Sunday, June 13, 2010

You want long nail short nail?

Again I am behind on my blogging. I was going to try to blame it on my illness again but I don’t think I can pull that off a second time. Mainly I haven’t kept up blogging because the end of this week was an emotional roller coaster and it’s taken me some time to digest all the events so that I can write them all down. Thursday morning I was going about the little routine I’ve established at the Haven when Caroline came up to me with Alfred in her arms. She had been working with him in the feeding group when she realized how labored his breathing was. After consulting with Dr.Weaver and the Aunties the decision was made to load up Alfred, Auntie Beatrice, Dr.Weaver and I to head up the road to the clinic. The nurse looked him over then decided that he needed oxygen, and the tanks at the clinic were both empty so Dr.Weaver and I take off back to the Haven to get the machine from Haven 3. We get back to the clinic with it and we’ve left the electrical converter box at the Haven. So I stay with Beatrice while Dr.Weaver makes another trip to get the converter. All in all it took 9 trips total to get the machine and all its parts in working order. Very frustrating since this entire time little Alfred is struggling to get a breath. The doctor and nurse got him all hooked up to the oxygen finally and some meds in him to treat what was beginning to look like pneumonia. Later in the afternoon we went back to check on Beatrice and Alfred. He was resting but still having a hard time getting the really good breathe that he so desperately needed. Now I realize that I’m in Zambia, Africa and that it is quite rural out here on the mission but never have I been so frustrated with medical care in my life. I know that they are doing the very best they can with what they have but the resources are just so very limited here. It was very painful to watch such a small little life struggling so hard against something that would seem almost trivial to us in the States.
Friday morning was more of the same routine with the babies and Aunties at the Haven. Lots of diaper folding and baby rocking is always in order and I’m happy to oblige on both counts. The “Lost Boys” were bundled up like Eskimos because since it’s “winter” (the high is probably 70 to 75 and lows at night around 50s) a jacket and hat is a requirement for little ones! Ha! So funny to see them all bundled up and us running around in our short sleeve shirts seems like we should all be freezing. (I usually peel a few layers off of them to find sweat underneath their parkas! Haha!) After lunch while the other girls were doing some language stimulation I went from room to room with the nail clippers and trimmed all the babies’ finger nails. Some of them were sporting the nails that become quite painful to anyone in their path during “recess” in the common room. These kiddos sit so still while you trim their nails! It’s amazing; Nita even stuck her left hand out so I could trim those nails once I finished with her right hand. Prissy little thing that Nita is!
Saturday we decided to hit the road early and go into Choma for a little shopping but before we left the mission we stopped at the clinic to check on Alfred. I hopped out of Khaki Jackie and headed to his room…no one was in his room…I headed back to the main office and ran into the doctor. I told him we had stopped to check on baby Alfred and with sad eyes the doctor said I’m so sorry but he has died early this morning. Friday night the electricity had been off for a few hours so they had taken him back to the Haven to use the generator for his oxygen but early that morning he had taken a turn for the worse and there was nothing more that could be done for his little body. I reported back to the group the sad news. We ran into Mrs.Merritt on the road and she said that Alfred’s remaining family was at the funeral for his mother but that she would let us know if they decided to bury Alfred at the Haven instead of in town at the cemetery. The family decided they would take care of the body and I think I am thankful to them for that because I was not looking forward to attending the burial of yet another little one. I know that Kelly and Alfred are no longer suffering and are in the loving and comforting arms of Jesus but saying goodbye here sure is hard. I will never forget the sweet little baby boy who had hair that looked like duckling feathers.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Little Ones to Him Belong

My last blog was almost a week ago and for that I apologize but I will defend myself and say that I’ve been battling some sickness. At this point we’re not sure if it’s strep throat or flu but I’ve mainly been in bed since Saturday evening. Not only was it torture to swallow for several days but it’s been miserable being away from the babies for so long. The good news is that I’ve had no fever today and I slept through the whole night last night. I’m still a little achy but hopefully that will subside soon as it is my only remaining symptom. Thanks for all the prayers and encouraging messages, it’s wonderful to know how cared for I am.

