My first few days of working and living in Vietnam...
we get up to a delicious breakfast every morning, fruit, bread, eggs, yogurt. Then about 7.45 head off to the redcross orphanage for the morning. They have 23 children, all very young as far as I have seen. perhaps 8 or 10 with disabilities. And maybe 3 or 4 carers?
We help out cleaning ears and eyes and hands and feet, and changing nappies of the kids we will see that day. then take them to our clinic room.
I worked with two children on Monday. Both with very severe cp, torticolis and positional plagiocephaly. so lots of encouraging them to look around, stretching and positioning tiny little necks and making peanut pillows.
trying to show the carers how to position them in their cots, to decrease the flat heads, but not Di too much side lying as they are also starting to get scoliosis. There are also a few children with Down Syndrome, hydrocephalus and intellectual impairments.
Today we worked with two boys with hydrocephalus, stretching out their limbs, practising sitting up and giving them practice to hold their heads up. Very tight and stiff little guys, really contracted and hard to move. But if we can make them just a bit more comfortable, or help them build that strength to hold their heads and look around, that has to be better for them!
They have a variety of wheelchairs, all far too large and very basic, but at least we can get the kids up, outside for a little bit each day, and sitting upright when they get fed instead of lying down.
Sally (volunteer Ot) and I are hoping to buy some foam and start making inserts and shaping the chairs better. Maybe have some chance of slowing down some of those scoliosis's and halting the windswept legs a little.
We also take some time to play with the children, give them some cuddles and encourage games like kicking a ball around or sharing toys.
We head back for lunch around 11.00 and have time to relax. Write some notes or talk about what we have been doing all day.
Then around 1 we head to a clinic that is part of a school for autistic children (school soon to open) assessing and helping kids with a range of disabilities.
Finishing there at 4.30 and back home for dinner. On Monday and Wednesday we then head out for after dinner English lessons at an orphanage for kids who's parents can't support them, are too poor or maybe they only have one parent. Kids from around 10 to 18. We help them with their English to help give them a head start, other families apparently pay very handsomely to have their kids in English lessons, so for these kids to have native English speakers to help them is a bonus!
Tonight we venture to "Big C" the shopping centre with everything apparently. We all need to pick up some bits and pieces for ourselves.... but am also hoping to find some better toys, (not just soft toys, but things with rattles, bells, maybe cause and effect toys) and things that we can attach to the cots so they are there ready for the kids, not stored away in a box! And maybe some storage for the toys already at the orphanage, there is a whole cot full of things, but it is hard to dig through the teddy bears and find different types of toys. we are hoping to sort it out a little and make it easier to access!
Photos:
the morning drive to work!
Playing ball with a couple of children
One of the children in the wheelchairs..... can't wait to get that foam and see what we can do with these!
walking home after a shopping trip one night, I don't understand the obsession with neon lights.... it is like Vegas on Acid! but it makes for beautiful scenes at night. You can't quite see in the photo, but the bridge is actually a Dragon
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