In what was a wonderful riot of colour, we spent Saturday afternoon at the Give Away ceremony for the Bishop's daughter Charity. We were entertained by dancers while we waited and then the bartering began between the two families. Traditionally the bride price was measured in cows, now it's crates of sodas - mainly coca cola. Once the price is agreed the groom's family bring in the crates and put them in front of the bride's family to be approved. Coca Cola would never have imagined their product could one day be a bride bargaining commodity!
The two Doctors, Ruth and Rebecca were also invited. They are here for nearly 4 months and have settled in well. Behind them, Rev Florence wanted to make sure she got into the photo.
Back on site, this lad was reluctant to go home. He had to stay to finish his treatment for typhoid but you would not have known he was ill. From morning to night he was outside on the wooden bike. Whizzing down the ramp from the Omega ward kept him amused for hours. Leonard came to say there was a possible fight brewing between mothers as this lad would not let anyone else have a go. I found a plastic one but no....everybody wanted the wooden one. Once he left, the others lost interest. It was good to see it so well enjoyed.
Bridget, our latest Potter's baby, arrived on August 24th. She was born on July 2nd but at 2.2 kg was very undernourished. She has a big appetite and is putting on weight at an amazing rate. We were told her teenage mother had become mentally ill. Winniefred visited the family. The mother is deaf and unable to communicate apart from a few basic signs. Since the birth she has been disruptive and making a lot of noise banging things - though she can't hear that. She has made aggressive gestures towards the baby though not harmed her. She has refused to breastfeed. What can you expect? Who has ever explained sex and birth to her? She must be so confused and frightened.
How do we begin to help in this situation? The girl used to go to a school for the deaf but kept running away so the family was told to keep her at home. They are a very simple family so it is hard to have constructive conversation.
The girl is Bridget's mum with her mother and brothers. The house is very dirty and they share it with animals. Can we really put Bridget back into this? One good thing is that the girl is on family planning - so long as the mother monitors it carefully.
For those who gave money for fruit trees last Christmas, Leonard has been grafting two varieties of apples onto one tree. He is having problems with aphids and fungus on many of our vegetables, not helped by all the dry weather. It is a race as to whether the aphids kill the seeding broccoli before the rains come and kill them. He has used so much soap powder on the plants that he fears to use any more. We will have foaming broccoli not sprouting broccoli!
There is a good crop of tree tomatoes forming, the lemon trees are looking good but the mango trees need to put in a lot more effort. They are going for quality leaves....but 10 good leaves 5cm from the ground cannot be called a tree.
Spot the mango tree! It's had to be marked with a small stone so we can find it and not tread on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment