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This is my second week at the Edgehill School for Special Education in Port Maria. I am getting to know these bright eyed students better and learning their names, many are names I’ve never heard before. I taught the song “It’s a Wonderful World” in American Sign Language. One of the teachers found the Louis Armstrong version on the computer and played it along with our singing and signing. That was very effective!  I am leaving my Sign Language book with the school.

Since there are 45 students of various abilities and ages, I modify these lessons accordingly. Paper and pencils are ALWAYS in short supply, and the drawing pads I brought were used up, so I bought more at the local book store.  Dry erase pens are also something which is consumed (dried up) and need replacing. I bought more, but that is also in need as is a copy machine (someday).

Sometimes, I use patterns to trace around. All the art work was displayed in an Art Corner. Most of it I had covered with Saran Wrap, but one day, there was a torrid of rain, some blowing sideways through the windows, and some of the artwork was ruined, but much survived and is still displayed. The students stand in front admiring their artwork and that is a thrill for me!!!

There is an ART CORNER now at the school.

1. tracing their hands with pencils and using watercolors to fill in —taped together to make a big poster

2. used oil pastels (there was a set given but not used, since the teacher didn’t seem to know how to use them—she appreciated learning—I  brought in samples of Hibiscus, fern leaves, Mousetail pods, grape and almond leaves. The students made lovely botanical art which I taped together in a poster.

3. used soft pastels to create still life–I brought in pineapple, papaya, apples, banana, and star fruit for the students to draw and fill in with the pastels. I taught them about how to see and draw the shadows that these fruits cast on paper.  These pictures were mounted and displayed.

4. used old magazines (which the activity director at the resort gave me) and cut out photos of various people doing jobs. These were glued on paper and the students filled in with markers “the rest of the story” This tied in with their Career Day at the school. The speakers who were scheduled didn’t show up, perhaps due to the rain, so I was a speaker. I also taught a game to the whole school which seemed to be a hit. “A…my name is……and I live in ……..and I like……..” It’s a great game to teach thinking skills as well as geography.

5. I will be using watercolors and crayons to teach the concept of symmetry making butterfly pictures.

I think that I’ve enriched the lives of these young students as they have enriched my life, too!!

On Monday and Tuesday this week, I was working in the clinic in Port Maria and saw two complications of tinea capitus . The first child I saw on Monday was referred in from another clinic for an I&D of a scalp swelling that was not getting better on oral antibiotics. I sent the child to the A&E for the procedure. When I returned Tuesday, I spoke to the Dr. Mighty of the A&E and she told me when they opened up the swelling several live maggots came out. This she said happens when tinea goes untreated and the necrotic tissue is a source for the maggots. They were treating the child with a power that is cidal to the maggots, in addition to Griseofulvin and shampoos. This was a new one for me.
The second case I saw on Tuesday. A child brought in by his aunt, who had custody of him for most of his life. She said he had scalp lesions for several weeks. When she removed the bandana covering his head, I saw large bald spots that were boggy and oozing. It was a kerion, an inflammatory reaction to tinea. In thirty five years of practice in America I could only recall only one or two cases. I was advised to admit him for oral Griseofulvin, Prednisone, and to have the social worker access his home life.

Both these cases gave me a new respect for possible complications of untreated tinea capitus.

Richard