Food for thought! Courtesy of an organization I worked with in HK.
Since I missed Harroween as I was in Shanghai, and I'm sort of missing x-mas here in Lesotho.
I've been having a very rewarding time here working for Beautiful Gate and I've come to form bonds with a few of the older children. Nelali even said her first words yesterday and they were "Abuti Jeff" which is "Young unmarried man Jeff" in Sesotho. Everyone has a formal title here that denotes your age and married or unmarried status, sort of like Ms./Miss/Mrs/Master but you use them *all* the time. We spent the other day at the Baylor (College of Medicine) Pediatric AIDS Clinic. A south african business man donated food and toys for all the patients, or in reality anyone who showed up and knew what was going on. We spent the entire day sitting outside in a queue waiting to get food and presents, eventually we had to leave because our kids had missed lunch - and as the kid I was caring for, Matlatse, already has so many health problems eating properly is so important. He hasn't started HAART - highly active anti-retroviral therapy - yet as he's still being treated for acute renal failure and TB. He came to us by reference of the Baylor Clinic as they noticed his 14 yr old sister was bringing him in for treatment, but he continued to deteriorate. They discovered that both his parents were deceased and she was trying to raise him.
My only real qualm with the orphanage is that I feel the HIV+ kids don't get quite the amount of nutrition they require - namely they get fed the same as everyone else. Poz kids require 1.5-2 times as much as a normal kid, more if they have GI problems. I've noticed this with Matlatse particularly as he is so lethargic, and when he tries to speak it comes out as a faint whisper. He seems to be in great pain while he chews, or at least it's so much work that he has great difficulty doing it. Lunch is always soft foods like overcooked carrots, mashed taters, rice, or pap (maize meal) so he has no problem with that, and even feeds himself. However, the rest of the food is generally whole fruit and cookies. I've been trying to break it up the best I can for him to eat, and I always give him more than the others but it's so hard to tell if he's getting better or worse. The bo-me (older unmarried women) tell me he's much better than he was, but I wonder if he's reached a plateau. Only time will tell I suppose. Well, I'll post some slightly saddening pics in a few days..but for now you can all bask in ignorant bliss!
Jeff
My only real qualm with the orphanage is that I feel the HIV+ kids don't get quite the amount of nutrition they require - namely they get fed the same as everyone else. Poz kids require 1.5-2 times as much as a normal kid, more if they have GI problems. I've noticed this with Matlatse particularly as he is so lethargic, and when he tries to speak it comes out as a faint whisper. He seems to be in great pain while he chews, or at least it's so much work that he has great difficulty doing it. Lunch is always soft foods like overcooked carrots, mashed taters, rice, or pap (maize meal) so he has no problem with that, and even feeds himself. However, the rest of the food is generally whole fruit and cookies. I've been trying to break it up the best I can for him to eat, and I always give him more than the others but it's so hard to tell if he's getting better or worse. The bo-me (older unmarried women) tell me he's much better than he was, but I wonder if he's reached a plateau. Only time will tell I suppose. Well, I'll post some slightly saddening pics in a few days..but for now you can all bask in ignorant bliss!
Jeff
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