A Day in Abugida

Today we are spending the day in Abugida, the school managed by Mediterranea in Ethiopia and the place where we were going to come at the start.  It is fantastic to share this day with the children, the workers and our volunteer friends Alejandra and Carolina.  This morning we visited the class of Dagem, a boy of two years with cerebral paralysis.  We talked and thought about what we needed to do to look after him in the best possible way, we looked through all the materials that we have in school and...

We found three cushions joined together, we took out the foam from one of them and with the others we made a fantastic mattress.

In this way he will be able to lie face down and have better control over his head.

With a cut sheet we improvised a harness which provided support for his hips.  A doll served to stop his legs closing.

We changed his chair so that his hips are in the correct position.  Well seated he can observe everything that's going on around him.

During lunch he can enjoy himself if we all position ourselves well.

There has to be a short time of the day on his feet and here the toboggan helps us.

The most original slide in the world!

This position helps his intestinal movement

It's important to have many different perspectives of life.

And strengthen a little more the muscles of the neck.

Well griped by the sheets we added a wooden base to support all of his foot and another doll to maintain the line of his legs.

How well one eats in Abugida.  They made us some wonderful rice.

Thank you to Ale for this report.

NOTE FROM MEDITERRANEA: Children like Dagem in Ethiopia are not accepted in any place, they are considered (as are all the handicapped) a punishment from God and they make life particularly difficult for the mothers.  The majority of the parents simply abandon them because they can't work and can't count on any kind of help, human or material.  We have been the first school to accept children with cerebral paralysis.  We were going to have two but 'someone' deleted the details of the girl and we have not been able to inform the parents that she has been accepted.  Luckily with Dagem we entered him directly into the school as soon as we met him without waiting for the selection process.  it is our intention to accept children like Dagem into each level of the school, fighting strongly to avoid anyone denying them access to Abugida, which has to be a paradise for all children without exclusion.  Dagem has a carer dedicated to him with precise instructions as to how to care for him and stimulate him when on his own and when participating in group activities.