The sad news is that we all attended the burial for sweet little Kelly this afternoon. She and Kelsey (her twin) were ill for several days last week and just couldn’t seem to shake off the illness. The girls are HIV exposed (their mother has HIV) but so far both had tested negative for the disease themselves. Kelly was taken to the medical clinic here on the mission over the weekend where they proceeded to do all they know how to stabilize her little body. She was just too fragile and had too much pneumonia in her tiny little 5 month old body so last night the Lord decided it was time to let her rest with Him. Kelsey is doing better and hopefully will be back at the Haven tomorrow.

The burial (funeral refers to all the activities surrounding a death...mourning period etc.) was a simple service underneath a large tree behind the Haven. Many tears were shed as the family of Kelly, the Aunties that have been caring for her and our group stood under the tree and sang and prayed and thanked God that this sweet little one was no longer suffering (The service was in Tonga but the singing was touching regardless of the language). We all had been warned that the death of a little one was a possibility but the reality of it is hard to bear. Although we have only been here a few weeks the bonds we’ve established with these babies is a strong one and we hate to see this sweet little girl go.

So now more than ever I’m anxious to get back to the Haven tomorrow to rock, hug, and love on every baby I can get my hands on. Today I got to peek my head in the window of the “Lost Boys” room while we waited on the burial to begin and Peter and Ross grinned from ear to ear at me. Tomorrow, we play!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Taking Snaps

Today and yesterday with the Aunties have been true learning experiences. I told Dr.Weaver that I think I’m going to miss the Aunties at Haven 1 every bit as much as I’m going to miss the babies. Yesterday there were just 3 Aunties working because Beatrice had to attend a funeral. So I stepped in to do more duties than I ever have before. Instead of just helping each Auntie for all practical purposes I would say I was an Auntie. The Tonga lessons have continued and now I know the words for wet and dry diaper as well as how to say good morning how are you, I’m fine, no, and come here. All have become very important phrases when dealing with little ones and Aunties alike. I didn’t really realize how much help my jumping into the duties that needed to be done was until Wednesday afternoon as we were leaving Pauline thanked me for making their day easier. I’m really glad that they see me as a help and not a hindrance.
Beatrice was back today so first thing I did was greet the Aunties outside the kitchen door and then ran in to see the babies. Beatrice came in behind me and said she needed me back outside to take some “snaps”. Not knowing what “snaps” where I looked at her funny and said “Ok, what are snaps?” she laughed and held her hands up to her face like she was holding a camera. Haha “O Ok a picture! Let me get my camera!” to which Beatrice replied, “No no Sarah there is a man with a camera I want you in my picture so I’ll remember you!” Apparently they had paid a friend that has a 35 mm camera to come take pictures. So I took one with Beatrice and one with Pauline, these ladies are precious and I’m loving getting to know them. One of my favorite chores to do with them is fold the clean cloth diapers and if you know me well you will say, “Sarah, enjoying folding laundry?!” But yes I enjoy this time because we all sit down in the floor with the giant pile of diapers and it seems some of our best conversations take place while folding. Pauline and I race to see who can fold the most diapers while we talk; I’ve won the last two times folding 15 and 19.
The babies are really amazing kiddos. The older ones are really starting to babble and come alive during the language class that the other girls do twice a day and the younger ones in the feeding group are putting on the pounds. Hamilton looks like a completely different baby than he did just 2 weeks ago. Joe, whose name is now officially Hunter is doing well and I try to snuggle with him any chance I get. Shawn, who rarely smiled outside of his crib, smiles and plays and has become my shadow along with Ross and Nita (they spread the love out if the other girls are in the house but I’m always in Haven 1 and the other girls rotate). If they are out their beds you can guarantee they’re hanging on to my skirt tail. In the afternoon while the feeding therapy is going on with the smallest babies the following 6 to 18 month olds are in my care out in the common play area, Bester, Elias, Jana, Courtney, Elaine, Jack, Shawn, Ross, Peter, Kritz, Lisa, Donna, Nita, and Teegan. The Aunties take this opportunity to wash diapers, sheets, bottles or just about any other chore that needs tending to knowing that I have become the human jungle gym. Ross and Nita are the only two who truly walk but several others are quick crawlers and climbers. Yesterday Ross, Nita, Shawn and Peter climbed back and forth a bazillion times over my legs as I sat on the floor. They’d all go across giggling and shoving each other before going back across the other way. All this was going on as I was attempting to keep Jana and Courtney out of one of the cabinets that they like to pull sheets out of and drag around the floor. Today Nita was in a mood and I couldn’t get out of her reach without her screaming and big crocodile tears rolling down her face. By the end of the afternoon we both needed a nap! Haha!
Wednesday night Jaime, Marja and I walked over to the college campus to join in the singing practice with their choir but discovered an all girls Bible study instead. Some of the girls that we’ve met before (Febby, Poynana (sp?), and Minsley) were there and excited that we showed up so we stayed for the study even though we were expecting singing. The topic for the study was “forgiving and forgetting” it lead to some pretty intense conversation and showed on some levels how young the faith is for many of these girls. They were very good about looking to their Bibles for answers and that was encouraging.
Thursday night it was back to the regularly scheduled programming of singing practice and although we were tired Jaime, Marja and I trekked over to the school. The singing in this little group is so beautiful and although most of it is in Tonga we attempt to join in when we can. After they sang several songs they asked us to teach them a song. We told them we weren’t prepared to teach but we’d try to bring something for them to learn next time. The very next Tonga song they started singing had a tune very similar to “Someday” so I told Jaime we could easily teach that to them. I wrote the words on the chalkboard and we proceeded to teach them the 4 parts. They did very well and seemed to enjoy the song. After practice there were a few announcements and then one of the guys we had met previously, Aphet, wanted to take some pictures with us. He thinks he’s really smooth so we took pics and had some good laughs before heading back to the house.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Headlamps

