Oh, Happy Day...
After an emotional day yesterday, we woke up ready to hit the ground running. Unfortunately, running led to sweet Lori's foot getting run over by a van. Don't worry though, she's okay. She's a trooper!
The PTs and Craig were able to finish up modifying the wheel chairs for the kiddos in house one and also performed a little unexpected respiratory therapy. They started working their way through the equipment in house five and will finish up tomorrow. Under the instructions of Craig the wheelchair guru, Lori and Charity constructed a wheelchair cushion that significantly improved a young girls posture.
The STs were able to watch a representative demonstrate the smart pallet on Carlos. It is a device that will help him improve tongue placement to make his speech more intelligible. They also observed the feeding techniques used with other children, and they were able to give the nannies advice and recommendations to improve upon those techniques.
The OTs worked on nanny education in one of the more involved houses. They worked on more effective ways to handle the children with aggressive tendencies by giving them position equipment as opposed to restraints.
A big part of our day was about lifting the spirits of not only the residents and nannies of Anini, but also all of our team. We all needed a little uplifting, today more than any other day, to remind us why we are here and what we are trying to accomplish... Improving the quality of life for those all around us. We enjoyed a wonderful picnic style lunch under the patio while the Guatemalan rain fell. We shared stories, laughs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After lunch, we switched on our "Anini Dance Party" playlist and had dance party número dos with the kiddos in house 4. It was exactly what we needed. The nannies and support staff have been overwhelmingly supportive and trusting of our services, and we could not be more grateful. We have been emptying our 16 suitcases full or materials right and left by leaving gifts, books, toys and resources behind for the nannies and the kiddos.
Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage, so please pray that we will leave behind lasting knowledge and resources to make life at Anini even better.
"Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody"