(writing this Sunday morning but won’t be able to post until
later, probably Monday)
At Project Hope on Saturday’s they don’t dispense drugs so
it’s more of a catch up and have meetings day. Mac was back in the office
finally so he had me tally up all of the HIV screened people from the free
screening they had done on Friday in Fundong. There were 656 people on the list
and I tallied the number in each age group from < 15, 15-19 and so on up to
50+ and all the positive in each age group. There were only 15 positive in the
entire group. I then did it a second time cause I had three more tallies than
number of people. Ha ha. The second time I had 1 more tally than total people
but whatever Mac said. Then we looked at the list of patients I had updated and
he thought we should add more information. So we decided on age of starting
treatment, sex and address (which is just the town/village they are from). Now
I will be going through ALL of the files on the shelves in the treatment center
and entering the information for ALL of those patients. Quite possibly it will
take me the entire week.
My dad was called in to work often throughout the rest of
the day. But we took a quick 35 minute walk into town and back (kind of a loop
in one route back the other). We were sure sweating by the end. It was hot and
it was 2 in the afternoon. We saw two interesting things. One was a woman with
feet turned completely horizontally inward (if vertical was normal feet,
looking down from above they look vertical). Crazy the deformities here. Then
as we came up and around a curve a bunch of kids dressed as “Juju’s” came
running toward us. They were wearing old cloth wrapped around them, some sort
of mesh like lacy fabric wrapped around their faces and vines around their
necks. Oh and ankle bracelets made with bottle caps so they jingled while they
danced around. They chanted and banged drums made of old plastic bottles and
used sharp pointed sticks as spears. Sadly I didn’t take my camera on this walk
but my dad had his little one. The pictures didn’t turn out that well. Maybe
they’ll be dressed up again today and I’ll take my big camera. It was so cute!
We saw the crooked legs. You’re probably wondering what I
mean by that. Well every March and November a Dutch orthopedic surgeon and his
team comes to straighten the legs of many children who travel from all over the
country (possibly even from Nigeria). The crooked legs are like literally bowed
out or in and the surgeons cut them up, straighten them out and cast them up.
Njinikom Hospital is, for some reason, where they come to do this every year,
and supposedly there are just massive amounts of kids and their guardians. Once
casted up (both legs from hip to toe, with a bar between the ankles to they
literally can’t move their legs in any direction) they have to stay here in
Njinikom for up to 3 months sometimes depending on the patient for the legs to
heal until the casts come off. Before the casts come off they are taken to
another town for removal and physical therapy. I’m excited that we are here for
this because it will be really interesting to see all of the little bowed legs.
I’ll be sure to take MANY pictures. Last night at mass we saw about 4 or 5 who
have arrived early because a photographer is here to “snap” them. The rest
should be arriving next weekend probably along with the surgeon and his team.
It costs next to nothing for them, if it costs at all. Jim said he thinks they
encourage those with some money to pay a little but it’s not much. The surgeon
obviously doesn’t do it for the money or get paid at all and supposedly his
wife is a very generous donor while here as well.
We aren’t supposed to give out money and things because it
just sets a precedent that all white people will give you things and SHOULD
give you things. Sister X told us if we want to do anything to do it through
her so that when they receive it they don’t recognize it as either coming from
us or at all even.
Anyways so hopefully the internet will be okay enough to
load a few pictures when the time comes.
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