Well it’s Tuesday night and again we sit here in the dark. Ok, ok, not complete dark…we have headlamps on and our computers. So there is some light… but since there is no electricity there is no internet, thus I will just type this up on word and hope for a chance to post it later. Every time the lights go out we hear a chorus of screams go up from the girls dorms at the secondary school which is just across the road. We all just laugh and scurry around for headlamps. Last night we had no electricity and so Jaime and I were in bed by 7 and I’m pretty sure I didn’t last much past 8 but the rest was needed so I’m not complaining.
This morning at the Haven it seemed that every baby was sleeping like a log and I couldn’t bring myself to wake them especially since they’ve all been so sick with the stomach bug. So I hung out with the Aunties. Ida and Pauline (I could have sworn she told me her name was Powering haha and with babies named Gift, Memory and Bright who knew?!) let me tag along with them. We sat around the kitchen and they wanted me to try their breakfast which consisted of tea, cold baked potatoes, and some sort of fried bread that looked like you could get it at CafĂ© Du Monde (Ida called it a fritter). The potato was sweet, but not an orange sweet potato. I asked if they made the “fritter” or bought it. They bought it for 500 Kwache, which Ida declared, “It’s expensive!” I told her I didn’t think it was that bad, way less than what food costs in America. 5,000 Kwache is roughly 1 US Dollar, I went to my wallet pulled out my 1 dollar bill and 1 5,000 kwache and explained that they were equal. Then said 1 Coca Cola cost 1 US dollar. Then I pulled out some coins to have a lesson about pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. They really seemed to enjoy learning about American currency and I teased them that I’d give them a quiz over it all tomorrow. I also let them keep the $2.40. Ida did a happy dance around the kitchen and hugged me over the dollar bill but I told her to keep it to remember me by.
They often speak in Tonga around me. I’m learning some of the basic words which makes them eager to teach me more. When I don’t understand I say, “English! Speak English!!” they laugh and tell me it’s too hard before translating for me (they say I speak too fast). So far I’ve mastered the word “diaper” in Tonga which has come in pretty handy considering we run through tons of them daily. I’m better at recognizing words they say than I am at pronouncing any of them but they are patient with me.
The Zambian women carry their babies or pretty much anything else for that matter strapped on their front or back with a beautiful piece of “chitange” (spelling?) cloth. Our whole group has been anxious to know how it’s done so we were all thrilled today to learn how. Marja, Jaime and I walked around with Kelsey, Meagan, and Lushomo strapped to us for the better part of the morning. This is something that the kids here at the Haven miss out on for the most part. It serves as an important bond between child and mother and the child gets to be exposed to language while going anywhere the mother goes throughout her day. We’re seeing firsthand how underexposed to language the kids at the Haven are so we’re trying to give them as much exposure as possible. They also don’t get a lot of one on one time with the Aunties so having one strapped on gives them that snuggle time they desperately need while freeing your hands to help one of the toddling ones across the room. The process of throwing a little one on your back while tying the cloth is a bit tricky but by this afternoon I would say I was becoming quite skilled. I’m sure there will only be improvement from this point on, I teased the Aunties that I think I would handle more than one at a time in the case of twins such as Kelsey and Kelly or Bester and Elias. Ok, maybe not Bester and Elias they’re little chunks but definitely the “K’s” they’re tiny little girls. All in all I’d say it was a wonderful day.

