Week in Radiology and Human Service Trust Orphanage

The rest of the week in Radiology went well and was really interesting. It’s odd to have the work in the department come to a stand still as the power goes out several times a day and all the machines turn off. The hospital doesn’t have any running water at the moment either. I watched one of the X-ray technicians prepare a barium sulfate solution with an old rusty spoon and a cup that he rubbed “clean” with his grubby hands. I think the solution is probably gross enough as it is, without considering the unsanitary conditions in which it was prepared.

Dr. Sahid continued to be fantastic throughout the week. He was really pleased to hear that my dad is a Radiologist and proceeded to call me his “daughter in Radiology” for the rest of the week. He really was keen to sit around and “shoot the breeze” (more than most, and often with a patient sitting in the room waiting for an ultrasound) and we had several discussions with him about religion, feminism, politics, and the customs in Egypt as compared to Canada and the UK.

Maira has been back in Cape Coast this week after picking up her fiancé, Brendan, at the airport last weekend. Brendan and his friends were the main contributors of the money that Stefanie and Maira have been spending on things for these kids. It’s nice that Brendan has been able to see the orphanage and he has been just as amazing as Maira in interacting with the children. On Wednesday I was around as Maira and Brendan brought tupperware containers stuffed with goodies for the kids. Everyone got one container with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, underwear, T-shirt, and some candy. Maira and Brendan also mentioned that they have money left over and they’d like to pass it onto me in case there’s anything the kids need.

I really wish there was something more I could do for the kids. Stefanie and Maira have done so much already. Nancy (the woman who runs the orphanage) is a truly awful person and makes it hard to give the children possessions as she just stores them away in a locked room. Maira and Brendan have theorized (correctly, I think) that she keeps new donations of things locked away so that the orphanage looks like it’s in a poor state and visitors will sympathetically hand over cash which she can use on herself. It’s a terrible thing to think of anybody, but I believe this is true for Nancy.

On Wednesday she verbally lashed out at the kids: threatening to kill one of them and calling all of them ungrateful. And this was in English! Who knows what she says to them in Fante – a language none of the volunteers speak. Stefanie witnessed Nancy’s husband drinking all the time and saw him threaten the children with a stick while Veronica says she saw Nancy’s son hitting some of the boys. The orphanage is equipped to run really well. There is plenty of rice and meat that should be fed to the children but it just sits there. The six-year-olds are the same size as Philo’s youngest daughter, two-year-old Kookwa. There is a whole second floor of the orphanage that the children never go up to and that is, according to other volunteers, filled with toys and books that have never been used. Someone said that they saw a bike and many brand new board games hidden up there. It baffles me that anyone could have all these supplies and deliberately deprive children.

I really wish there was something else I could do but I am at a loss as to what, specifically, could make a difference for these kids. Obviously, what they need most is to be taken far away from Nancy and her family. An orphanage like this has the potential to do so much good. It would require relatively little effort to establish a routine and keep these children healthy and happy.

As Brendan and Maira left the orphanage for the last time yesterday they gave Nancy a crucifix as a reminder of them and told her that “God is watching you, and so are we.” I know they’ll both be back here.