Our 3 wise men were not alone this year....
Mohammed is starting to sit by himself. Baby Hawanatu has had further surgery on her club foot. Emmanuel is now walking alone. Minkalu can walk holding on. Ali is enjoying playing in his corner seat. Ola still smiles being around other people who love him. Amara is learning to move around by himself in his wheelchair on the ramps and bridges we made outside his house. Jeneba got new crutches. Santigie learnt how to do his own stretches on his hemiplegic arm.
So since it is Christmas, I decided I wanted to do a bit of a party for one of the Orphanages I work in, Micheal's home actually. So I managed to rope in some friends from Mercy Ships, Sandra and Luzanne and with the help of many donated items we had a great time. Thank you all donors to MercyShips and my own work, your gifts are being well used!
early were warmly welcomed. WARM being the word – it was boiling! We started with a bit of colouring then decided we wanted to get even more sweaty so outside for games. Luzanne re-lived her childhood and we played egg and spoon and sack races, as well as balloons between the elbows and balls over the head and under the legs. The Greens won, but we all had lots of fun!!
moment came when the kids shone like stars. One by one we called them up to receive their present. Off came the bows as they delved into 
the bags to see what they had got. It made me smile to see them carefully unfold the shirts, dresses and tops they each got, then counting all their sweets, trying to work out how the pencil sharpener worked, and frantically trying to draw on their sweaty hands with the big new pens to make sure they worked.
Huge bowls of food were gulped down by all, with the smallest of children eating a pile of rice and cassava sauce bigger than their own belly – I really don't know 
where they put it – incredible!! Then the soft drinks were handed round while we settled down to watch the film IceAge on my laptop. Some loved the film, though maybe puzzled by all the ice, while others unpacked thier gifts to have another look, repacked then, then unpacked them again, treasuring each moment as if opening it again for the first time!!
'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la laaaa, la la la la!
Since he can no longer move his legs, he certianly initally will only be able to move around in a wheelchair, I thought we had better try to make his environment a little more w/ch friendly.
And what is even more amazing is that a very kind Rotary team member who had met Amara (you know who you are - thanks!) agreed to fund it all and the answer to a few more prayers meant that is was all finsihed by the time Amara was first ready to come outside and try his new wheelchair (which wa supplied by Mercy Ships) for the first time. 
I think he was looking for a new home.....
He had a good look......
Changed his mind and slimmed off......
We had a great time!
Alie is a little boy with Downs Syndrome I've been working with. Having taught his mum some exercises and ways to encourage play, Alie has been progressing, albeit slowly. So I decided to try and make a special corner seat for him to be supported upright and therefore have more of a chance to play and participate in feeding himself. With the help of Alf (a Rotarian) and Ibrahim (a local 
carpenter) you can see just how comfortable a chair we made Alie. Hopefully with time he will work as well as sleep in this chair that suits his needs perfectly!!
This month also saw my Dad visiting Sierra Leone for the first time. It was lovely to have him here, even though it meant having to cook him pancakes for breakfast on many a morning!! Pancakes are easy to make here and short of many other breakfast options, they make one of my favorite treats, Dad loves them too!! So I took the time to take a bit
of a break with Dad, which included visiting the chimps, swimming in waterfalls and of course a few days staying at the beach (which I won't show you or you'll think I'm on a paradise beach holiday!!). But of course if anyone wants to visit, just let me know :o)
Let me tell you about Amara. He is a 12 year old boy who sadly has recently had an awful accident. He was innocently playing with his friends when he fell down a hole, a big hole. Not realizing he had broken his back he didn't tell anyone about the pain he was in and continued to walk around as normal. Unfortunately 2 weeks later his unstable fracture had turned into an incomplete spinal cord injury and he could no longer walk. It was at this point I met Amara. He had been carried to me in probably the worst position he could be in, but his family knew nothing of his broken back either. Having liased with an NGO orthopaedic hospital, we decided it was too risky to take him on the bad roads to get him to the hospital. The last thing we wanted to do was further the spinal cord damage. So instead, I taught the family how to nurse him at home. This meant lying still for another 4 weeks, only being turned very carefully for washing, eating and to prevent pressure sores. This is the same treatment he would have had in the hospital. He left me to be taken home on a plank of wood. The Grandmother is his main carer and an excellent learner. I visited as often as I could, and before long the 4 weeks were up and slowly we were able to sit him up and get him in a wheelchair. Amara has a lot to come to terms with and although he is smiling in the photo it was only the 2nd time I'd been able to get him to smile. He is very tearful as you can imagine, and what makes it even harder is to have an audience watch as you try to learn how to maneuver a wheelchair over rough mud ground for the first time, nothing can be done in private here. To enable him to get back to school as soon as possible I have been working on getting some ramps and bridges over gutters made. A local contractor has been working on it along with Amara's father, being overseen by another local man who lives nearby from an Epilepsy organization I've been working with, and we have even had advice from Mercy Ships New Steps worker who has built ramps in other places. The funding for this has been provided by one of the Rotarians and both Amara and I are very grateful. Watch this space..pictures will follow.
And of course my work with the ladies at the Mercy Ships Fistula Hospital has also continued. These beautiful ladies suffer from multiple problems after obstructed labors, resulting in their child dying. They are incontinent which in a hot humid climate is not good combination, and they sometimes loose the ability to lift their foot and feel a severe neural pain, which both cause a problem with walking. They work hard on their exercises with me, I only hope they continue to do them when I'm not there...the reputation of physio-terrorists goes throughout the world you know!!
