2010 Day 3

Dance Class

Getting out of bed this morning feels like a week ago! We started in gym class where the girls were doing all sorts of things from sit ups to basket ball. They all seemed to enjoy it. We then went on to dance class and if I’m honest, that was more of a work out than gym class! The teacher is fantastic and is so enthusiastic. We did squats, jumps, steps and floor work. I was wrecked by the end of it but it was definitely the high light of my week so far.

After class we had time for a quick coffee break before heading to the disco. The disco was crazy. All the girls want to do is dance with you and pull you around the floor. It’s hard to keep them all happy but it’s worth it if you can – otherwise they’ll slap you and pull your hair out! Not in a viscous way, just enough to get your attention. I can understand why some of them get a bit frustrated. They already have a hard time communicating and with hundreds of other girls to compete with it can be hard to get the attention you need. Despite losing a few hairs and getting bruises in their place, it was brilliant fun.

Some of the best dancers!

I had to escape after an hour of running around and sat with a group of girls who were hanging out beside the farm. One of the gang is a really cute girl. I think her name is Catea but I’ll have to check that tomorrow. She’s fascinating to watch as she has hallucinations – or at least that’s what it looks like. She seemed to be giving out to someone today, shaking her fist and smacking the ground. Then it all seemed like it was a joke coz she started laughing and then smacked her behind in a motion that sort of looked like “kiss my ass”! I was gonna say that her head would be a nice place to be but that might sound a bit weird following the last sentence… what I mean is, she’s always smiling and joking and life is all about being happy right?

Playing with the girls brought us up to feeding time. Irina was a joy again and ate every morsel of food. Our lunch was chicken with veg and salad. I too ate every morsel!

After lunch we played with a few of the girls who are able to move around. We sang songs and tired them out as best we could. We played hokey pokey, chasing games and ring a ring a rosie. The last one always makes me laugh coz it’s about dying! Morbid I know… for those of you who’ve never thought about it or just never heard, the song is supposed to have been written about the black plague. The words “atishoo, atisho, we all fall down” is about dying after a good dose of sneezing! Lovely.

The farm

Zina, our interpreter, then brought me up to the farm for a visit. On the farm they have, chickens, hens, goats, pigs and rabbits. Lots of the girls have jobs on the farm. Some of them feed the goats, others bring them for walks, others collect eggs… They really enjoy having a sense of purpose. Other girls help out around the orphanage too. Some of the older girls help feed the younger ones. I’ve seen others bringing laundry around and others helping in the kitchen too. It’s great.

After the farm, we went up to visit the girls in isolation. These are the girls with the worst medical conditions and need constant supervision. Some of them looked so sad, it was really upsetting. It would be amazing to know what’s going on inside their head. I’m told that there isn’t much brain activity but they must have some perception of the world. Most of them respond to touch and they all have little souls in there. It’s so sad to see them stuck inside a body that won’t work properly for them. You just want to pick them up and make them better. It makes you realise how lucky we are and also how useless. That’s really how l felt for most of the day – completely useless.

Enough of the negative I hear you say. Dinner time with Irina was a success again. We went for a walk afterwards and she was falling asleep by the time we got back. Next, I played with a few of the girls in group 10 and brought them for walks as well.

Another highlight, which soon followed, was getting Felicia out of her wheelchair. Felicia is a very special girl who is well able to walk but stays in her wheelchair 90% of the time. It took me most of the day to convince her but eventually she agreed to let me sit in her chair and she pushed me around for 20 minutes. Tomorrow we’re going to have a race – I’ll be in the wheelchair and she’ll be on her zimmer frame. I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose the race and possibly injure myself but if it gets her out and about then it’s worth it!

Night night.