Monday, May 31, 2010

I am a blessed child

This is the post for Sunday, just now getting it up because of electricity and internet difficulties.

I think one of my favorite things in Zambia has to be the singing (after the babies at the Haven of course). I love Sundays here because they are FULL of singing. The church service this morning was wonderful, the speaker reminded us to think carefully about the meaning behind the Lord’s Supper. The communion part of their service is filled with singing and scripture readings which are helpful to me in staying focused on what’s truly taking place. Of course I don’t know the words to the songs they sing in Tongan but it doesn’t matter because I know the words are from the heart. Because Mrs.Merrit and her eldest daughter Jennifer are back this Sunday there were lots of kiddos at church from the Havens. Jennifer leads a children’s Bible class in the court yard of the school and it is wonderful! I have some great videos of the children singing Bible school songs in both English and Tongan. Jennifer taught a bible story and then asked if we had any songs we’d like to lead. Four of our group got up and lead Deep and Wide and The Hippo song while the rest of us spread out amongst the kids and demonstrated the hand movements.
We had a smorgashbord of leftovers for lunch and it was all wonderful as usual. Then it was time for the traditional Sunday afternoon nap. I did some reading and dozing before I finally got a good solid 1 hour nap. You wouldn’t believe the noise I woke up to, RAIN!! Yes RAIN! During the dry season! It started off as a quiet tick tick on our tin roof before the bottom dropped out of a full blown thunderstorm! I couldn’t resist sitting on the porch to read and watch the rain come down, the lightening streak the sky and the wind blowing through the tall grass. I just kept waiting for a herd of elephants to come trumpeting across the front yard! Haha Webster the night watchman has assured me that that won’t happen but hey a girl can dream right?!
Church tonight was an awesome experience as well. The singing was spectacular although the speaker was a little harder to understand tonight because of a thick accent, every 7 words or so was about all I could pick out but I did understand that the only way others are going to see Jesus is for us to be Jesus to them. Apparently some of the kids from the secondary school took the lesson to heart and there were about 12 prayer requests and 4 wanting to be baptized after the service. We were dismissed from church to walk over to the Hamby house for the baptisms in the back yard in a small watering trough. I’m pretty sure most every student was there to welcome the new brothers and sisters into Christ’s family.
Philippians 4:4-5 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

Saturday, May 29, 2010

All dressed with no place to go

The morning brought a slight shift in the routine I’ve settled into. Rachel wasn’t feeling well so I filled in her spot working with Caroline and Jaime in the feeding group. Which means I didn’t get to spend my morning with “The Lost Boys”, but they didn’t seem to mind so I tried not to let it hurt my feelings either. I worked with Darcy and Meagan on sitting up and holding their heads up. Caroline has taught us that feeding and swallowing in babies is very much a holistic sort of function and strong muscles are the key. I also got to hold and love on the twins, Kelsey and Kelly some. They are still trying to recover from the stomach bug so they were pretty slow moving today. (Fingers crossed that we don’t all get round two of that terrible experience) Mrs. Kathy Merrit was back at the Haven today. She and her husband Roy are the missionaries who manage much of the goings on around here. She’s spent most of the week at the hospital with a sweet baby named Memory who had some heart surgery. Upon her arrival she checked in on all the kiddos and was so sad to hear that the babies and our group had been sick. I asked her if she’d gotten to see the newest baby (Joe) she said that she just had and that she was thinking of naming him Nathan or Hunter…haha so now I don’t know what his name is...I called him Nathan Hunter Joe all afternoon, maybe we can get all that worked out tomorrow but anything’s better than “Problem”.
This afternoon I handed out the lovely little dresses that sweet Reagan Grubbs made for her 4-H project. They are sweet little sack dresses that tie on the shoulders. The Aunties were thrilled and there were just enough dresses for each of the little girls at Haven 1. Even ones small enough for Kelsey and Kelly, they looked darling in them!! I took lots of pictures and I will post them as soon as I have internet available that makes it possible to upload pictures. After helping everyone get bathed and the girls in their new dresses it was time to get the boys out and let them romp. I put Jack, Elias, and Bester on their tummies to work on pushing up and crawling. Elias is making the most progress; he even rolled over by himself!!! We had a bit of a dance party off that little move haha!!
Well I’m gonna wrap this up and hit the hay. Haven’t been sleeping well the last few nights, so hopefully my Tylenol PM will help me to get some rest and not feel the lovely bars on this bunk bed. Goodnight!!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Crab Crawling

