Settling In

Today was the first day I started to feel at home. I am starting to form close bonds with the children and their mothers.  It's almost as if the language barrier has disappeared. It's amazing to see how the children interact with one another coming from completely different cultures. Below is Kanzi from Zanzibar, playing with Yanut, from Romania. Yanut is one of two children in the house with Down Syndrome, commonly associated with heart defects. Many parents who come to SACH falsely assume that when their child gets heart surgery, the results of the surgery will also change their facial features.

When I woke up this morning I was exhausted. I had barely slept the night before.
I continued on downstairs where I had expected my day to start like the rest, playing with the kids.
Laura, the house mom, asked me to help distribute food in the kitchen.  Because she does not work on Friday/Saturday, she makes sure to leave enough food for the kids/moms to have on the weekend. The food is always the same: rice, pasta, eggs, chicken, tomatoes, flour, sugar, etc. Basic food, which they somehow turn into something amazing. The kids always give me the strangest looks when they see me eating a bowl of Cheerios, or a salad.  I don't think they've ever seen such simple food! Their moms prepare fresh dough each meal and make flatbread (in additions to several other dishes).

Laura then told me I was supposed to go to the hospital too meet some kids, and wanted to know when I was going. I had no idea what she was talking about. No one had told me about this hospital visit. She told me I was supposed to take the bus, which takes about an hour. I ended up going later with someone else who works for SACH. The hospital was incomparable to an American one. The doctor explained to me how in the states, each kid has a bout 9 medical staff looking after them or with them during the surgery. In Israel, only three. The Israeli doctors who help out with SACH are also full-time doctors working for different hospitals.  All the work they do is pro bono.  Pretty incredible, right? Below is Dr. Youya from Ethiopia. He also lives in the SACH house.

When I returned back to the house, I was told I needed to go back to the hospital again. This time, unaccompanied by any staff from SACH.  I was responsible for bringing two Romanian children to the correct unit in the hospital for TB testing. No big. 

By the time we got back, it was almost dinner time. Everyone eats together at around 6. I also lock the playroom then.  One clever little boy from Ethiopia, Hai-man, (in the pic below) noticed I had placed the keys in my jeans pocket.  Soon after, he pretty much did a body search on me for the keys.  I couldn't help but burst out laughing when he stuck his hands in my butt pockets.  

After a long day, I am ready for a good night's sleep!! 

Oh, and HUGE Shout Out to AEPI for having Save a Child's Heart as their national Philanthropy!