Toddlers Toddlers Everywhere

There is a place on Earth where you can’t help but feel loved.  I am not going to say it is necessarily a happy place… but it is a pure place, a raw and very real place.  It is full of mischief and wonder. It is the playroom/playground for the toddlers at Chiquetines.  It is a complete and total madhouse! It is 10-12 toddlers left alone to their own devices.  Well I should not say that exactly. They are casually supervised, that would be my best description.  But seriously, it is like the lion’s den… but they are some darn cute lions.  Watching from afar you are sure to witness everything from group wresting matches to sing-alongs.  They will have made sticks, plastic bottles, baby doll heads and anything else they can get their hands on into toys… and they will eat the rest.  At any one moment you will find one crying.  But with all this chaos,  the more amazing thing is that there is only one crying.  This something that is immediately notable in orphanages… its takes a lot to make these kiddos cry.  Bumps on the head, falling face first, getting bit, scratched and hit… these little dudes don’t even bat an eye.  It’s really sad actually, sort of a learned helplessness. Crying never really got them anywhere or any attention… so they just seem to stop doing it one day.

But when you enter, when you join them… everything changes.  You become a human jungle gym.  You get kissed, slobbered on, dove over. And when you take out the camera… get ready to experience even more joy.  Nothing pleases these kiddos more than seeing a picture of themselves, even at this age. There is so much personality, so much curiosity, so much love in these babies.  You immediately pick out the brave ones, the shy ones, the jokesters. You see little tiny people forming with each moment.  And in this moment, they want nothing more than to just be with you.  Its pretty much the most amazing feeling ever.

Human Jungle Gym

Just too darn sweet.

Look what we found!

Attack!!

Toys are fun.

I sort of fell in love with this precious little guy. And he loved helping me take lots of pictures!!

Baby D playing outside with his new shoes and braces. They really help him stand and walk.

I like them a lot.
KO

Phase Two

Yesterday I survived an experience that can only be described as Colombian. A training session with the Chiquitines volunteers – ten incredibly loving,very talkative, persuasive women who I am sure I will never cease to be entertained by.


As part of Phase Two, I spent a couple of hours explaining to the volunteers what I have been working on with my kiddos for the last month and teaching them simple strategies to continue assisting their development after I leave. They were incredibly receptive to the information I gave them and had tons of questions about how to best help the kids they work with.  Questions were hurled at me from three separate women simultaneously while two more shouted out a conversation about their friend’s nephew’s love life over the top of it all - with hands gesturing in all directions and mouths moving a mile a minute each. Throw a handful of babies and a couple of mats into the mix and you have yourself a very lively meeting.

Crazy antics more or less aside though, the following were the take home points of the get-together:



1.Rocker chairs = bad. Tummy time = good.

2. Speed feeding pureed = bad. Taking the time to work on feeding with one little one once a week = better.

3.Exercise ball = GREAT for the core strengthening so many of the kids need to be able to sit solo.

4.Better organized and more easily-accessed toys = more frequently used toys.

5.The ultimate solution to continuing therapy with these little guys = me staying in Cali! At least so goes the logic of this specific group of women. One of them even offered to find me a Colombian boyfriend to help seal the deal…

Ahh, las voluntarias. Never a dull moment.

Abby

Phase Two

Keely left Cali yesterday after a week of teaching, loving and exploring.  In her absence, I feel like a different phase of work has begun here in Colombia.

One of things that Keely is really good at (there are umpteen million more) is seeing the big picture of things and focusing on sustainable change. While she was here, she really opened my eyes to the kind of change I want to make. For the past month, I have been working one-on-one with a dozen or so little ones at Chiquitines. While I have seen improvements, both big and small, in their motor skills, social interaction and independence, I know that rate of change will most likely come to a startling halt when I leave. Unless I do something about it…

Yes, it is great to work with the kids and see their development kick start with lots of love and hands-on therapy. Yes, I think they need all the attention they can get because I’m only here for two months. But…

I’m only here for two months.

I’m only here for three more weeks.

What happens when I leave?

How can I make Chiquitines a better place to nurture love and growth not only now but AFTER I’m gone?

Answer: I spend as much time doing caregiver training and education as possible, try to make small, feasible structural changes and hope/pray like crazy that as a result, I leave this place at least a smidgeon better than I found it.

So… here is to Phase Two. To making the change last.

