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Post for June 7, 2018
This day I started in the physical therapy room, mostly observing. There was one brief moment in the beginning that a child was being placed in an apparatus to help him stand. (Locked his feet forward and knees back a bit to provide support and to straighten.) It was difficult for one person alone to put him in there. I learned that at Katalemwa, being proactive is highly valued. No one will tell you what to do at any point. Standing there began to feel silly at some point and I finally jumped in to help the woman with the straps and proper placement of legs and feet.
After that we ventured to another physical therapy session where a girl with damaged legs that had healed improperly was with the doctor. He was stretching and rotating her ankles and knees. This caused her pain and she was screaming and crying as he did this. He, understandably, focused on his task at hand and asked her mother questions in Luganda. This was another added frustration at not understanding the language. I wanted so badly to know if what they were discussing was about the child.
One more scream had me at her side. That proactive feeling showed itself again, although all I did was hold her hand and supported her head. I had felt totally useless holding a child who was clearly in so much pain. The doctor worked, the child suffered, and I just sat there. I let my hand drop but then she reached over with her other hand, grabbed mine, and put it back into her right hand. She wanted me there; I was so relieved and grateful.
From there, the other two SLP students showed up and we all went back to the early learning center. We played with some kids there while Dr. Brady had sessions with other kids. However, this was clearly just play- nothing else. It impressed on me the difference between play and play with a purpose. I switched to having a goal with each play activity. Then, the girl from yesterday was there with her notebook again. She drew a picture for me; I drew a picture for her. Then I had her follow my drawings one step at a time. I drew a circle, she drew a circle. I added eyes, the she added eyes. And so on until I had a very simple face. I said how pretty our drawings were and she shook her head no, then added ears. I pointed to my ears and she shook her head yes. I was told that this girl had no communication ability, but she very clearly was understanding me and telling me her opinions. I took the opportunity at lunch break to tell Dr. Brady about her potential.
After lunch, it was back to the workshop. We used a jigsaw! But mostly we traced shoe outlines for the prosthesis shop. And then back home for more wood ball practice. I think I’m becoming…not bad at it. At the very least, I’m not laughably bad.
