went in June for that test, but one test was not done, because the blood was "spoiled', they didn't put the blood samples in the refrigerator. So we have to go again, I asked a doctor there to listen to Helen's chest, because of the coughing. Her chest was clear, so we got a good cough syrup. A counsellor came to tell me that there was a child in the children ward, who needed our help, if I could please come and see the child? I told her that I was first bringing the 10 children to school and that I would be back.So after the blood was taken (which took also almost 2 hours) I brought them all to school, except the ones who were almost finished by that time. I called Simon, if he could meet me at the hospital. Simon is very good to talk with people, if the mother of the child doesn't speak English, then it is difficult to find a person who can translate good. We went to ward 5, the paedeatric ward and we found Christine a mother of 
23 yers with her sick baby, Brenda of 2,5 months. The mother is an Albino and she is suffering of cancer. She has a big open wound on her head and even at het face she has some ulcers. The mother needs treatment, but the care for her baby doesn't allow her to care for herself. The father of the baby does not help her and she was really desperate. You could smell the wound and people are afraid to be near to her. This lady suffers also from isolation. Simon talked with her and I talked to the nurses on the ward. They thought it would be better for the baby to be with us for some time, while the mother gets treatment herself. The mother was very relieved that we took her baby, she had no problems with trusting us with her most precious one. At home we bathed and weighed the baby (3,3 kg.) and took it for malaria test. This came back very bad and we had to put the baby on quinine drip. She also got high fever, started a bit, having convulsions, but now she is better, the fever is more down, she is hungry and drinks very well.
23 yers with her sick baby, Brenda of 2,5 months. The mother is an Albino and she is suffering of cancer. She has a big open wound on her head and even at het face she has some ulcers. The mother needs treatment, but the care for her baby doesn't allow her to care for herself. The father of the baby does not help her and she was really desperate. You could smell the wound and people are afraid to be near to her. This lady suffers also from isolation. Simon talked with her and I talked to the nurses on the ward. They thought it would be better for the baby to be with us for some time, while the mother gets treatment herself. The mother was very relieved that we took her baby, she had no problems with trusting us with her most precious one. At home we bathed and weighed the baby (3,3 kg.) and took it for malaria test. This came back very bad and we had to put the baby on quinine drip. She also got high fever, started a bit, having convulsions, but now she is better, the fever is more down, she is hungry and drinks very well.
It is now almost 5 o'clock pm. I wonder what will still happen today. All in all, it was a busy, but interesting day, Rafiki is still alive (we got the veterian doctor to look at her, she got an injection) and Brenda is the new member in our Amecet family. I hope she will pick up soon and we pray also that her mother will get the help she needs. And... life in Amecet is not boring!
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