The men from Sobitido church could not find a way to get to the mission house yesterday and they could not find a way to come today either. There are a few motorcycles in the village and a couple motor kings but unless it is Yendi market day getting from the village to Yendi is a problem. They tried to borrow a motorcycle but no one wanted to loan them one and I don’t blame them. To speed things up we decided to drive out to Sobitido this morning before the Child Center opened. The men were excited that we were willing to help solve their problem. It took about 30 minutes to get to the village. The men were ready and waiting when we got there.
Zorash took the day off. She had a meeting to attend. Mr. Iddrisu filled in for her. He has trouble reading the scale because he broke his glasses but we muddled through anyway! A new set of Falani twins (nomadic people that take care of cattle) were brought to the Center this morning. The parents thought that because the children were crying and would not sleep that they were hungry and needed formula. The mother had a baby bottle that had a dark brown liquid in it. We were surprised that the mother was feeding the babies cocoa powder mixed with water. The cocoa powder has some sugar in it and is supposed to be mixed with milk; sort of like Nestle’s Quik. Can you imagine? Cocoa has caffeine; no wonder the babies are having trouble sleeping. When Steve examined the children, he found that they were covered with neonate rashes; the skin all over their bodies were covered with blisters and small boils. The babies were miserable; much of their skin was peeling off! Steve referred them immediately to the hospital. The father asked for a reference letter but before Steve got it written the couple had disappeared with their children. We doubt that they will go to the hospital. Maybe they will come back but we doubt it. The babies were delivered at home; they are 1 month and have never been to see a doctor.
Adamu, the very malnourished child that had to stay in the hospital for 2 months, is not doing well. She lost weight 2 weeks ago when they came to the Center and she lost even more weight this time. We are very concerned about her because she has refused to eat anything; she will only drink powdered milk. We think it is a texture thing with her because she will gag and throw up if she is given anything she cannot swallow straight away. She is now 3 years and 8 months; she only weighs 6.8 kilos which is around 14 pounds. Steve said that if she has one serious illness or infection, she will not have anything to fight with. We encouraged the mother to feed her more and we showed her how to mix a tiny amount of porridge into her milk and trick her into thinking it is straight milk. These low weight children are so hard to feed and it takes them a long time to eat.
Take care and enjoy your day!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
This afternoon Mom hooked my leash to the big mango tree. Donkey was sleeping on the bench under the tree; I could not help myself; I jumped on him! He woke with a fright! He did not know what had gotten hold of him. Mom told him that he might want to move if he did not want me to continue to disturb his sleep! I just love harassing people; it is “just monkey love”!
Only 2 men came through the yard today; they were the men from Mulpido. Dad was happy to see them because they were the last men to come to sign paperwork but I was not happy that they were in the yard because Dad had to move me to the back yard and by that time there was almost no shade left. Lucky for me, they did not stay too long! They also were riding a very noisy motorcycle which they parked too close to the house! They had a flat tire on their way to the mission house so Dad gave them money for a new inner tube. That was very kind of him but I think the only good motorcycle is a dead motorcycle. I have heard people say that about snakes; the only good snake is a dead snake.
Do you need some monkey love?
Skeeter
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