My Favourite Kenyaisms (so far)
“Pole” pronounce po-lay - which means sorry. People say it to you when you fall over or drop something even though it is not there fault whatsoever!
“Flash me” - Phrase that is used for someone to drop call you. Not show your genitalia.
“Can I ride you?” - Motorcycle drivers asking to take you somewhere. Not the bedroom.
To “Xerox” - Slang for when someone copies off another person in class/exams etc..
Friday - Frustration
Alongside seeing 2 clients in the morning who were both booked in and both turned up :) My main aim for the day was to assess swallowing difficulties in the CP class at the school where I’m kind of based. There is “drinking” timetabled for 10.30am and then lunchtime where, although I’m expecting very little staff and support ,was told “home mothers” come to help at mealtimes. I arrived at the CP class at approximately 10.32am to which I was told drinking had already finished. Hmm. Then come lunchtime, the CP class do not sit together so it was difficult to try to establish who I was potentially meant to be observing, however good news was I did not hear much coughing at all (a big indicator of food “going down the wrong way” into the lungs instead of stomach) but on the bad side the “home mothers” solely helped out in the kitchen serving and giving food out. Not a single staff member was present to help support any children, which is a little crap to be honest as it is the biggest special school in Western Kenya and many of the children have physical and or mental difficulties prohibiting them from (I imagine) self-feeding efficiently/safely. So the lack of coughing may have been more to do with children not eating food, or silently aspirating on food which would only really be discovered through either chest infections or loss of weight present and can only really be checked as far as I know via technological means which are not available here. I booked in for me to watch “drinking” on Tuesday with a view to getting all the kids together at lunch to observe feeding and give training to staff who may be encouraged or even forced to help out as I seriously doubt that the entire school’s children can self-feed efficiently and safely.
Weekend - Chilling out and footballing
So the weekend (as most are here for me) was mainly football but something I wanted to say was that I didn’t realise how much people in the media in general, as a point footballers, influence children and are all role models having a huge impact on children not just from their country but all over the world. Some of the kids I coach dive around trying to get fouls and one of the loveliest kids who got sent off today (mark my words, if he continues to play he will be in the Kenyan team one day - a phenomenal defender) acted exactly like something seen at a world cup final. Looked around in dismay for a bit, hands on head, shirt over face and skulked off the pitch. We drew 0-0 which was good considering we were a man down for most of the second half. 3rd in the league with one game left. On the Sunday I went to a local field where out of nowhere a sponsored tournament had been set-up with a DJ - tune of the day -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fV5VdFcWLU,
a live crazy commentator, professional refs, the full lot. It’ll run every Sunday til December. First game = huge 22 man brawl. I cannot understate how seriously people take football here and how obsessed the nation as a whole are with it. Kinda lucky it isn’t something that I don’t like or couldn’t get involved in, like brussel sprout eating.
Only other notable points of the weekend were finding a place that does proper good coffee - was heaven on earth. Yes, you heard me right, Kenya, which grows some of the world’s best coffee beans cannot do coffee at all on the whole. What is the world coming to. Also I met a local mzungu who by default must now become my best friend, a North Carolinan (Carolinian?) who only arrived a few days ago she lives right wrong the corner from me, is involved in healthcare (malaria projects) and likes beer. Score.
Monday - Sensory issues
A fairly bog standard busy day at the hospital, seeing a fair number of clients who I have previously seen and a few new ones. The biggest issue of work at the hospital for me is that a vast number of the children I see have HUGE sensory issues nearly all of which are hyposensitive meaning they are constantly in the need of touching, smelling and/or tasting things. Due to this they have either an inability or a very reduced ability to be still and focus their attention on anything. Focus and attention are the basics when it comes to communication - these need to be in place to learn through looking and listening which leads to understanding then vocalizing and ultimately pronunciation (in the normal development of a child). Without this in place the children whose parents have come to me about improving their communication (verbal or non-verbal) will not be able to learn effectively. Thus for these children I can offer little help other than general strategies/activities for focus and language development until their sensory issues have been reduced which is an area that the O.T’s deal with here and an area I have no training in :(
Tuesday - CP drinking class
Apart from seeing two clients booked in for me by other members of the EARC and doing general admin stuff the main aim for the day was the aforementioned class which I’ve been trying to see for an age! I realise I have to be very tactful for anything I see as things are different out here overall and taking advice from a white westerner may not go down so well if I butt in or try and change things there and then etc.. So I started by explaining why I wanted to watch and what I was looking for and for the teacher to do the class as she normally would, ignoring me (which some people do anyways!). Much to my delight, all but 1 of the children could self-feed and out of 14 children, only 3 showed outwardly obvious signs of difficulty (coughing). One child has an exceptionally bad position/posture whilst drinking, another has positional difficulties also (possible spina bifida) but absolutely chugged her drink, whilst the 3rd was the child who the teacher was feeding. This child has very little head/neck control which is a major cause for concern when it comes to feeding - the teacher was doing an awesome job keeping his head straight whilst he took drink from the cup but as soon as it was in his mouth she would let go off his head and it would either flop forward or yank backward. The only other thing I advised her on (along with the individual stragies for the other kids) was to use a spoon towards the end of the porridge as the child can’t take the porridge into his mouth from that angle, she is pouring it down his throat somewhat. The teacher was absolutely lovely, understand why I was advising these things and I plan to ask the guys who make supports etc.. to come up with something for these individuals and come back to observe next week. It was planned for next Wednesday the CP class all be together for lunch for me to observe and advise.
Wednesday - Stigma
A fairly quiet day for me at the clinic with many of the children who came in specifically for visuals, follow-ups for something else etc. Which I was a bit thankful for as tomorrow I am delivering my first training session eeeekk.
Stigma isn’t something I’ve faced massively here although it is rife throughout the whole of Kenya and Africa when it comes to disability, however today there was a 16 year-old child who came (with his grandmother) to the clinic for placement in a place of educational learning. He had stopped going to school due to the way he is being treated by staff and peers and does not want to return to the school and at the time of writing had no interest in going to a mainstream school of any kind. The child’s disability is solely a problem with one of his legs and he walks with a limp. The stigma that has been pinned onto his disability has made him totally drop out of school and have no interest in returning to education unless it is a special school where chances are he may not be challenged to learn as many units/schools have moderate to severely disabled children mentally as well as physically. It really saddens me to see this tiny slice of stigmatism and the work we as well as other healthcare professionals are doing out here aims to address this - acceptance, knowledge and understanding.
Have been trying to catch-up on it all as been a bit lazy so have been writing this from my laptop at a rooftop bar with wi-fi place (the only one in Kisumu) overlooking the town and Lake Victoria. Not bad eh?! So next on the agenda my training (which didn’t go horribly yippee), hospital and weekend (and breathe)..
J xxx
For more information on the teeny speech and language charity I’m working under please check out: http://www.yellowhousechildrens.org/
Top 3 Itunes songs on shuffle whilst writing this:
1. Fortunate Son - Creedance Clearwater Revival
2. Peace & Quiet - The Rifles
3. Anymore - The Car Empire
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