art show

I've had weeks here on the ship where I'm so overwhelmed with the work that I lie awake at night, worrying about the kids on the wards. I can't sleep, wondering if they will heal, grow, thrive or even live. They fill my mind, whether I'm on the wards or not.

This week, I've been losing sleep over something entirely different. This week, being an Assistant Ward Supervisor means some kind of cross between a Sunday School teacher, daycare supervisor and camp counselor. With just a tiny bit of nursing thrown in for good measure.

With the VVF ladies taking over B and A Wards at the other end of the hospital, D Ward has become the haven for pediatric eye patients and the three stragglers left over from plastics and maxillo-facial surgery.

Tani, Gafar and Josee, and between the three of them, they are enough to keep us busy.

The busyness isn't in nursing tasks. Josee gets the bandage on her foot changed twice a day, Tani needs some antibiotic cream to the tiny open area on her head at the same times, and Gafar has his bandage re-wrapped every other day. That's it, along with a couple of vitamin and iron pills thrown in for good measure.

Instead, our time is taken up in entertainment. Josee is eighteen and should be able to amuse herself, but she's confined to bed with her foot up on pillows to keep it from swelling. Gafar is ten, and Tani is nine, and they're stuck in a small windowless room for twenty-three hours every single day, and the bottom line is that it's a hospital. There's not much to do.

That's where the Sunday-School-teacher-daycare-supervisor-camp-counselor role comes into play. Instead of IVs and injections and NG feedings, we're focusing on Noah's Ark (complete with cotton balls for the clouds), crayon-coloured creation-story books, and glittery butterfly masks that don't quite fit over faces with eyes either missing or bandaged.

So these days, I lie awake at night and plan out crafts for the next day. It took me far longer to fall asleep last night than it should have, because I couldn't for the life of me think of anything that was going to take up more than half an hour's worth of time.

However, you'll be pleased to know that I've just had an epiphany. Back when Dina sent me that big box of craft supplies back in April, there was something in it I wasn't quite sure how to use on the wards. A little blank canvas and a set of paints and brushes. I took one look at it and pushed to the bottom of the pile, seeing all to clearly in my mind's eye the fights that would break out over such limited resources.

But there are just three of them left. Two, if you count that fact that Josee can't leave her bed and is far more interested in watching the World Cup than the current craft.

Tomorrow, I'm going to head down to the wards and get Tani and Gafar to paint something beautiful for one of you. The two of them have hit it off, and alternate between playing together and fighting like brother and sister, and I think it's only fair that they work together to create a masterpiece. Once it's finished, whatever it is, we're going to have another giveaway on this here blog, and one of you will get to have an authentic piece of African art by two of the continent's premiere up-and-coming artists.

(Please note: I am basing my assessment of their skill solely on how their glittery butterfly masks turned out. This has the potential to either go very, very badly or be totally spectacular. It's going to depend, in large part, how much Gafar is able to control Tani's boundless exuberance for everything craft-related.)

I'll post a photo of the finished product and let you know when it's time to start commenting!

Finally, all those years at camp are paying off.