BandAid Drive

We are doing a BandAid Drive in Yabsera and Michael's class. We thought it would be a fun way to teach the kids about Ethiopia, adoption, and health care issues in Africa. Many years ago, when I first went to South Africa in 2003 for the roll-out of Antiretrovirals in the pediatric population, it was hard for Phoebe to see me go. She was little - only about 4 and was really sad. So she made a "Phlat Phoebe" which I brought with me. Who knew how famous that flat girl would become. We made her into a story about going to Africa to work with some of the nurses and doctors to help the sick kids...when a few years later we brought home Michael and Yabsera the story grew with a new "chapter" talking about their adoption.

I have read this story to my kids classes every single year since 2003. There is usually something embarrassing- like when Phoebe was in 5th grade and I was reading it to her ENTIRE school and she did not want anyone to know that SHE had made Phlat Phoebe. We had to call her Phlat Maddie. Now she is famous among the children in Westerly Creek.

The most current point of embarrassment is the photograph showing Michael eating his 1st Dorito. He emphatically did NOT want this shown to his class. Of course I obliged. But will post it here since no one in his class is reading my blog. (She whispers)

I love reading the story because the kids get to see all the similarities and all of the differences and we get to talk about clean water and healthcare. We talked yesterday about why kids like bandaids and why they are good for us. The Kindergarten teacher said, "Remember class just the other day when we all went into crisis mode here in class because WE ran out of bandaids?" The looks on their faces of very grave concern were enough to prove that they did in fact, understand.

Another funny moment was when I was showing the class a photo of Michael's village in Ethiopia one of the children raised his hand and said, "I didn't know there were such things as 'villages' anymore." His eyes widened as I told him there are way more villages out there than there are big cities.

In the end all the classes were mostly interested in the fact that Michael can carry things on his head. He was forced to demonstrate this amazing skill to the collective oohs and ahhs of his classmates (and very real admiration from his teachers.)

I Was Not Their First HIV Health Care Provider

Whenever one of the kids with HIV come home to the Colorado who have been adopted by a family, we are able to review some medical records ahead of time. It is kind of a crap shoot how much we know about the child before we meet him or her. Many factors come into play, like the orphanage they come from, the access to medical care as well as the agency who is managing the adoption. Most of the kids see Dr. Sophie in the World Wide Orphans Clinic.

I have wanted to meet and talk with this doctor for years. I hope to learn more about the care the kids are getting while they are still in Ethiopia and share with her how they look when they come home. I want to talk to her about what we do here to help the children with some of their medical needs while they try and adapt to new families, new cultures, new foods, new rules, new routines. This is all happening while these kids are missing their best friends, their caregivers, and their Ethiopian families. They have suffered inexplicable loss, trauma, and fear like we can't imagine. The kind of stuff that just a lot of hugs and kisses alone won't heal.



I hope to share with Dr. Sophie the wonderful stories of families who persevere, who handle audiology, cardiology, radiology, and endocrinology visits with grace. How they navigate TB clinics, mental health visits, developmental screenings and mail order pharmacies (which if you know me well you know that those are the true bain of my existence), massive co-pays, and endless trips to the lab with stool samples and small frightened kids who have to stick their arm out once again for yet-another-poke.

If you would like to donate to help us bring some much needed medical supplies please click on the HIV to Home link to your left. Today they emailed and requested some pediatric sized IV bags so they can better serve the children in Soddo. We are leaving in about a week and are very excited.