Plaster Actuality!

Today I spent five hours getting the supports for the little guy mentioned earlier.  It was a lot of waiting, and a lot of crying, and talking with other mothers about their kids.  The Italian Orthopaedic Hospital seems like a wonderful place to be cared for, but don’t picture the American sterile hospital setting.  I will try to paint a picture of what it is like.  Beautiful exterior building, with lovely gardens and grounds.  Outside one hallway of rooms, there are citenges (colorful cloths) on the ground with people lying on them. It was unclear what their needs were, but was clear their mobility was an issue.  The guard welcomes my vehicle by pointing out a lovely shaded spot where I may park.  We walk outside around the building, and up to a door to the “Workshop”, where there is a line of about 20 people waiting.

American that I am, and Holbrook to boot, I ask if everyone there is waiting for the same thing we are….Isaac Zyambo, and his skills with casting, and supports, hoping against hope that they are waiting for something or someone else.  Yes, indeed they all are waiting for him, so we sit to wait.  I get out my Nyanja flashcards, much to the curiosity of all the women around me.  They are very willing to correct my pronunciation, but not great with explaining the grammar! After about an hour of waiting, we get moved into the one room that is used for casting, and all kinds of fittings of various braces and supports.  At the same time, two other mothers and their children are moved in.  One girl,  is surprisingly like the fellow I am with, and one boy has one leg amputated below the right knee.  As we waited for another hour in the little room, a saw starts up in the entryway that we had just walked through, and an attendant was removing a chest cast off a very small, and very upset child.  Either the saw was dull, or the cast had hardened, but it was arduous, and the screaming emanating from this child was heart-rending.  I asked if I could help, since it looked like it was all the mother could do to hold the child still near the saw, as the saw cut down the chestbone, and across the shoulders.  She didn’t understand much english, but the universal mother-tongue of care and concern for a child in distress seemed to take over, and I took her daughter’s head in my hands and sang to her as she feared for the saw near her chin.  It felt like it took forever, but finally, the cast came off, and the child, mother, attendant, and myself, were all absolutely covered with a combination of sweat and plaster dust.  Everyone in the near vicinity was so relieved to see the child snuggled up to her mom, completely free of the cast.  And, no more heart-rending wailing!

Almost another hour went by, and then Isaac came, fully apologetic for being so busy (and who could possibly doubt this with such clear evidence?), and brought casting supplies for the little girl and boy in our room, and then brought our little guy’s braces.  He checked that they were alright, and then went off to have his assistant put velcro and straps on them (so they DO have velcro somewhere in Zambia!).  After another incredibly long period of time, he came back, showed mom how to put them on, and then left again.  So many people need him, and there is only one expert!  He came back and adjusted one of the knees, I paid him, and he disappeared again for a LONG time to get a receipt.  Thank you to the reader who responded with immediate care for this little fellow, for covering the cost of the braces and shoes. What would we do without caring people like you?

After Mr. Zyambo came back with the receipt, he gave instructions on how to use the braces, and what to do to strengthen this fellow’s legs, and torso.  We walked back through the courtyard to our vehicle, and went to look for shoes, since this family doesn’t own a car, or have any money to purchase shoes for their son.  We went to two stores before I realized we were all too tired and hungry (even though I had stopped for bananas for a snack!) to continue today.  So, we will go shoe-shopping on Wednesday, and try to find good shoes for our little man, so that he can get upright as much as possible.  Thank you all for praying, and caring.  This day may enable this one little fellow to begin to attend school, which would be a wonderful thing.