Little baby no-name 2!

Jenny has returned from a successful fundraising trip in the UK and it is such a relieve to know that she is around if anything goes wrong!
Today (whilst i was battling with the bed sheets on the shelf bed) 2 men arrived with a little girl wanting us to admit her. She is 2 days old and weighs 2.5kg. Her mother died during child birth along with the little girl's twin. The father and mother had been trying to have a baby for 8 years and were so happy to find out they were having twins, but now the father has lost his wive and his baby.They had all the correct paperwork, but the problem this time was the overcrowding at Potter's. With the 2 new babies last week, the baby room was at its full capacity. Ezra told the uncles there was nothing we could do for them, but Jenny and I knew that if this baby is turned away she will certainly die. Some strings have been pulled and 2 of our older abandoned babies who have no family connection to Kisoro will be moved to a wonderful new babies home. The uncles were so happy to hear that their baby would not be transferred to Kampala and that we were able to take her. I have offered to look after her until the overcrowding problem has been solved - so she is now sleeping on Ruth's old bed (sorry Ruth!) and having 3 hourly feeds. A sleepless night is ahead of me, but i don't care because she is soo cute! The father was busy burying his wife and daughter today and couldn't bring his surviving twin himself, so she currently is little baby no-name 2 (aka Squidge)
On Friday the 2 new volunteers arrived. Sarah and David are staying at Potter's Village for 3 months. It is so nice to have some more white faces around as being the odd one out can get a little tiresome. They are great and really good with the children (even the toddlers who usually take weeks to adjust to new white faces!)
I actually have not a clue what the weather is playing at here! It is meant to be the dry season, but yesterday we had torrential rain and hail stones for nearly 3 hours!
The 2 new babies, Baby M and Baby D have settled into Potter's life really quickly. They have both put on at least 300g in one week, soon their 2 week isolation will be up and they will be able to join the other babies.
38 days till home time!

'Dry' Season!

Squidge

Shopping, Sun and Babies

Another interesting week in Kisoro! At the beginning of the week Ruth and I were both really sick, whether it was a illness from the babies or food poisoning we did not know, but we felt pretty rotten. After recovering for a few days, we then proceeded to start tidying and Ruth, packing. On the Tuesday morning after a short staff meeting we set off for the Rwandan border where the taxi driver was waiting for us. As a person who is pretty rubbish with goodbyes, I was kind of dreading this one! Ruth is now back in the UK and settling back into the English way of life (strawberries and tennis!) It would be ungrateful of me to say that I am slightly jealous, but the past 4 months have been the most mentally exhausting of my life so I am really looking forward to giving Ma and Pa a hug!

I have been trying to keep busy this week, and have re-tided the store room/new medical center room! I am not sure how it go so messy in just a few months, but getting through the door was a job in its self. Ezra and I have also been preparing for the new volunteers who are arriving next Thursday. He took me shopping (actually, I took him shopping, as I know more shops than he does and he has lived here for a bazillion years!) and I was allowed to choose the colour of all kitchen equipment and buckets. I read that sentence back and I realise how boring I have become, but any shopping is shopping.

On Friday afternoon, I left to pick up Hannah and Jojo from school. When we arrived back at their house I had a panicky phone call from Ezra. Apparently 2 new babies had turned up without any notice at all and needed to be admitted. So I ran down the hill, ignoring all the “Mzungooo how areee youuu” to find two little boys and no nurse. I bought them into the nurses office and did the immediate examination. Baby D is aprox. 6 weeks old and was found abandoned at the hospital in Kabale. His temperature, weight, respiration and hydration was fine so I was happy that he was healthy. Baby M is 11 days old and his mother died after the nurses at the hospital forgot to look after her. His temperature was slightly raised, his respiration was fast and he was coughing. I listened to his chest and realised he had a chest infection, probably just due to negligence. They are both in the initial 2 week isolation stage and doing doing really well.

Toddler J leaves Potter's tomorrow to go back home with his dad. Next week Toddler A will be leaving and the week after Toddler J will leave too! It is bitter sweet to see them leave because you know being with their families is the best thing for them but when you have grown attached... it proves more difficult to say goodbye!

I am slightly gutted to hear the weather in England is back to normal, seems like I have missed the summer! It has 46 days to sort its self out and get hot again for when I am home!

Baby D

Gad and I

With Jenny back in the UK fundraising for Potter's Village, and Ezra in Mbarara with Grunt and Jackson, Ruth and I have been left in charge of the whole of Potter's Village. Of course the children know when the bosses have gone and decided to all get sick at the same time! We know have 3 isolation rooms, 1 for pneumonia, 1 for vomiting and diarrhea and 1 for fragile babies who must not be exposed to any illnesses.
We have a new arrival who was supported by PV in the community but had not been cared for properly. Baby K is 4 months old and weighs only 3.5kg (8lbs). Her mother became mentally ill after giving birth to her and threatens to kill Baby K whenever she sees her. The grandmother had been caring for her, but did not understand how to bottle feed. She was so starved that her hair is a shade of red. For the first 24 hours after being admitted to Potter's, Baby K screamed and screamed. Even feeding her didn’t calm her down because as soon as she had finished she panicked that she would not receive another one for a long time. The next morning we went to see her in isolation and we were so shocked at what we found. She has become the happiest baby ever! (Although slightly creepy looking with her huge eyes!)

Baby K

Grunt and Big J have been on a trip to Mbarara to visit the specialist about their cerebral palsy. J will be returning in a months time for a weeks intensive physiotherapy. Grunt has had some very good news, his hydrocephalus has improved and he is now out of the danger zone. He is still fitting, but not as often and as soon as you talk to him or touch him he laughs and laughs. Last week we took 5 children (2 from PV, 2 who used to live at PV and 1 from a village near by) to brand new children’s home. We drove for 9 hours on roads without tarmac with 5 vomiting children to SOS children’s home. The home can look after up to 120 children between the ages of 0 and 18. Each child lives in a house that has 10 children, 1 'mumma' and 1 auntie. The houses are amazingly equipped with washing machines, fridges and cookers. The mumma lives at the project for 6 1/2 days a week, and is allowed to decorate her house as she pleases so it is just like a real family! It was so sad to say goodbye to P as he had grown very attached to me and me to him, but the place was amazing so I know it is where he will have the best chance at life.


P and Ellie

Baby D is the smallest baby here at the moment, when he was in the incubator he weighed 1.7kg but lost 200g whilst in the hospital. He is now growing well but gets cold very quickly. With the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea we have isolated him in the hope he does not catch any illness that could risk his life.

Baby D

Ruth is going home on Tuesday, which will be very sad to say goodbye as she has been the person that has kept me (kind of) sane here in Kisoro. But when Jenny returns after her 3 week fundraising trip in the UK, 2 more volunteers will arrive so hopefully they will be nice!