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When bed bugs really do bite!

Harrogate house has recently experienced the nightmare of bed bugs first hand!

As you can imagine with a busy home full of very curious children, making sure these bed bugs were completely gone was a challenge and a half for our staff.

Bug babies

The bug stats

Here in the UK reports of bed bugs have risen by 20% over a period of six years. This is a big increase! But homes in Malawi can be invaded by the little critters on not just one occasion, but several. Their invasion tends to sweeps far wider than just a single home too!

A big job for Harrogate House!

As you can imagine, everything and we mean EVERYTHING had to be turfed out, whilst the fumigators came in! And all this on top of two days of washing, heating and spraying being done as thoroughly as possible. It really isn’t sweet dreams whilst getting bitten in the middle of the night!

Of course, this might not seem too bad, if the house Mothers weren’t also looking after 12 children aged between 2 and 7 years old. You can possibly relate to trying to clean your house or keep it tidy with children following you, but now think about trying to fumigate a larger home, with even more children ranging in ages and needs!

The Mission

To start with all of the Toddlers were lined up on one side of the garage, where they were all stripped down and their Pyjamas then bagged up. They were then moved across to the other side of the garage to receive fresh clothes from the store (yes, this was like a military operation!)

The boys and girls were split up, all of the girls jumped about in excitement at a change of routine as well as all being in different shades of pink pants! The boys, just as excited at showing each other their different shades of blue pants!

For the house, Mum’s not so much excitement….

All of the children’s belongings, toys included, were left in Harrogate House have to be fumigated.

All Just a Game

To help keep the children out of harm’s way and to make sure everything could be fumigated – the Toddlers all played brilliantly in the main home garden. The home was very lucky to receive some toys which the children could borrow and play with, whilst theirs took to a boil wash!

Making light of the bed bugs currently living with them and after hunting through a bag of African animals – the children decided to see which animal would be best to come and live with them next!

Grace told everyone ‘not a crocodile of course – because they snap!’ Not even a Giraffe, because they have very long necks! Isaac suggested an Elephant but Grace shouted ‘No!’ because of their wobbly trunks! Most importantly, however, both the house Mum’s and the children all agreed that the one thing they most certainly did not want living in their house was bed bugs!  

Your support  

Wipe clean, perfect, bed bug free, play mats!

Open Arms works with lots of volunteers and supporters every year and we are continually touched by your kindness and generosity. It is you that allow our work to go above and beyond and provide what’s really needed within the homes.

Whether this is spare clothes, additional toys and play mats, to school places and outreach visits you have helped us provide love, safety and care for all our children and we hope that we can keep it up!

Recently, a timely consignment of gifts arrived from Glasgow including washing machines! In a home with 12 or more children and an outbreak of bed bugs, you can imagine how grateful we were! Not only that, but we received a number of large plastic mats that were put to immediate use for the toddlers to play on and also for the younger ones to eat on.

To us, an outbreak of bed bugs sets everyone off itching but our children tend not to see the chaos and the bedlam in the background. They think we adults are crazed loons on a mission to clean the entire house from top to bottom. When for them, it is a new learning experience and an amusing one at that!

On Outreach

As you know our work doesn’t stop in the home. Through our outreach programmes we can educate families about what bedbugs look like, the harm they do and infections they can cause.  We also show them what to do if they have a case of bed bugs in their homes.

Peace at last!

Normality has now returned to Harrogate House! As you know, our aim is to help families who need us most. To offer support within the community, ultimately helping vulnerable children and their families in Malawi.

We receive so much support from our donors and volunteers to be able to do what we do and we are incredibly grateful for your help.

If you enjoy reading our stories and if there is anything specific you’d like to hear about from our Infant Homes or Harrogate House please do let us know. We promise we don’t always talk about bugs!

Remember you can stay up to date with our stories via our Facebook page or on Twitter!

We’re always active – as there is never a dull moment when kids are involved!

Your donation will help children in Malawi grow up healthy with the love of a family

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