Paintings and Patients

I’ve just had my first hot shower at full volume – it was a much needed treat as I’ve spent most of the day in the Ark, Global Care’s Disability Day care Centre. I’m also very appreciative of the contents of my washbag and realise this was probably the item I missed most when my suitcase went AWOL!

The children are fetched from home by the Global Care minibus. Today, as soon as they arrived, they went straight outside to play in the garden. It's often too hot for the outside play area as it has no shade, this morning it was cloudy first thing. The children piled onto the special swing and as Aida began pushing, smiles and giggles broke out.  When breakfast was ready, we moved inside. Most of the children have learnt to feed themselves but it can be a bit messy… Helping your friend to some of your tea by trying to pour it into his mug is tricky when neither of you have full use of your arms! I love mealtimes. I remember when most of the children had to be fed. It was clear several children have really progressed in the last 8 months. However, one girl ate breakfast incredibly fast – we don’t know when she had her last meal…

The Ark was buzzing today as new mobiles rustled and flapped in the wind, bright displays shimmered in the sun and the children and staff laughed, sang and played. I had a break for lunch and to discuss our findings at Abeko then it was back to the Ark to prepare the children’s letters to their sponsors. Daphine the Ark manager decided to make foot and handprints with poster paint. I walked onto the veranda to a scene of hilarious happy chaos – paint everywhere.  Lucy and Aida were supporting children as they dunked hands and feet in a bowl of paint then tried to manipulate contracted and moving feet and hands onto paper. It was brilliant. These children are like children everywhere, they love getting messy and they love painting. At the end we had beautiful prints – I was very impressed at Daphine's system which somehow kept excess paint off the ‘letters’.  The children were bathed and changed ready for home and after a sharp thundery shower we walked through thick mud and puddles to take the children to the waiting minibus. I dressed a child at the Ark after his shower – his grandmother had packed a T-shirt so torn I worried I’d ruin it as I stretched it over his contracted arms. They have no money for clothes and if they did, the disabled child would be last in line… I was starting to think of the struggles for these children – and the day wasn’t over.

Timmy (made up name) went to the Ark and left when he was ready for school. He’s recently been in and out of hospital. He needs radical surgery to correct a spinal deformity which presses on his lungs and causes severe pain. He can’t use his legs.  There is no-one at the local hospital or the nearest orthopaedic hospital skilled enough to operate. His best chance might be a hospital in Entebbe – but we don’t know for sure. David wanted photographs of Timmy’s spine, limbs and medical records to send to the Entebbe team to ask if they can help.  It’s a very long shot – we don’t know if the surgery is possible, we don't know how much it would cost or if funds are available, and we don’t know if Timmy would survive the journey (he’d have to go by bus).  When Timmy is in hospital his mother stays with him – and can’t work. She has no money. David has taken him to hospital on his motorbike several times… his mother can’t carry him and she can’t afford a motorbike taxi. I know Timmy. I’ve played with him, and he’s a very bright and interesting lad.  We talked to Timmy, took photos, prayed with him, and for the first time this trip I felt close to tears. It is so frustrating, and the injustice and suffering makes me angry. In any country Timmy would have a short life expectancy, here he is in pain and discomfort. His mother can’t afford for him to be in hospital again. David was getting him re-admitted – without Global Care there would literally be no hope.

In many ways the Ark children are in fact, not, like our children... No free access to the NHS, social care and a benefits system for parents and caregivers.  Children like Timmy don’t get the medical support they need because its impossibly expensive and inaccessible. Global Care is amazing – these children have hope and have people who play with them and teach them life skills, there’s medical care for sponsored children and a discretionary emergency medical fund.  

Next time you go to the GP think of Timmy, and whether you could support the Global Care emergency medical fund. I don’t often find myself blatantly promoting Global Care but if you’d been in that tiny one-roomed dark house with that teenager the size of an 8-year-old struggling to breathe, I think you’d forgive me.


Through Global Care's Children at Risk programme you can contribute to the Medical Emergency Fund for as little as £3/ month