Stress at work in advocating for the children

August 7, 2018 /  Richard Eglese  /  1 Comment  /  Featured, News - Thailand, Prayer

Things have been pleasant with the help of Kait and the feeling that we have been able to give the children some quality input and keep on top of things. There are days when some characters are moany or overly misbehaving that are hard, but for the most part, you can finish a day feeling you made some difference.

Then come along the issues where you have little control and as we have been saying this week… my natural reaction is to get all prickly.

There were three challenges this week, but thankfully the first is already resolved.

• I had asked for the orphanage bus to help me collect the holiday volunteers from the airport and it had been a week without any inkling that it would not be ok, so I had relaxed into thinking it was fine. Alas it was not. Sadly the lady I report to didn’t see a way that a driver and car could be spared. So a task I though was sorted and free of cost looked like it could be another thing to manage. Thankfully my plea for help was heard by a kind expat friend, called Casey, who will lend me her 9-seater minivan and driver to help with the collecting. Also another lady, called Emily, offered to help and she has been able to cover another journey I was struggling to work out.

The other two challenges arose today and are irrating me lots. I could do with your prayer about these.

• Two of my group (Mr C and Mr S) are tube-fed and one is bottle-fed (Mr B). You may remember that we were pleased the children were receiving a better high calorie milk. Wonderfully, this had become the norm for all our wards’ kids who need to be tube-fed and for my thin bottle drinking child. The orphanage were totally on top of buying it themselves and meeting that need. Well the frustration comes from being asked if I have any today. They only have one day’s worth left. I do have Fortisip, which we were given in the UK, but I can’t tell if they are the same. I’m seeking advice on this and contacting the supplier, but need to work out finding outside funds for something that has been completely funded by the home for nearly a year now. I have the stress that the orphanage is clearly not able to provide us with it for the holiday to Huahin either, so need to sort that too.

• The final stress is that Mr C benefits from wearing 2 sewn together sweatbands on his legs, to help him prevent his legs from flailing around, which can be bad for his hips and general posture. He likes wearing them and the ward mums have consistantly put them on him while in the ward as well as him wearing them while out doing. Sadly, someone has misplaced them and now we are seeing how he struggles with his movements without wearing them. It’s such a frustration that just one person does not put them on and there is a big effect on his well-being. They are hard to find here and I’ve been seeking to buy them in bulk to have multiple spares, but without success. If anyone knows a sports centre or sports shop that would help, I’d be so very grateful.

I struggle with frustration in these circumstances when it’s been going so well and I’ve felt I no longer needed to fight for the children to have these things. It’s disheartening and I’ve so much I want to be focused on for the holiday which is only two weeks away.

Your prayers are welcomed about these issues, for preparing for the holiday and for its success.

On a lighter, more thankful, note, Mr S has been on the ward all weekend and was reasonably well and upbeat today, managing to play in the electric wheelchair and do three jigsaws with Kait. May this continue for the time before the holiday, sealing his permission to go and throughout the holiday too.

Thank you all.

Nicola Anderson.