Journal Entry No. 14

7/23/10

9pm Iganga time

Healthcare is odd for the children. At Musana, it consists of a 19-year-old "nurse" named Edith. The only qualification I think she has to be a nurse is the fact that she knows enough English to read the directions on the medication.

A little girl (age 5) named Najia (pronounced Nah-hee-ah) came crying to one of the volunteers a few weeks ago saying her arm hurt. They took her to Edith, who said it wasn't broken and promptly started twisting it and squeezing it. This made Najia cry even worse, so they ended up taking her to the hospital. She had broken both the bones in her arm. We took her yesterday back in for a checkup and the bones weren't setting straight in her cheap cast, so the doctor had to bend her bone back into place.

Another little girl named Angel had to get her tooth pulled today because it was infected. We had to give her "tabs" of painkiller for the rest of the day or else she would start bawling.

A older girl named Martha spent the day in Edith's cot because she had malaria. [Or so Edith said---I actually think she had menstrual cramps].

But perhaps the sickest child at Musana is Joseph. He is a ten year old boy living with polio ,a disease that crippled him very e

arly on in his life. I have sat with him every day, observing as he does, sitting so quiet and alone on his bench.

He watches the children, day after day, climbing trees, playing sports, and just being normal. Meanwhile, Joseph sits on a bench quietly, never complaining or speaking much at all. We have a sort of unspoken agreement that we are friends. Every day I sit next to him and ask him how he is doing, and he looks up at me and says, "I am fine." And then we sit.

The great thing about being a mzungu is that I am never left alone for very long; the children seem to find me. Another up-side to this is that when I am sitting with Joseph, the children flock over and Joseph becomes included in their playtime. I never knew if he was annoyed with my sitting near him so often, until today at dinner.

I was sitting by him, as usual, talking to a few of the older girls, when I felt him lean up against me. He was facing away from me, so I wasn't sure if it was by accident or not. But when I leaned away he leaned farther in. He was just barely grazing my arm, but I knew it was his way of saying he enjoyed my company. He is such a humble and modest boy. I wish there was a way to help him. I wonder if he's in pain.