Neglect and abuse is commonplace at Upendo. Most of the time it is small, but frusterating things, like hitting the children. There are worse things, like never giving the children water. This week however, things have gotten serverely worse. on Tuesday we noticed that Ceci's twin, Flora wasn't with the other children. Ceci and Flora are about 18 months old and are the most adorable children in the world. They stand around looking mad at the world, even when they are happy.
It didn't take long to find Flora. She was in her crib in the girl's bedroom. Her arm had been burned. There was a blister the size of my fist sitting on top of her little hand. There were burns all the way up to her elbow. Upon seeing this we asked why she wasn't at the doctor. They said she didn't need a doctor, it wasn't infected. We tried to explain to them that it was going to get infected as soon as the blister popped, and she would probably die. They still refused to take the girl to the hospital, even with us offering to pay the fees. When we got back to CCS, we showed the staff here, and the volunteers who are nurses, the pictures of her arm. Needless to say, everyone agreed she needed to go to a hospital. Mama Grace, one of the people in charge of CCS here, called the orphanage and asked why they wouldn't take her to the hospital. They gave her the same answer, it is not infected, she will be fine.
They told us they were giving Flora antibiotics, pain killers and burn cream. The next day at work, I sat with Flora all day long. Dispite the excruitiating pain she must be feeling, she just sits there calmly, sucking her fingers and playing with a winnie the pooh doll. I assume she must be becoming numb to the pain. No one else was with Flora, and if me or another volunteer not sat with her, she would have been alone all day long. When they came to give Flora her pain killer, I found out what their idea of a pain killer is. Children's tylenol. She should be in a burn unit on morphine and they have her in a crib with an open wound and on children's tylenol. I have come across many things here in Africa that they do differently from America, and I have accepted many of them, either because it is their culture, or they don't have the means to do things the same way the western world does things. But this is not the case with Flora. They have hospitals. They have IV's. They have treatments for injuries like the one that Flora has. The Nuns at Upendo just refuse to give the child a chance at recieving this help.
Aside from the huge blister, there is absolutely no skin left on her forearm. We are still trying to piece together how she got burned in the first place. The story told to us by the nuns and care givers was a lie. They said that there was boiling water in a pot on the ground, and Flora wanted to play in it so she stuck her arm in it. We knew this was wrong from the beginning. If she felt the boiling water, she would not have kept going up to her elbow. So we thought maybe she fell into it. But then yesterday, I looked closer at her hand. The palm of her hand is not burned. So she didn't stick her hand into water. It was spilled on her. I've been trying for months now to give these people the benefit of the doubt, but it's reached the point that I can't anymore. I don't know why they would want to fight so much to keep this child from seeing a doctor, unless they are hiding something. The story they told us doesn't match up, and we have seen, and heard from the local Tanzanians that these Nuns and Caregivers just don't care about the children.
Yesterday after placement, we went back with a doctor. He brought medicine and was there for free. They said they didn't want to take her to a hospital so we brought them a doctor. The Nuns (one Tanzanian and one German) flipped out and yelled at us for 30 minutes about how we were bad people for interfering and we were saying they were bad people and we had no right to bring a doctor. They wouldn't let the doctor see Flora. They took the medicine, but claimed it was "The same thing we are already using" (which it is not). I doubt if they will use it. We have contacted a social service worker who is assigned to Upendo. We have plans to talk to the Tanzanian Bishop. We are not giving up, but despite this, it's a race against time for Flora. The blister has popped and she is living in an orphanage filled with sick children and bacteria, and the people in charge could care less if she lives or dies.
There is nothing to do now but wait for this long, slow weekend to pass, to see how she is on Monday. You all know I am not the most religious person in the world, but please pray for this girl. She needs it.
