Before we arrived in Swaziland, the Squad had been told that we would be building an orphanage for the entire month. I was excited; I wanted to build. There’s something about seeing the fruit of your labor in a tangible way. Some people were not as confident in their skills, but I knew that God would use my upbringing this month. I figured that because I basically grew up on construction sites with Mom and Dad, I would be at home. I was ready; I was going to rock this month.
When being briefed on our activities for October, our contact explained the multitude of tasks that we could help out with. There was painting and organizing, working with older kids and working with younger kids. Everything sounded pretty normal. Then, almost in passing, she mentioned that in the Baby House was a two-year-old with Cerebral Palsy and if anyone felt called, they could try to work with him. My whole body perked up. I knew that he was the reason that I was at El Shaddai. I knew God wanted to use my upbringing to help the children here, but I had been wrong about the way I would be serving.
The next day, I went to meet Brian and I fell in love. He is the fattest, happiest little boy in the world. He brings light into everyone’s lives. He loves to observe the room, watching the other kids and making noises to summon them over. They respond by bringing him toys, talking to him, playing with him. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else this month if I wasn’t with him.
Brian is two-years-old and he came to El Shaddai along with his older brother about a year ago. Born to a sixteen year old mother who already had a two year old, Brian was diagnosed a quadriplegic at 8 months old. After being treated in the hospital for neglect for three months, welfare dropped him off at El Shaddai, the only children’s home in Swaziland that agreed to take him. During his first month, a volunteer happened to be here that had been trained in Physical Therapy. She determined that he was not in fact a quadriplegic, but instead had cerebral palsy. She worked with him for a little while, but she could not stay long. Since then, the staff has tried to work with him, but is at a loss for what to do.
Enter Shelley and Fiona. Shelley is another member of my Squad who received her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology. She had interned with physical therapists throughout her college career. Her experience was across the board, but she did not have a plethora of special needs experience. I, of course, had Aidan. I grew up going to many different kinds of Physical Therapy with him and watching my parents stretch him in the house (Aidan is my little brother who also has Cerebral Palsy). The two of us were able to come together and form the perfect team for Brian’s success!
One of our main concerns is Brian’s weight. The children are fed meals that are high in sugars and carbs. This is not a huge problem for the rest of the children because they run around all day, but Brian is stationary. We have completely changed his diet, to include more fruits and vegetables in the hopes that when he loses a little weight, he’ll be able to better support himself.
We have focused a large amount on teaching Brian to roll. We want him to understand the muscles that he must move in order to shift his body. A large problem is that he spends most of the day lying on his back. He has gotten used to this even though he is not necessarily at the level of severity to be completely stationary. It is taking some work, but on day 3, he actually quarter rolled on his own!
While rolling, we have been forcing him to use his arms and push his body up into a Cobra-type pose. He loves this one when he has the energy to do it! It is stretching his back, his neck, his arms. We have already noticed an increased strength in being able to hold himself up!
It’s messy, but we’ve been teaching Brian to hold his own spoon and feed himself. Most of the time, our hand also must be on the spoon, but he has taken a few bites completely alone! I ended up with Spinach all over my leg, but who cares?!
We’ve also been working a lot on the crawl position in multiple stretches and exercises. This is our biggest fight. Brian does not have much core strength and he has trouble with all of his extra weight. I also think it is frustrating to him to hold the crawl pose without moving, as all he wants to do is kick his legs.
I’ll try to update soon, but please just continue to pray for healing in Brian. He is such a beautiful boy with a beautiful heart. I want so badly for him to roll, crawl, walk and I have no doubt that God can do it.
