Three new children and…. Yaw Peter
This column is written by Jeannette Klein, member of the PCC Network. She stayed in PCC in March 2023.
Three new children
In this Alberts Corner I would like to give some residents extra attention.
Let’s start with the new residents, who have already been announced in the Alberts Corner of 28 January. These children arrived at PCC at the beginning of February.
The oldest boy (aged about 5) has been given the name Nathan. He suffers from epilepsy, but this seems to be well controlled with medication. He is very agile and still has some trouble adapting to the PCC rhythm, programme and rules, moreover he is mischievous. Let’s just say we have a lively resident there!
The smallest boy (about 2 years old) has been given the name Paul. Paul can barely walk. He appears to scare easily and then he falls over. Of course, with so much life around him as is the case in the community, this is quite difficult. Efforts are now being made to see if this medication can be improved.
The girl of about 6 is now called Abigail. Abigail will not or cannot sleep. Not during the day, but not at night either. In the beginning, she cried a lot, but this has decreased lately. She is now awake at night and fumbles than a bit in bed and around the room.
During the day she also likes to go her own way and the caregivers then have to involve her in activities again regularly.
It will take its time but we are convinced that in a while these children will feel completely at home in PCC.
Yaw Peter
Someone who does not always feel at home in PCC is Yaw Peter. Or at least PCC is not the place he always wants to be most. He sees an opportunity to climb over the wall with some regularity. He often goes to his sister then who lives a few villages away, but even there he often doesn’t stay long.
He likes to visit funerals. This may sound strange, but funerals in Ghana are something we would probably call a celebration. These gatherings are meant to accompany the deceased to the afterlife. It is important that as many people as possible come, there is food and drink and music. Traditional clothes in black and red or black and white are worn. These funerals are usually held on Saturdays. In every town, there are one or more funerals almost every Saturday. Funerals of important people often last several days and the preparations take sometimes more than six months.
Back to Yaw Peter for a moment. When Yaw Peter attends a funeral, people often find it funny to get him drunk. They can then mock him a bit. In the beginning, this is fun for them, but often after a while a somewhat unpleasant atmosphere develops (after all, they are usually out of their minds themselves) and then Yaw Peter is chased away (physically or otherwise).
Unfortunately, he then does not simply return to PCC but continues to wander around. Our care-director Joe Emma, now has a whole network in Nkoranza and the surrounding villages of people who call him when they see Yaw Peter somewhere. Sometimes he is brought back or put in a taxi, sometimes Joe Emma goes to pick him up.
Each time, he is welcomed like a prodigal son! But one who continues to find life outside the gate attractive. After clean clothes, a few good sleeps and some good meals, all too often he is gone again.