A musical welcome and fresh challenges at Somanya – Thursday 18th October

Somanya is a 2 hour journey inland from Tema and an area that has been hard hit by AIDS - there is an orphanage in the village for children who’ve lost their parents to the disease. However it had a robust church building with a good tin roof and electricity and was the best location we’ve had on this trip.

In the afternoon, some of us climbed the bell tower and were rewarded by views over the green and leafy village.


We arrived in the minibus with the lorry-load of wheelchairs to the wonderful sound of unaccompanied singing and clapping which didn’t stop for 20 minutes after our arrival. What a welcome! Never mind the language barrier - music bridged the gap!

We soon knuckled down to seeing the clients. I was interested in the unique way this 55 year old polio sufferer moved – by rocking a small stool from side to side.

Kathy came prepared with balloons and bubbles for the children. Here, following the seating assessment, she entertains a delightful 13 year old child with learning disabilities. The infectious laughter made several of us stop what we were doing to watch.

We were particularly glad of the strong building when the afternoon rains descended with even greater force than on previous days. The noise on the tin roof made communication through an interpreter particularly hard and when the power cut came, my translator had to hold a torch so I could see what I was writing! Someone fetched a gaslight for Chris our administrator and for Will, one of our technicians, who managed to re-build a chair for the last client of the day!
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This lovely lady called Larko didn’t know how old she was as she came from an illiterate family. She had a young son and daughter and guessed she was about 25. Her father looked after her and her children, and although he was currently in good health, his age and the physical demands on him were beginning to concern her.


This was one of the highlights of my day because we had just run out of self-propel adult chairs. However, Larko was so slightly built, that she fitted a child’s self propel wheelchair perfectly. I didn’t even have to adjust the footrests! Whereas many people felt obliged to pose rather seriously for their photo, Larko was unable to stop smiling.

A further joy for me – I later learnt that after having had the Gospel explained to her by the local pastor, she received Christ.

http://www.thelightoutreach.org/

http://www.throughtheroof.org/

christinethefizz@onetel.com