A cracking day was had by all – it was Josh’s 17th birthday, so the day began with Bible study and then the children showered Josh with gifts, including a rather gaudy shirt, rings, a toddler’s backpack and a vest signed by all, which they made him wear all day! Madeleine, Jordan and I did the 6:30am porridge and again at 10am, including scrubbing the extra sticky porridge pots in cold water with no washing product – no mean feat!
We have all become especially attached to a little two-year old boy, called Frank, especially Madeleine. Because his mother had very little vitamin D in pregnancy, Frank was born with rickets, which affects his walking and stability. It is very moving to see him, however he is such a happy little boy and full of giggles. We spoke to the local doctor at lunchtime, as we came up with the idea of providing Vitamin D tablets for Frank. We were delighted to find out, that with these tablets and the daily sunshine, Frank’s legs should straighten out as he grows. Praise God! We are now trying to source these tablets locally. If not, we will send them back to the school for him once we get home. His mother, Beatrice, who is one of the matrons for the boarders, was very touched by this.
After lunch, Josh got his birthday card from us and a little, iced birthday cake, which tasted a bit like ginger. We all sang very loudly to him, as well! While the young people spent most of the afternoon in classes, the adults secretly prepared Josh’s evening party for our group and about 220 of the boarding children. Balloons were blown up and rice was de-stoned by some of the schoolchildren.
At 7pm, all the children flooded up to the Lodge from the school. All our young people did an epic job serving gargantuan amounts of rice, beans and fizzy drinks to the children. They then queued up for seconds and thirds! This was followed by balloons, cake, bananas, biscuits, singing and dancing. What merriment! Everyone had such a good time and we were very moved to notice, that most of our young people gave their own dinner to some of the children, who wanted more.
A great night was had by all.
Claire xx
And…
The boy in the chair at the back of the shed is Phillip – some of us went to visit him. He is 18 / 19 and has cerebral palsy and spina bifida. He spent the first 16 years of his life lying on a mat. His Mum and sister care for him but they have to go out to work. They all live in one building; he has no stimulation and loves visits from people.