We were lucky enough to go see S again in the morning 9:30- 12:00 and really got to see a much better area of the Mission of Charity. S was in the activity room with a wonderful developmental psychologist doing a service-internship. Her name is Ana and she is from Italy. She was going different activities with about 6 children, including S. There were padded play areas, ball pits, jumpers, sensory activities, musical tooys and books. I loved it in this great little room! We colored with S and two friends. He is definatley left handed! Before we walked into the activity room we met with another nun who was in the Jima region, where Sam is from. She told us that she was actually there and helped deliver him!! The MOC serves many pregnant women and moms with very young babies. S's mom appeared at the nuns' house late one night in labor, spring of 2008. She gave birth to S who turned out to have very significant club feet. She stayed there three days or so and then left. About 2 1/2 months later the police found baby S with new incesions around his ankles, abandoned outside the compound. The nun recognized S because of his clubfeet. They were able to better determine his birthdate for the birth certificate. Amazing story.
Anyhow, S totally remembered us and was so excited to see us. He squelled and grabbed for us. He SO knows we are "his". We played and played, colored, read books, did bubbles outside. Ana and I spoke for a long time about his development and also about techniques in working with Autistic kids. There are many Autistic children at this center and I have worked with several in the states. We exchanged email addresses. Around 11:30 he went in for lunch and then we put him down for his nap. He gets mad when we leave :(
We returned after nap time and S was pretty grumpy b/c he did not sleep well. We tried to take him to a quiter place. He just wanted to lounge in our arms. When we returned him to the room where his friends were he really perked up. He loves having us play with everyone- almost likes he is showing us off. He is so social . We met with Dr. Teshome, which was met with some frustrations. The head nun had a good deal more information about S's condition and was wondering why the HOLT Dr. never really connected with the medical staff who was already working with S. We determined that we needed to take more xrays to really evaluate S's legs above the ankle which Dr. Solomon, of the MOC, felt were negativley affected b/c of the untreated club feet. He feels surgery should happen very soon. So we planned on taking more xays the next day after court and also planned to see Dr. Solomon that following Saturday when he visits the MOC.
Meanwhile back at the guest house (...meanwhile back at the ranch)- we have been so fortunate to connect with many HOLT and Bethany families. I loved talking with everyone. Wednesday night we had a big dinner in the hut that is in the back. That night we went out with Cami, her husband Ryan and had a great driver named Daniel take us to the Crown Hotel. We saw festive dancing and had more Ethiopian food :) I got very sick that night but am unsure of what it may have been from...i was sosos upset- sick befor court, concerned for S's legs....i was a mess. I was better by morning, lucky me. Other people had been sick for over a day....mine was short and not-so-sweet. We really enjoyed the dancing, though- beautiful and so entertaining/creative. *Pictures to come later!
Anyhow, S totally remembered us and was so excited to see us. He squelled and grabbed for us. He SO knows we are "his". We played and played, colored, read books, did bubbles outside. Ana and I spoke for a long time about his development and also about techniques in working with Autistic kids. There are many Autistic children at this center and I have worked with several in the states. We exchanged email addresses. Around 11:30 he went in for lunch and then we put him down for his nap. He gets mad when we leave :(
We returned after nap time and S was pretty grumpy b/c he did not sleep well. We tried to take him to a quiter place. He just wanted to lounge in our arms. When we returned him to the room where his friends were he really perked up. He loves having us play with everyone- almost likes he is showing us off. He is so social . We met with Dr. Teshome, which was met with some frustrations. The head nun had a good deal more information about S's condition and was wondering why the HOLT Dr. never really connected with the medical staff who was already working with S. We determined that we needed to take more xrays to really evaluate S's legs above the ankle which Dr. Solomon, of the MOC, felt were negativley affected b/c of the untreated club feet. He feels surgery should happen very soon. So we planned on taking more xays the next day after court and also planned to see Dr. Solomon that following Saturday when he visits the MOC.
Meanwhile back at the guest house (...meanwhile back at the ranch)- we have been so fortunate to connect with many HOLT and Bethany families. I loved talking with everyone. Wednesday night we had a big dinner in the hut that is in the back. That night we went out with Cami, her husband Ryan and had a great driver named Daniel take us to the Crown Hotel. We saw festive dancing and had more Ethiopian food :) I got very sick that night but am unsure of what it may have been from...i was sosos upset- sick befor court, concerned for S's legs....i was a mess. I was better by morning, lucky me. Other people had been sick for over a day....mine was short and not-so-sweet. We really enjoyed the dancing, though- beautiful and so entertaining/creative. *Pictures to come later!
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