Tamale Childrens Home

Anita, my homestay mother, took me to see an orphanage that she wants to help, the Tamale Childrens Home. It is a government run orphanage that is in desperate need of improvement. The building itself is situated in a run down neighborhood on the outskirts of Tamale. A bumpy dirt road leads you to a dilapidated playground, and a long low rectangular building. The building is painted a dull brown color with metal grates as walls on each side. It is made up of 3 hallways with rooms on either end. The building is made of concrete and is uninsulated from the elements. The hallways on either side are empty except for some long pipes stacked in a corner, and clothing hung to dry against the grates.The main hallway is about 10 feet wide, and on either side are the children’s rooms. The rooms are painted green and yellow and some feature cute cartoon Winnie the Poohs on the walls. His happy face is in stark contrast to the condition of the children sleeping there.
The home currently houses 26 children, the oldest of whom appears to be about 8 and there are 9 babies, including infants.They are referred there from hospitals where some mothers die in childbirth and do not have any other family, some are born to women with mental illness who cannot care for them, others are born to women in jail. The babies are available for adoption but I am trying to find out if they are connected to any actual NGO that tries to get them adopted.
The rooms have yellow cribs, some of them have foam mattresses with no covers or sheets, some have a single piece of thin wood as the bed. A few of the beds had blue mosquito nets, but they were not draped around the frame so as to protect the sleeping children inside. My heart ached as I peered into the rooms and saw the conditions. As I documented the conditions with my camera, Anita wanted to take some pictures of me with the kids. Several little boys, about 2 years old, reached eagerly upwards in hopes of being held. I picked up two and supported their backsides with my arms. One was very wet, apparently they do not wear diapers. I used to think upon visiting an orphanage before, that it was so adorable that the children would eagerly take your hand and jump into any strangers arms. In studying child development and attachment however, I found out that this behavior is a result of them not having a strong attachment to anyone and was unhealthy for their sense of trust and connection. A healthy child may tolerate being held by someone else, but they always prefer their own mother. These kids are so starved for affection that they yearn for it from anyone. One child who was sleeping in one of the beds, about 4 years old, rocked his entire upper half back and forth with his arms outstretched, turning his head from side to side in an almost convulsive motion. I have never seen a child do this and was alarmed, the women working there said it was normal. Is it? I asked if the children had any health care, and they said that once in awhile they saw a doctor, but not regularly, if anything went wrong they have to take the children to a government hospital. They asked if we could help arrange for a doctor to come since there had not been one for awhile.
Supposedly upon speaking with one of the women, there are 25 staff, but I only saw 4 ladies there. Three of them held infants on their laps and fed them bottles. They were rotating through the 9 babies. The ones who had been fed were laid on a flat mat on the hard floor. One tiny baby girl who could have been merely weeks old, looked up at me from eyes that were closed to be almost slits, she did not react when I touched her small hands, I wondered why anyone should have to begin their life like this, laying alone on concrete.
Anita has registered an NGO, Helping Hands for Need, and intends to dedicate herself to improving this orphanage. She wants to arrange to host volunteers and raise money to help the children at this place. Her and I share the history of being born into families which could not take care of us, I was blessed to be adopted to a loving family, she was not so lucky, the next entry will be her story. But I am absolutely more committed at this moment and more moved to focus on helping her to help this orphanage, than the NGO that originally brought me here. She plans to open a bank account in the NGOs name this week now that it has been certified, and the website should be going up soon. We plan to talk to the woman who is in charge of the orphanage this week since she was not there today. Please be in touch if you have the interest and ability to make a donation to this cause, or if you have any suggestions for how to help the orphanage.