Moving from Bumbogo to Rubavu for part 2 of our trip

Wednesday Oct.  3 and Thursday Oct. 4

supplies for moms

perfect consistency

 As a part of Bonnie's assessment of the children at Love With Actions she discovered that several children with disabilities were having difficulty eating.  With Bonnie's background in feeding in Early Intervention she was able to help 8 families find nutritious, safe and culturally appropriate offerings for their children.  This included making porridge with milk instead of water and increasing the thickness for the children to swallow without choking.  Your generous donations provided each of the eight families with a flask to keep the cooked porridge warm throughout the day, cup to measure, porridge powder and milk.  Cooking demonstrations were performed with the moms to make sure they understood how thick the porridge should be.  The previous day the mothers learned the fundamentals of feeding children with swallowing issues including pushing the tongue down with a spoon, lip closure, proper posture, chin tuck and patience with each bite until a swallow is heard.  The mothers were able to identify safe versus unsafe swallowing.

Saying "Good bye!" to Love with Actions and heading to Gisenyi on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

   On our first day in Gisenyi Sally went to the Shalom office to debrief with Jean Paul and Eliane.  Bonnie went to Ubumwe Community Center (UCC) where she had spent some time several years ago.  To her surprise she was put right to work! She piled into a van full of 12 people with a wheelchair on the top and headed to the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), a subset of UCC, located about 45 minutes away.  Parents with children with disabilities gathered in an unused classroom waiting to be seen by the group of us.  Yvonne (the physical therapist at UCC) led the charge and organized the therapy for the day.  I was paired up with a physical therapy tech who I trained in typical child development and mobility and basic range of motion of joints.  

   After we each saw about 7 patients in a few hours, we returned to the center of the city where Bonnie got her first Motobike ride to Jean Paul's house for a late lunch! What an adventure.... or so Bonnie thought until she realized that she had only traveled a few hundred yards! 

  After lunch we returned to UCC to greet an old friend, Ngabo.  Sally and Bonnie had both met Ngabo 8 years ago in his home where we found a 16 year old boy crawling around in the dirt and unable to stand. It was then that Sally and Bonnie connected him to UCC to receive therapy and skills training. Sally and her teams have visited Ngabo every year since then.

Bonnie and Ngabo 2010

Ngabo greeted Sally and I with a smile reminiscent of eight years ago.  What a life that has changed for him! By attending UCC everyday Ngabo has gained confidence, friendships and life skills to make him more independent.  And now we are almost caught up with our blog!!

Bonnie, Ngabo nd Sally 2018