This past Tuesday we took our children to the swimming pool at the Freedom Lodge. The week before a few of had walked there to speak to the manager about possibly bringing the children to swim. A lot of places will not accept children with special needs, so we wanted to make sure in advance that they would have no problem with it. The hotel staff was extremely nice and lowered the price to 1,500 Tsh per child, which is just under a dollar. Adults are suppose to pay 5,000 Tsh but since the children needed one on one attention while in the pool, the staff let us get in for free. They also threw in free towels. It was so great! We took all of our children and split the cost between us volunteers. I ended up paying around 7,500 Tsh which is less than $5.
Running water is a luxury here and swimming pools are unknown to most people. We explained to the children the day before we went that we would be swimming, but until we took them there and they saw for themselves the pool, most of them didn’t really understand. The hotel had a shallow pool that was a meter deep and then a deep pool. For the most part we kept all of the children in the shallow pool with the exception of some of the older kids.
There were about 5 children who really disliked being in the pool, but for the most part they LOVED it! Yeyoni, who I spoke of in a previous blog, told one of the teachers, “The teachers bring me to this place with all this water, the most water I have ever seen; there are no buckets here.” The only water most of these children see comes in the form of a bucket where water is collected from a stream, rainwater, etc. They bathe maybe once a week and it is always done in a bucket. She was in awe. She is also one of the ones who hated it which I was disappointed by. I really wanted her to have a great day at the pool.
Yeyoni enjoying her first ever shower! I had to pull her under it.
Most of the kids just wore underwear. About 10 of my boys have Barack Obama underwear. I wonder if our president knows that his name and face is on EVERYTHING in Africa.. Underwear.. crackers.. trucker hats, congas, purses, store signs.. It is funny.
My sweet boy, Joely, who I have also previously written about had been out of school for a week and a half. When I showed up to school on Tuesday I walked up behind him in the hallway and wouldn’t let him go. I was so excited that of all days, he came back for pool day. I really wanted to experience it with him and he LOVED it. I took him in the pool and he was clutched around my neck so tightly I had to pry his arms multiple times so I could breathe in some air! He hasn’t showed up to school since Tuesday and I think it was God that sent him. How else do you explain him being absent for almost three weeks and the one day he shows up, we are swimming.
He is one of my deaf boys (so we are told) and he is so incredibly bright. He shouldn’t be in a special needs school but there is no where else to place him. Mary told his parents that he could only stay at the school for 6 months and then they would have to find another arrangement because she is not equipped to teach him. This is aggravating because there is no where else for him to go.. and I feel that being in any school is better than forcing him to sit at home and not receive any form of education. He wrote his name for me the other day which is more than some of the oldest kids can do.
Joely does not speak so it almost made me cry to have his arms around me in the pool as he was screaming and laughing with joy. I could barely force him to get out! I have been working with Joely on his sign language and he really is so bright. Sometimes we get a glimpse of him paying attention to certain sounds so we have been questioning whether or not he is completely deaf. As we were walking back from the pool I was holding his hand and was telling a story to a friend. We were way behind the rest of the group and since Joely is deaf I knew that what I was saying would not be overheard. At one point in time I let a curse word slip and said, “S***!” Next thing we know Joely says “S***!” in the same exact tone as I did, which was higher pitched. Katie and I started laughing because he does not know any English and it was funny that out of everything I said he picked up the one word he shouldn’t have. And then we both suddenly halted and turned to look at him. We were both in shock because how did he hear me if he is deaf!? We were so excited!! I am thinking that he has a hearing impairment and that he can hear certain higher pitches. This is the first time we have ever heard him speak a word and definitely the first time he has ever repeated something.
Joely and I walking back to the school after swimming. He is my sweetheart.
I want to take him to get a hearing test done and possibly see if hearing aids would help him. If so, there is absolutely NO need for him to be in a special needs school! He could go to a government school and further his education. If it is possible for him to gain his hearing with the hearing aids.. we would have to figure out a way to get him batteries when he needed them after I leave in October and talk to his parents to make sure they wouldn’t sell them. I am beyond thrilled about this discovery!
There is a restaurant/bead shop called Shanga in Arusha that provides jobs for deaf and special need adults. They teach the adults how to work the kilns to melt down the glass. They also are able to learn how to color, design and make the shangas. A shanga is a necklace made with beads that are strewn onto a piece of conga cloth. A conga is what Africans wear as a wrap/skirt around their waists. They are extremely common and both men and women wear them.
Anyway, Shanga is an amazing place that gives support to these adults and teaches them a way to make a living. They also have a 30 minute sign language class every day after work for the employees. An organization named “The Pink Balloon” partnered up with Shanga and together they send deaf children to a school specifically for the deaf. We were also told while there that they sometimes pay for children to come in and have hearing screens. We are hopefully going to go by this week and see about getting Joely tested and possibly, if need be.. getting him into this school. There are just so many things to work out. If he is deaf and can go to school... he would need a way to get there every day which is impossible for his parents to do. Best case scenario would be that he only needs the hearing aids.
You can eat at Shanga for 25,000 shillings which is extremely expensive in Tanzania, and is about $15, but all the money goes to support the bead shop and also to fund these kids to go to school. Lunch is all you can eat and consists of 5 courses. The first course is soup, then samosa’s with mango chutney sauce, salad, barbecue and dessert. It was amazing!!
Before eating we were given a tour of the bead shop and met some of the workers. You are able to buy many things at Shanga and 100% of it goes back into the organization. The Shangas are beautiful. I ended up getting a matching necklace and bracelet. The necklace was $22 and the bracelet was $17. If anyone would like to buy one and support the cause just let me know.
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