Abby

Asia Waiting Child Webinar

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.  I have heard this saying for years.  I wake up every morning and try to remember this.  No matter what has come before, what will come ahead we have today.  To act for positive change, to be a force in the universe.  Jane Goodall said ". Every individual matters.  Every individual has a role to play.  Every individual makes a difference."

I find this true in every aspect of life.  I have to say in advocating for waiting children I am so in awe of how many adoptive families make such a great difference in our world.   They change the life of a child. There is nothing larger than this.  They are changing the future of the world by providing a brighter future for this child.  I am truly privileged to be some small part of this process.  To help them get started, to check on their child while they wait.  To help with physical concerns when I am at the orphanage.  Lastly and most importantly to advocate for these children.

I would like to ask all adoptive parents to step out of their comfort zone, go above and beyond again and help me advocate for the next group of waiting children.  When Gongzhan and I were in China in June, we visited three orphanages in the JiangXi province. We saw almost 30 children in these orphanages.  We have just started to receive profiles and translations for these children.  April Udihuri and I will be conducting a special webinair for these children to help find forever families so they too can have a bright future.   The webinair will be on September 20 at 7 pm east coast time. Read more about the webinair and other upcoming events on Gladney's Asia waiting child blog.   If you are considering adoption or know someone who is, please forward the link to your friends as well.  Let's all commit to making positive change in the world beginning with these children.

Pat

www.asiawaitingchild.wordpress.com

A Picture is Worth an Hour of my Time

Hello again! Two posts in two days – look at me!

Actually, I’m taking the easy way out of this one and letting photos take the place of a narrative. After a long day of work and messy transportation (a bus personnel strike compounded by new road closures – yuck!), I’m feeling too lazy to write even a bit creatively. I will caption instead.

 Post horrendous commute, the day started off with a bang as the Chiquitines volunteers hosted a fiesta in honor of the kids with August birthdays.

 What’s a party without a little ice cream??

 And balloons!

 More balloon fun.

 A glimpse into the mini photo shoot that followed the fiesta. What a novelty a camera is in a swarming group of sugar-crazed children!

 Block towers start off another Fine Motor Wednesday!

 As promised, this Fine Motor Wednesday also brought a some special sensory activities for a couple of little ones with aversions to certain textures and types of play.

  I’m not sure that this kid knew exactly what to think about the shaving cream

 Two little bitty babies came back from hospital stays yesterday, so I spent some of my afternoon working on positioning. They’re all over the place in their cribs (and this guy almost always has his head turned to the right), so I’ll provide pictures of proper positioning over their cribs for their caregivers to follow

 Much better! Hands midline, head neutral and boundaries all around so he knows where his body ends and where the outside world starts

 He’s just a ‘lil guy!

Postscript: After the computer ate my photos three times, this post took me much longer than an hour to complete…Abby

Strike and Rally

THE STRIKE:

Yesterday, the public bus system went on strike. It was a fiasco.  Roads were blocked by the many buses that stopped traffic by driving through town in a huge pack.  Thus, there were very few buses left to take people anywhere.

So today the city of Cali gravelled and begged its passenger’s forgiveness by providing free service all day. It was a fiasco.  There were SOOOOO many people trying to get on the bus in the afternoon.  The capacity of a large bus is supposedly some 160 people.  I am pretty sure we had that many in the front half.  Abby and I were literally smushed between people to such a degrees we couldn’t support ourselves.  Thus, when the bus stopped abruptly I smushed Abby…. and Abby (also tall, probably like 5’10″) smushed the 4 foot something little old lady in front of her.  And then we both started giggling and we couldn’t really get off her.  When the whole thing was over, Abby meekly said “perdon” and gently patted her on the top of the head.  I have never laughed harder.

Here’s a picture of the gentle blonde (curly-headed) giants on the packed bus… the people beside us look miniature, but I assure you, they are normal sized Colombians.

THE RALLY:

Yesterday, Magnolia (being Magnolia) helped me get things organized to go and see my little buddy (I’m gonna call her G from here on out) in the hospital.  With a little fanangaling and telling the guard at the door I was a student he hesitantly let me in what appeared to me as the back door entrance to the place.  I traveled up to the 5th floor with the caregiver who was on duty to stay with G during the day.  Level 5 is the pediatric infection area.  My friend G has had huge and profoundly deep pressure ulcers in her left leg that lead to a very serious case of osteomyelitis.

