We spent a day out at the childcare center in Adoteimon reading to the children of the local community, coloring with them, and playing games. These children come to the center every sat morning and enjoy books, games, and each other. This was our first real encounter with the children of Ghana. They were so joyful, as children typically are! These children range from toddlers to pre-teens and often walk by themselves or with their siblings upwards of 20-30 minutes to get to this site for Saturday morning reading. It was amazing to me to see the independence given to these children who were so young. I remember not being able to stay home by myself alone until I was 12, let alone walk 20 min away to a child care center to read books with my friends at 6.
These children had learned a play, "Where the Wild Things are", and performed it for us before we left. It was so cute. They had masks made and a stage with props and everything.
Lastly, some of the community members who have children with disabilities were told that we would be at the center and encouraged them to come and talk with us about their child's disability. We were hoping to have 10 families come so that we could each take turns assisting with developmental screenings and discussions with the family about adaptive strategies for teaching their child and exercises to maintain function. We ended up only having two families show up. Moses was the first boy. He and his mom walked (probably 30 minutes at least) across the dirt roads to the center. Moses uses crutches and walks on his toes. I was so amazed with his determination and openness to talk to us. I was hoping to work with him since I have a lot of experience working with children with contractures, with CP, and with physical disabilities. Unfortunately Susan and Lea were assigned to assist Stacey in the first screening. The second child appeared to have Down Syndrome.
She was fun to hang out with out in the yard, to read with, and try and build rapport with. She was slow to warm up to new people and ended up really connecting with Jess. When it came time for her eval, Jess and Meredith assisted Stacey and talked with the family about the causes of Down Syndrome. I observed and took pictures of this eval. It was interesting to hear the interactions with the caregivers and Stacey as to the cause and treatment of someone with DS. We tried to tell them that she would need to learn differently than other children, that she could be expected to help out around the house, and that medicine would not "cure" her and that they should not continue to spend money in those efforts. Although I would have liked to have a more active role in the screening process, I am thankful for the children and families that showed up on this day. I felt like I was finally getting involved and engaged with the trip and feeling connections with Africa! The children from the community were fun too... I even taught a group of girls how to do the first part of a step number that a classmate taught me earlier that year.
Feeding Program:
We went to church with Erik and Felicia since Erik pastors and Felicia directs the choir. Afterwards we helped out with a feeding program that offers food and first aid to children living on the streets, who are orphaned, or who live in the slums of Accra. This program has been going on for 10 years now and Felicia is known in the community as "the woman who helps the children". Upon arrival, we were immediately swarmed with children of all ages. I mean literally swarmed. Children running from all directions, shouting Oboruni, and hugging us and grabbing our hands. It was such a warm welcome and filled with such love you couldn't help but smile. I ended up helping out with the first aid station with Susan. It was my impression that these children wanted attention more than they wanted a "plastic" (band-aid). Susan and I attempted to have lines formed (silly us... we forgot where we were. Lines don't exists in Ghana), then we tried to have the mob of kids around us wait patiently so we could work with one child at a time. Although it looked chaotic, children in Ghana are used to waiting and with some reminders and prompting, were able to wait their turn. I would pour peroxide on their wound (or scabbed over wound), one of the other children would dab it dry, then Susan would cover it with a band-aid if needed. One little boy came back at least 6 times for the same cut that was already scabbed over. See...needing attention. We gave him a hug and told him it was all better, every time he came. It was very cute.
It goes to show you that regardless of circumstance, children are just children... everywhere. They all want attention and love. They are all joyful and playful and fun. I had a great day!
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