Week of Intensive Treatment

We've finally been able to work with some kids this week during the week of intensive treatment (WIT). We started following a case from the first evaluation and will continue to monitor her progress next week when we visit her in the village at her home. She is an extremely adorable 1 1/2 year old with athetoid cerebral palsy. We got to meet the mother and the father in the initial evaluation last week, and then the mother brought the child back for this week of intensive treatment. There are quite a few families involved in WIT where the grandmother is the sole guardian for the child. It is common in Tanzania for women to have children at very young ages, and it is sad to see when the mother and father abandon babies that are born with disabilities. This mother was very young, and also had another child. It was nice to see the parents involved in improving the quality of life for this little one.

The following pictures show the events of the past week. The pictures have been altered to protect the privacy of this precious little one, but I had to show some of the things we have been learning and working on.

We participated in the evaluation, and came up with a treatment plan to improve head and trunk control, and to increase weight bearing tolerance to improve joint stability.

My new bracelet that I bought from Msandaka school for the deaf worked out well as a toy!

This is a picture of her in the prone stander. She is wrapped in several Kitenges, which are an African garment similar to a sarong. These are used by women as clothing, as scarves, and most often seen as baby slings

 

She is currently unable to sit independently. So we referred her to the wheelchair clinic for a seating assessment.  

A few "before" pictures. Often times when women have children with disabilities they leave the child lying on the ground when they are busy doing household work. 
With a wheelchair, the baby is able to sit upright and improve functional interactions.

 This is during the fitting part of the assessment. On the left is Neophita, the Occupational Therapist, and main therapist for wheelchair assessments.

 

 The "after" picture. They made several different custom adjustments to the chair.

 The finished product. She is such a doll, and very fun to work with!

Off of the topic of work, today was our Friday due to a Muslim "moon" holiday tomorrow. This gave us an opportunity to try the "spirit of the nation." Konyagi is a popular liquor and is sold for pretty cheap. Smells kind of like gin, but tastes pretty good paired with Fanta.

Apparently the tradition says you must hit the bottom of the bottle with your elbow to crack the seal for good luck. 
I was unsuccessful in my attempts to open the bottle, so we had to resort to asking our night guard to open it. 
(NOTE: he also had a difficult time opening the bottle and we ended up getting a knife to crack the seal).

-K