Sunday 7 August 2016

Thanks to the staff.

July is the month of appraisals, August is the month of pay rises so it is a good time to celebrate...congratulations for the past year and hopes of a good year to come. We always like to do something at this time as a morale boost for the staff.

This year we could add congratulations all round that we have passed the inspection for registration as a children's home.

Debby & Beth Mclelland were visiting PV again with first-timers Rebecca and Ruth. They had come prepared to give wonderful gifts to the staff.

 

The women got to choose cloth and a necklace. The men got to choose a new shirt. These were then added to a bag containing a plastic poncho, bar of chocolate and toiletries.

 

 

 

They also bought a goat to be added to the staff's usual canteen meal. The gravy was delicious.

 

 

 

To show their appreciation and joy, the women got out the drum and started to dance and sing. We couldn't understand how they could jump around after the huge platefuls of food they had just eaten - but fortunately no one was sick!

Betty gave a speech of thanks and said that they felt so appreciated that they would work twice as hard this year....does that mean if we don't equal the standard of gifts next year, they will work half as hard? No pressure!

 

Young Alban isn't feeling inclined to be happy. He has a huge and leaking abcess on the back of his head. He does look rather cute with his bandage though.

 

 

 

 

Twins, Moses and Hope, who will be PV residents in time, are out of their incubator. They are starting to feed with bottles but not taking very much just yet. They are both anaemic which is a common problem here. Probably the mother was anaemic herself which could be a factor in why she bled to death. The twins do not need a blood transfusion as some do. They will manage on oral iron.

 

 

 

Joan (pronounced Joanne) formerly Nyiramahoro (yes, it's confusing) is doing very well. She was the latest one found down a drop-pit toilet. She is a strikingly beautiful little girl. She decided to fall asleep just as I wanted to photograph her so unfortunately you cannot see her big dark eyes. Geoffrey is going to visit the mother in prison to see if we can get a definite answer on who the father might be.

 

 

 

To comply with health regulations, we had to remove the cage area in the Faith baby room. It does make the fantastic underwater scene more prominent.

The pigs also have improved accommodation. They have individual rooms for the night with soft bedding from wood shavings from the nearby vocational training centre. They also get ensuite shower facilities - or in bed showers to be fair.