There is a little boy at the hospital right now named Omarou. When he was very young (about 18 months), he crawled into a pot of boiling oil, and his hand was badly burned. Unfortunately, this is something that happens very often here in Niger. When you combine the fact that there are lots of babies (Niger has one of the highest birthrates in the world) with the fact that most people here cook over an open fire, the results can be devastating. Consequently, we see a lot of burn victims at the CURE hospital.

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Larwan and Omarou have been coming together for joint art therapy sessions. There is a good dynamic between these two boys. They enjoy each other’s company and — not that this was the deciding factor in having them come together — it’s very easy for me to plop the two of them together on the wheelchair and get them over to my art therapy room. They’re both small, so it works nicely.

Also, both of them cannot walk. But don’t get me wrong, they can get wherever they need to go; they have their ways. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a busy day at the hospital. I usually see one kid at a time for art therapy sessions. This day, though, got so busy, and time was running out. I have a regular schedule with the kids, but things are unpredictable, and there are so many variables that come into play. The kids go back and forth to the operating bloc, for dressing changes and for physical therapy, so I have to be flexible. But in this case, the day was almost over and there were three little boys that I hadn’t seen. Read the rest of this entry »