Your Contributions to Joytown

The school supplies you sent with me were a big hit! It truly is amazing to see how things we take for granted can make such an impact on so many students. When were were unpacking the bag together in the therapy room, we were sorting out the crayons, colouring books, reading books, etc. The students were getting quite obviously excited about all the materials you donated so, with the therapists' permission, they took a break from their work and had some fun with everything! The first, second, and fourth pictures are of the students using the books and crayons (and proudly showing off their work in the fourth photo!).

The third is of Dr. Stewart and Carol as we were sorting through everything. You can see the piles on the bench in between them. Thanks so much for your support! Your contirubtions made a huge difference today for so many children at Joytown.

The Amazing Therapy Team at Joytown

One of the biggest changes at Joytown since Bethany has become involved is the therapy available to the students. As I noted in an earlier post, the last time I was here there was one therapist who later quit leaving the school without one for an entire year. One therapist for over 300 very high needs children is simply not enough. To make matters worse, when the therapists were government appointed as in the past, Joytown was a place where not many wanted to be. As you can tell from my stories and the photos, it takes very special people to work there. Now that the therapy department has been completely taken over by Bethany and all staff are paid by Bethany Kids, not the government, the result is caring, passionate OTs, PTs, and assistants who really care about the children and are committed to their success.

The change in attitude and the optimistic, caring atmosphere is obvious. The staff are very engaged with the students and with each other, making for a positive place for the children to be. These photos are of Francesca (who I introduced to you in an earlier post) who is a mentor and counselor, Carol, Janet, and Carlton. They are energetic and full of optimism, a huge change - perhaps even a 180 degree about face - from the situation when I was here last time. I felt so good about being there with them today that I wanted to write this special post about them particularly and make sure I posted some photos of them for you to see.

Photos from Joytown on Monday

I am including some more Joytown photos so you can get a good sense of what it is like there. As you can see, the needs are still tremendous and there is a lot of work yet to do. I just read a comment from Mrs. Becker's class on the blog which said that they also recognize the changes that have been made at Bethany and Joytown. There is more to do, but it is so encouraging to know that a difference is being made and there are wonderful signs of positive progess in that direction.

The students were out of class today as many are preparing for national exams which being on Tuesday. The opportunities to interact with more students was fantastic today because many were out and about as you can see in these photos. The second photo is of the Gr. 8s studying in the library for exams. I included the photo below that because the yellow mobility device that the boy is sitting on has "ErinOak" written in marker on the back. ErinOak is the rehab provider in Halton (Erin Mills and Oakville) so it was really amazing and completely random to meet this young man and notice that the mobilty device he was sitting on was actually from Halton. It is a very small world indeed.

The last photo below is of a young girl who arrived at Joytown after the death of both of her parents. As an orphan, Joytown took her in. She is also being treated for HIV and when I first met her this morning, she was sitting by herself in the corner looking very lonely and sad. When I spoke with the therapists about her, they told me that she has continued to find the transition to Joytown - and perhaps moving beyond the death of her parents - very difficult indeed. We were sorting through many of the items that you sent with me and came across a sticker sheet. She became interested from across the room and came over to us and asked if she could have one. Carol, one of the therapists, joked with her about putting one on her forehead. She took the sticker and walked over the mirror and affixed the sticker to her forehead with a huge smile. Everyone started to have a laugh and then the other students wanted to put the stickers on their heads as well. It was a fun moment and one that highlights how small things like stickers can make a difference to someone during a difficult time. The stickers were fun and new and provided a great prop for a fun joke, but perhaps most importantly, they represent your care and best wishes from Canada. The fact that so many of you were so thoughtful to bring in school supplies and fun things for the students is so encouraging to so many. Thanks again!

More Pictures from Joytown

Here are some more photos from Joytown today. The students were out of class today as the Gr. 8s are studying for their big examinations which begin on Tuesday many of the students were out and about. They were supposed to be studying, but as you can tell from some of these shots, they were having a lot of fun being out of class for the day. We had a great day chatting with so many of them about their upcoming exams, what they hope for their next steps etc. I'll be posting multiple times from today so I can include as many photographs as possible since I can only put up four at a time. Enjoy!

Shots from the Ward with Your Gifts

As I noted in the previous post below, Mercy was so thrilled with everything we were able to contribute that she insisted that we head over to the ward and share some of the things with the mothers and children.

The first photo is of a Masi mother and her child and she was showing me her special copy of the bible in Masi - a very unique language.

The next couple of photos are just some of the children with the balls that were sent over. The first one with the happy face looks like she's intentionally showing the happy face. Many of the children have either traditional Masi names, Christian names such as Judah, Hosea, Samuel, and even one boy I met today was named Blessing (which he obviously was to his mother) or Muslim names if they are Somali such as Mohammed. The girl holding the pink ball with the happy face's name is...Brenda! We laughed when I told her my name. I didn't expect to hear an Irish name on the ward. She was great! The boy below's name is Dennis and as you can see, he has a fairly developed case of hydrocephalus but is in to have shunts put in.

In the last photo, I met this boy and his mother outside the unit and he was wailing away - I'm sure you can see the tear stains on his cheeks. I was unpacking the bag at the time and was able to produce a toy car which seemed to brighten things considerably at that moment. Nial was able to snap that shot.

I hope things are well back in Oakville and everyone remembered to turn the clocks back. As a result, I'm not 8 hours ahead of you here in Kenya. I'm writing this at 11:30pm but it is only 3:30pm back in Canada.

