We arrived at the orphanage this morning looking like slightly mad scientists all dressed in matching white smocks that resemble lab coats. They showed us a few rooms full of adorable babies and a room with 2 and 3 year olds who seemed happy to see us, especially the one who basically jumped into Ashley's arms. We then crossed to the other building which was much noisier and a little more hectic feeling since this was where the handicapped and mentally impaired stayed. They were in the midst of waking them up, changing diapers, and bathing them. I wasn't brave enough to peek into the place where they were bathing them so I followed the other volunteers back to the entrance where Mohammed asked who would stay in the handicap ward. I wasn't prepared for this question mainly because I thought they would just tell us where to go, but apparently they don't want people working with the handicapped who aren't comfortable doing it or unable to physically do it etc.. So I stand there trying to figure out who's going over there and about 4 out of about 16 of us immediately volunteered. I knew from what Jordan (a volunteer who had been working in the handicap ward for quite a few weeks already) had told us the previous day, that they needed a lot of help in that section. The 4 extra seemed like so little so without really thinking I just walked over to the other side and a few more came too so we ended up with a good number in each ward.
I spent a minute or two standing awkwardly in the hallway while things swirled around me, a kid in a wheelchair drooled on one side of me and another grabbed my hand then grabbed his shirt while grunting and gesturing. Jordan went by and took off the guy's shirt for him ......Ohhhh THAT's what he wanted me to do! I need to work on this sign language stuff...... Then I noticed that some of the volunteers had gone into the room with the baths so I walked in and stood awkwardly in there for about a minute when Jordan came in and was holding his breath this time and rapidly trying to take off another guy's shirt. I started helping him and realized that this guy's shirt was soaked in pee .......I already touched it so might as well keep going...... we got it off of him and immediately a nurse handed me a diaper and a set of clothes and pointed towards a boy (probably in his 20s) who had just been washed and needed to by dried and clothed. So with the help of Ashley, we maneuvered his twisted limbs and dressed this ......man really...... just like we would dress a baby on a changing table. After that it was like an assembly line, they would be wheeled in, diapers changed and thrown across the room (very unnerving) into a heaping pile, hosed down and sponge bathed, dried and changed on the tables, then put in their wheel chairs and sent down the hall to the breakfast room.
It's not as harsh as it sounds really, there was a lot of laughter involved. The nurses (mostly women, but there were a few men) were so good with the handicapped people. I really have to give them major props for working there on a regular basis. They work every other day and are paid about 120 DH per month which is equivalent to 15 USD! After changing my 3rd or 4th person, I had to fight back tears because I finally realized what I was doing. I tried to picture myself doing this every day or even once a week. I would NEVER have volunteered to do anything like this, I have never felt comfortable around handicapped people and I am extremely squeamish especially when it involves smelly things and bodily fluids. I wasn't crying because I hated it though, I think I was just in shock that this is these people's reality. This is everyday life and we are possibly just a small break or chance for them to catch their breath for a moment. What would it be like to have nearly nothing and yet give almost all your energy to help people that will never be able to thank you or reimburse you in any way except for a crooked smile, a hysterical laugh, or slobbery kiss?
I can't say that I'm REALLY looking forward to doing it all over again tomorrow. I am looking forward to holding and cuddling with Suann again, and trying to make her smile. I do look forward to the moments when someone starts chewing on another person's foot and they both think it's hysterical. I look forward to when one girl takes off her shirt every few minutes because she knows that a few of them will erupt in fits of spastic laughter and someone will run quickly over to put it back on her. I even look forward to getting my hair pulled by the girl with down syndrome because it really doesn't hurt and she really seems to get a kick out of it. So I guess I don't look forward to the smells and the baths and the food, but I do look forward to the smiles and laughter. I'm guessing that is what makes the 120 DH (or nothing) worth it for the people who work there.
That's all I have for today :)
<3 Sarah
"It is not how much we do, it is how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving." -Mother Theresa
P.S. I'm once again having problems uploading pics... trying to figure this out :/
wow! you moved me to tears. Mother Theresa would be proud of you, because you're doing what she used to tell her volunteers to do "find the joy in the suffering" <3
ReplyDelete". . .whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
ReplyDeleteOne of the most remarkable things this makes me think about is the vast improvement that becomes possible in the condition of people suffering from various handicaps, once those caring for them get past their own reactions to it. Spend enough time at it and you begin to be able to see past the handicap, to the person and personality.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't so long ago in America that most Downs' Syndrome kids (and all the others) were shuttered away in closets or basements by their embarrassed families, or institutionalized in horrific or, at best, neglected conditions. Rarely (if ever) did they see the light of day; their learning and socialization was that much MORE stunted than it had to be, as a result.
I wonder whether your host country has more advanced care for the handicapped, anywhere; have you asked about it? I suspect one sad aspect of your kids' situation is likely to be, simply, the lack of enough focused attention and trained support to go 'round, despite how caring the support staff no doubt are.