baby wash

The Baby Wash Program has been entirely satisfying, through and through!

For many Egyptian women, washing their babies is a terrifying experience. I have found many are afraid of getting water in their ears, washing their hair… and it is almost a taboo to wash the… essential parts. We have had babies that haven't been washed in weeks! One mother came in with her three week old son – who had never been washed since birth.

It is a four week program, where we allow both the babies and moms to get comfortable with bath time. We are able to screen for problems with babies, as well as educate the moms on proper nutrition and care for their little ones. This past week, I was really able to see the progress of some of the moms! Both baby and mom are comfortable with the water, having fun and even laughing! Usually, the room is filled with screaming babies.

An interesting thing this week was a pair of twin boys came in with thick, thick black eye liner on (like in the movie Prince of Egypt). They put the eye liner on to ward off evil spirits... but oh man, it is so hard to get off!! A lot of time it's charcoal… you can imagine how good that is for the eyes! I did not take any pictures of the twins… as they were already getting much unwanted attention.

Although my Arabic has not improved enough to be able to really communicate with the moms, you’d be surprised how much body language and a smile is understood. I am really having such a wonderful time washing these smelly, smelly babies!