I got to her room (a tiny 8 by 8 room with a child sized hospital bed a plastic chair and a TV) and there she was… sitting on her bed.  She is not allowed to leave this room by the way because she is still on “isolation.” She looked at me with complete and utter shock in her eyes.  It took about 10 minutes for the shock to wear off, or maybe it was the UNO that made her feel comfortable. But soon, she was back to her old self: laughing, cheating at UNO, laughing again.  We had a photo session with my camera (she LOVES taking pictures) painted our fingernails and played some mean UNO.

 

But there was a sadness despite the fun we were having.  The stress of so much hospitalization on top of the challenges of her disability and obviously all the emotions that come with being neglected by your family, feeling like no one “wants you”… all these things have obviously taken a toll on her mentally.  She has always been a child that loves adult attention, but a little of her light has gone out.

There are so many questions about what will happen when she is finally discharged from the hospital.  Chiquetines is not equipped to handle teenagers so now that she is 13, she will have to go somewhere else.  But where? And will these people address all the needs that she has?  Not just the physical needs of having Spina Bifida, her foot ulcers, etc.  but also address her mental rehabilitation.

So here I present the RALLY… this little girl, my sweet friend G, needs to be adopted. She needs to be rescued from this cycle.  I know this is a huge and difficult task because of her many challenges.  But this girl wants to be loved more than anything!! And in the meantime, we need to get a sponsorship going. We need to make sure she gets to a place that will treat her as a whole person and help her develop skills that will allow her to be an independent adult.  We need to rally, we need to fight. She needs someone to fight for her.

And just so you can see how stinking adorable she is… here are some of the best shots from our photo shoot:

 oh look…. that looks interesting… over there

um…ouch

 

Buddies

It was a pretty serious photo shoot.

KO

A Much Anticipated Guest

It’s only Tuesday and this week has already been full of excitement. Keely, a SuperKids alumnus and pediatric physical therapist (PT) stepped off a plane in the Cali airport late Saturday night and ever since, she has been making this week extra special. Not only do I get to spend my days working with adorable little ones but for a full week, I get to be privy to the expertise of a wonderful pediatric PT! How about that for a stunner of a week?!


Keely spent the better part of a year traveling Central and South America with the Superkids program in 2010/2011, working with children in Gladney orphanages in Colombia, Peru and Costa Rica.  She also worked in Ethiopia for two months in 2009. She has so much experience with pediatric PT, orphanage work ,and travel and has been kind enough to share her abundance of wisdom with me. We spent the last two days reviewing the needs of the children I’ve been working with and trying out a few new gadgets. It has been so nice to be able to bounce ideas off of someone else and get advice from someone who has in most instances “been there/done that”. Keely is well-versed in gross motor and mobility evaluations and interventions, so I’ve been gobbling up her knowledge. 

Beyond answering my questions, Keely has also been treating children and showing me around town. She brought a gait trainer for a little girl she worked with last year, and they have been having a ball reconnecting and trying out the new gadget. With the gait trainer, this little lady can take steps on her own and use her hands to play without having to worry about her trunk balance and being on a different level than her peers. The gait trainer will stay with her through the next month while her adoptive family is in town for the formal adoption process – something everyone at Chiquitines, myself included, is super excited for as this little one is an absolute joy to be around. Then it will be used by a little guy with a similar condition at another orphanage in Cali. I had the pleasure of traveling with Keely to try out the gait trainer on the second kiddo today, and it was really great to be able to see another institution and its similarities and differences. I’ll be teaching the physical therapist there how to use the gait trainer after Keely leaves, and I’m really looking forward to visiting again.

Also in Keely’s bag of tricks this week was a handful of ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) – braces that support the ankle joint in kids with muscle weakness, abnormal muscle resting tone or deformities. There’s one little guy in particular with really low muscle tone (think “floppy”) who by the end of this week will have a pair of braces that support his feet and ankles and help him walk better. Bonus: he gets brand new shoes to go with them since they require an extra wide sole! We spent this evening in one of Cali’s many shopping centers scouting out his new kicks and other therapy supplies. It has been wonderful having a travel companion with first hand experience of life in Cali. I’ve been here for a month now (today marks the half way point of my stay), but in many ways I feel like I am just now getting into the rhythm of Cali life. With Keely’s pointers in both the everyday way of all things Cali and the Chiquitines work to be done, the next four weeks are sure to be the best yet!

I’m sure I will be checking in again later this week as the excitement continues.

Hasta luego!

-Abby

A little trimming and these donated braces will be ready for their new owner!

 This picture speaks for itself. Do notice the new shoes though – they’re a good three sizes smaller than her previous ones!



Bubble fun while standing in the new gait trainer!