Walk it off, babies, walk it off

According to reports on the ground from the lovely and talented Emily Butler, Miss Zawadi is officially WALKING! The video below is from when I left, and apparently now she's going with no help at all. Just to remind you how far we've come... From wriggle worm to spiderbaby, to walking with help, to overcoming those rickets and walking it off!

Look at her go!

Meanwhile, Simoni, who has even more severe rickets, couldn't walk at all when I arrived, and dragged his legs when crawling. Since then, look how far he's come! Apparently, since I left, he's been up and down stairs with no help, even trying to jump, which is a HUGE accomplishment. (Please excuse my screeching in these videos, it had been way too long since I'd been around adults.)

Still struggling a few months into the trip...

...And happily herding his imaginary cows a few months later

It just goes to show how far the kids can come with the dedication of the volunteers and staff - besides getting them medical care, we were working with both kids every day to push them to exercise the legs, to go a little farther each day. The truth is, without effectively utilized volunteers (which is why we need a manager) or more staff (which is why we need to pay a living wage), there simply isn't time for the mamas to give this kind of one on one attention to the children. So hooray for volunteers and fundraising!