Special needs clinic day and Nellie

Today we hit the ground running as Fridays are special needs clinic day. I asked in advanced what that means and what to expect. I was told mothers travel for up to 6 hours and line up to to see the Physiotherapist. On most Fridays only one PT, Solomon, sees up to 30 kids in 3 hours which is maddening. Today we had one OT, one PT, one peds PT,one aide, and Solomon on stand by.
At 9 am we thought, this isn't so bad and then we saw them. Mothers walking up to the clinic in African style which is to say these mothers carry their special needs children on their backs in long wraps tied tight to hold the child in. I am talking teenagers with cerebral palsy, on their mother's backs, for hours upon hours. Wow, wow, wow. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. These mothers are dedicated with a triple !!!!
So, we spent time listening to them, talking to them, and doing what we can to help. Again, thank you to the vendors who sent supplies. The Faith Fund that supports this clinic was established after a young girl named Faith who has spina bifida. Faith showed up to clinic today with an open wound on her right quad from her metal HKAFOS rubbing her leg. Her HKAFOS have rusted and this part is digging into her leg leaving an open wound. Did I mention tetanus is a major issue here? Betsy and I saw an 18 year old with tetanus in the ICU this week, showing the staff how to reposition him.
Back to Faith.. We did not want her to get tetanus. So, due to Robert's donations I was able to place special padding on her brace so she could be on her way.

Then there is Joab whose parents traveled back to us to find new braces for him. They waited for a long time until I could get to him and find a pair that fits. A little cut here, a little padding there, heat gun, filing and poof Joab has new braces and his parents clapped when he stood in them.
The things we saw this morning were heart warming and life changing. I thought, that was a great day. Then, came the afternoon and things only got better. We were told we would drive to the "village" to deliver a wheelchair.
This entailed us trying to get a wheelchair through a fence. Well, the chair would not go through the gate so we all lifted it over the fence, through the pasture, past the cow, over another fence. Ugh, really I thought and then we meet this sassy little girl...Nellie!
Nellie was sitting on the floor of this very modest African home. She sits on the floor  a lot her mom says. Nellie wants to go to school very badly her mother says but the school cannot take her until she has a wheelchair. Well, today is Nellie's day as she got her first chair. She was loving it but she is very much living up to her name of Nosy Nellie. We all feel in love with Nellie and her amazing family. The best part of the story is her mother told us the story of how she heard about special needs clinic. She saw another mom carrying her special needs daughter on her back and she stopped her in the village to ask where she was coming from. This mother told her about special needs clinic. Boom, Nellie was a new patient at Tenweck. Don't every doubt the mommy network in any country.