I'm off to Joytown again tomorrow and will be delivering the rest of the contents of the bags I brought over. For Joytown, I am bringing soccer balls, pencils, and reading books for the library which I noted was a big need based on my visit there last Thursday. I look forward to sharing your generosity with them.

Dr. Pinero is the surgeon you met in the spring when he visited us for an assembly at St. Vincent. His mother passed away on the day we arrived here in Kenya and so the funeral was conducted on Saturday. It was such a well attended funeral and was very African from the singing at church to the procession to the grave and the ceremony at the grave site. What was most striking, and what I thought you would be interested in, is how such an occasion is such a community focused event. Everyone in attendance walked by and sprinkled the red earth onto the casket and then most in attendance took turns completing the burial with the earth. The reason for this is that the culture here is very community oriented - everyone helps one another. When one family is grieving, the whole community grieves and no one is left to shoulder burdens alone. The sharing of the roles at the funeral was ceremonial, but a lovely way of paying tribute and doing so as a community. It was a very unique cultural experience which I was privileged to have the opportunity to participate in.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend and looking forward to another week at school. I look forward to Joytown tomorrow and to sharing more with you. I feel like my time is running out here and I have so many more stories and experiences to share - hence my multiple postings each evening. I do look forward to seeing everyone later in the week back home.

I have posted twice again this evening. Please read on below and if you haven't followed over the weekend and are only tuning in on Monday morning at school, please continue reading below. I've got at least 6 new posts since Friday...

Sharing Your Gifts with Mercy and Bethany

It was a real thrill today to bring all of your generous donations into Bethany to share them with Mercy. As you saw from one of my first posts, I carried over three hockey bags filled with crayons, markers, colouring books, pencils, pencil crayons, balls, silly bands (very popular here too!), bibles, and even two very special bibles in Swahili. Though I was in on Friday, Mercy had to go up to Nairobi to tend to her sick mother so I had to put off the "official" presentation until today. It was worth it!

Nial and I carried two of the bags down to the hospital - no easy feet at almost 8000 ft above sea level - to meet Mercy. To say she was floored might be an understatement. She knew I had things for her from all of you at St. Vincent, but she was not prepared for the amount of love that was shown by all of you through your generous contributions. We took everything out of the bag and sorted it. When I pulled out the small bibles she was thrilled. When I pulled out the bible in Swahili, she was speechless.

"How did you get this?" she asked and I told her about one of our thoughtful parents who had ordered it especially for her. "I find it hard to get them here," she said. She was delighted, as you can see in these first two photos.

The biggest need and thankfully what I had the most of was crayons and colouring books. I posted a photo on an earlier blog of the broken crayons the children were using - it is a consumable expense and therefore always in need - to show you how welcome your contributions have been.

Mercy then invited Nial and I to join her for a walk around some of the wards and to give some of the things we brought away. We went onto the hydrocephalus ward and gave each mother and baby a new sleeper that they chose from what we brought over, and balls and stuffed animals for the children. The mothers loved the silly bands so thanks for adding those to the bag as well!

Nial was with me the last time I was here from Norway. He is a contributor to Bethany and on the board for the International Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida Federation. His daughter is now 15 years old and has spina bifida. Though she experiences many of the difficulties that are associated with the disease, she is living a very happy and healthy life with friends and family in Norway. When Mercy was introducing us on the ward she talked about Sarah, Fiona, and I and then she talked about Nial. We both spoke to the group after speaking with everyone individually. When Nial spoke, he talked about having a daughter with spina bifida and how well she is doing. It was amazing to see the mothers listening to him as he spoke from the perspective of 15 years experience. Many of the mothers on the ward were dealing with this for the first time with their barely week old children. They asked him questions about whether she could walk, how she was doing intellectually, etc. He answered thoughtfully and consideratly knowing every situation is different. The mood in the room changed as if a cloud were lifted. By simply sharing a few words about his daughter, he gave some hope for the future for some of the mothers who were just coming to terms with their child's illness.


A couple of the mothers stood and addressed Nial and I, thanking us for visiting, for our prayers, and for caring for their children. The one mother said "You have come here and brought things for us and our children which makes us happy, but most importantly, you have come. Thank you for coming. Thank you for caring enough to do that." It was amazing. That same mother went on to tell us that her husband left her as soon as he found out their child had hydrocephalus but she was encouraged the care she was receiving and for the future of her child. When Mercy suggested her hope that she meet another good man, she laughed saying she wasn't interested. That got a big laugh around the ward.

Mercy prayed and then they broke into song again. The bottom photo is of them singing on the ward about putting their faith in the Lord. The voices and harmonies were amazing. Hopefully you remember the singing I shared with you on my last visit. I will be sure to share this with you as well when I return.

More Photos of the OR Renovations

As you can tell from my multiple posts on this matter, there is a lot to share and a lot ot be excited about. The second photo includes from left to right: Dr. Newton, Nial from the International Federation for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida, Dr. Bransford, and Dr. Stewart who you've met at our Bethany assemblies at St. Vincent.

The inclusion of the third sink photo is much like the neo-natal care unit photo from the other post - Dr. Newton and other colleagues physically installed the sinks and plumbed them to assist with the renovation and save costs wherever possible.

There are three other posts in addition to this one which I have added tonight below all about the changes in the operating rooms. I hope you'll read all four...