{"id":439,"date":"2017-02-09T06:25:47","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T13:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/?p=439"},"modified":"2017-02-09T06:25:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T13:25:47","slug":"bal-mandir-infants-week-2-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/bal-mandir-infants-week-2-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Bal Mandir Infants Week 2 update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hygiene Update:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is my second week at the Bal Mandir Infant orphanage and we have kicked things into high gear! The other volunteers and I began by scrubbing the floors, then each crib by hand with tooth brushes and dish soap. When we asked to wash the blankets we were told “not possible, each is used in the night”, after realizing not one blanket had ever been washed we were very determined to get them clean. After bringing an employee from volunteer Nepal to help translate, the care givers have agreed to let us clean ten blankets a day, because really they are not used… Long story short we have conquered many a battle. The babies are already beginning to shed their colds and the room went from hundreds of flies to a few occasionally on site! Additionally, the caregivers have taken a liking to our baby wipes and have started using them to “bathe” the babies, I am so grateful for this! I plan to leave as many baby wipes as I can before my departure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"clothes\"<\/p>\n

More Observations\/ Next Steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The babies are fed bottled milk around 9am. Bottles are shared around the room, causing the spread of germs. Additionally, the amount each baby drinks (if at all) is not monitored, if a baby is asleep at this time they will miss out completely, or a baby may be fed so much they choke on their vomit. The babies are not fed the bottles, but expected to hold them on their own and feed themselves (this includes two month old Iska). The babies are not fed again until around 2:30pm, rather than milk they are spoon fed a solid brown soup. They care givers bring out one spoon at a time to ensure volunteers may not participate in feeding. Baby spoons have been provided, but they prefer to use a very large table spoon. They then fill the table spoon entirely, with a brown soup that is steaming hot (you can literally see steam coming from the spoon). The entire spoon is lodged into the babies mouths, frequently causing them to gag and cough the hot food all over themselves. Each baby I have seen fed this way cries more when they are fed than when they were hungry. I have tried to ask why they are fed this way but the communication gap is limiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Possible solutions: I would suggest that the feeding bottles have tape around the bottom with the name of each baby (there are enough bottles fro each to have their own). This will ensure no germs are spread and the amount each baby eats may be monitored. Additionally I would suggest the use of baby spoons, so that the amount of food entering the babies mouth is not overwhelming. it is also easier for the food to cool when blown on if it is a smaller amount in the spoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other Observations\/Solutions: There are enough cribs for each baby, but every night they are placed “wherever”. If each crib was labeled or assigned to a specific child, germs can be more easily contained and sleep schedules can be more closely monitored. Although I may be getting ahead of myself, if each crib could have a clipboard or white board for that specific child then “poops” may be monitored as well. This is very important, for a baby may not have a “movement” for days, and it would go unnoticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"crib\"gas\"<\/p>\n

\"Itsmatika<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hygiene Update: It is my second week at the Bal Mandir Infant orphanage and we have kicked things into high gear! The other volunteers and I began by scrubbing the floors, then each crib by hand with tooth brushes and dish soap. When we asked to wash the blankets we were told “not possible, each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4170,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"geo":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/movements-migrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}