September 22, 2006
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When I arrived at Alma’s Baby Group rooms this morning, the babies seemed to be much happier and were not crying. Alma’s runny nose was a little worse, but the orphanage doctor said her lungs were clear. It also looked like most of the other babies and runny noses as well. I didn’t hear anyone coughing though, which is hopefully a good sign.
Alma and I stayed in the baby room with the other babies and caregivers because there was no heat in the little room where we usually meet. The two caregivers on duty today, Svetlana and Elena, were very kind and the babies seemed to like them. I observed that when a baby cried, they would go over to the baby and see what was wrong. This was encouraging to see that a baby’s cries were answered, which if this is done consistently, will reduce the affects being in an orphanage will have on these children.
The caregivers work two 12 hour shifts and then they are off for 3 days. Their first shift is from 7am to 7pm and then they work the next day from 7pm to 7am. The two caregivers on duty are very busy and work hard. They are responsible for preparing the babies’ meals, feeding the babies, washing their clothes, changing their diapers and then spending some time with them. That is a lot for two people to do for 10 babies.
During our morning visit, the music teacher came to visit the babies. She made a point to visit and sing with each baby and play the tambourine or another instrument. The caregivers use umbrella strollers as seats for the babies and they pushed the older babies into a circle around the music teacher who sang with to the babies and gave them rattles to play with. All the babies except Alesho, seemed to like the attention she gave them. Alma was fascinated as we sat and listened.
After our afternoon visit, Ahz took us to a supermarket that was bigger than the grocery across the street, but smaller than a typical U.S. grocery store. There were several shops above the grocery store including a baby store. I was able to buy two warm blankets for Alma’s crib at this store and some socks. I still haven’t been able to find a jacket with a hood for her. They did have some snow suits, but they were either too big or too small.
The pollution was very bad today. Visibility was cut sharply due to the smog that was hanging over the city. Ahz says the government is trying to get the factories to limit emissions, but who knows when that will happen. Ahz says on days like today, it is common for folks to get headaches and be tired.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
When I arrived at Alma’s Baby Group rooms this morning, I found almost all the babies were crying. Alma was sitting at the feeding table and she smiled when she saw me. While changing her diaper and clothes, I had to run interference a couple of times for the babies in the play pin next to the changing table. One of the larger baby boys was rolling on top of the smaller babies and kicking them. Since he didn’t appear ready to stop any time soon, the caregivers put him in a crib on the other side of the room by himself. He then proceeded to howl. Although he wasn’t playing nice, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
While Alma and I were sitting in the other room playing, I noticed the caregivers kept taking one bundled baby at a time some where and then bringing them back a few minutes later. Alla then came and took Alma. The best I could tell from Alla’s sign gestures was that she was taking Alma to get her eyes examined. I later found out all the children in the orphanage had their eyes examined with the older children given eye drops to dilate their pupils. Needless to say, there were unhappy babies and children throughout the orphanage.
I tried to video Alma, but the crying in the background was so loud that I gave up.
When I came back this afternoon, the babies were still crying. It seems the doctor’s visit had gotten the caregivers off schedule and they were late feeding most of the babies, who were not happy about it! I also discovered that Alma had a slight runny nose and sounded a little congested. Because there was no heat in the orphanage, we could not sit on the floor on blankets and play like we usually do. I ended up holding her during our entire visit. I was pleasantly surprised how good she was and content to be held and investigate what was in her diaper bag.
At the end of our visit I took her to the room where all the babies’ cribs are located. My heart broke to see how bare their cribs are. They have a thin sheet over a thin mattress and a dingy coverlet hanging over the side of the cribs. There are no toys in the cribs, but the caregivers do give every baby a pacifier when they put them down for their naps. I was concerned about how cool their room was at 4pm and how much colder it would get during the night. I wish I had brought some blanket style pajamas for Alma to sleep in.
I asked Ahz why there wasn’t any heat and he said the utility that supplies heat to that region was doing maintenance and the orphanage would not have heat until Friday night. The caregivers were trying to take some of the chill off by using two or three electric space heaters. They also had the babies bundled up. Everyone in Ust receives heat via pipes through which hot water and steam are piped from a central plant. I’m sure Jim VanCoevering and Dan Waddle could explain the ins and outs of this type of system and it is very common in this part of Asia. I had noticed before these huge pipes running above ground along side the road and it turns out these are the pipes through which the water and steam are delivered. Once the central plant starts pumping hot water through the pipes, the orphanage will have plenty of heat. Rooms are usually very warm with this type of heat. I just don’t understand why this particular plant waited until now to do this maintenance when they know it starts getting cold mid-September and people will need heat.
After my afternoon visit with Alma, I went to the little Mall close to the hotel with Travis, Pam and Jackson. While in the Mall, I came across a camping gear kiosk and found an air mattress and electric pump! It cost about 8,000 Kazak Tenge or about $65. It is worth every Tenge! Ahz has agreed to store if for me between trips.