Today at Haven 1 was pretty rough. About half of the kids in every room are suffering from the stomach bug. Cranky, crying, hurting tummy babies are hard to deal with when you just got done feeling like that yourself. Poor little Elaine could not be soothed. I rocked her for what felt like hours this morning while her fever broke and she cried herself to sleep. Luckily the two smallest ones Hamilton and new little Joe (whose new name stuck thank goodness) are not sick and both are eating well and looking good. Caroline has done an amazing job this week, Hamilton is alert and his cheeks are even beginning to look chubby! The Aunties are thrilled and so are we. The "Lost Boys" all seem to be feeling pretty well too and I had all of them out and about running around most of the morning. They are hilarious!
This afternoon Elias needed a little attention so I got him out with the boys and put him and Jack on their bellies to work on this whole crawling deal. Jack did much better pushing up today and didn't get mad until Ross the scavenger yanked the little plush puppy dog he was playing with out of his hand. Elias was really happy to be on his belly and had a great time scooting around the floor on his belly...only problem...he goes backwards and sideways just like a little scurrying crab. I also helped with bathing again today. It was Ida that came to me this time "Sarah, come help me pleaseeeee" she said with the sweetest smile on her face. (I wish you could hear how they roll the 'r' in my name) So she washed babies and I diapered lotion and clothed. I'm getting faster but I also try to give each one just a little attention before sitting them back in a bouncy seat or crib.
Our afternoon at the Haven was cut short due to a scheduled tour of the Namwianga radio station. It’s the most powerful station in Zambia and home of Austin the D.J. who is the voice of a well known radio comedy character. They play Christian music, sermons and lessons. The station is very small and located about 100 yards from our back door in a building that sort of resembles a “temporary” office or classroom. It is 3 small rooms, the battery room (for when the electricity goes out here…almost daily), the room housing the D.J.’s booth, and a recording room. The mission is very proud of it and we were glad to see it and sign the guest book.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Moonbow

After finishing at the Haven around lunch time we packed up the Khaki Jackie for an interesting drive to Livingstone. The roads are very nice for about half the drive, but they haven’t finished the entire road project so 15 kilometer “detours” down dirt roads are common. So our 120 kilometer drive took close to 3 hours. I can’t begin to tell you how cramped we were with all our overnight bags and how asleep our rear ends were after the bumpy ride but we arrived at the Protea Hotel in one piece. We checked in then had a little down time before dinner. We were free to choose from several places in the little shopping center down the street from our hotel. Jaime, Lacey, Kaylee and I decided the burger joing “Steers” looked ok. Even though I wasn’t super hungry I managed to eat most of my fries and half my burger. (This should have been a sign to me about things to come) After dinner we went to explore the grocery store in the shopping center, you’d have thought we’d never seen one the way we all went up and down the aisles, I bought a water and a Sprite for later. I also purchased some baby wipes for the Haven, they ran out this week so a few packages will be needed until the giant shipping container that Harding sent over gets here in a week or so. After leaving the grocery store we had about an hour to hang out before leaving to go to the falls around 8:30. During this time I noted to my roommate, Jaime, that I wasn’t feeling great and I thought the greasy hamburger was not being kind to me but I pulled it together because I had to go see the “moonbow”.
Livingstone is the tourist capital for Zambia because it is home to Victoria Falls, one of the “7 Natural Wonders of the World” and rightly so. There are only a few places in the world where one can witness a “moonbow” and Victoria Falls is one of them. During a few select times a year here in Zambia, when the skies are clear and there’s a full moon a moonbow is formed above the falls (Seeing one was our main purpose for the trip to Livingstone). Now one may say, what does a moonbow look like? Well like a rainbow, but in shades of gray mainly. It is one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen. How awesome is our God to create such amazing wonders. I got some really great pictures of it thanks to my nice camera, I wish I could post them for you tonight but alas here at Namwianga picture uploading is not possible.
Well there are several trails all around the Falls that lead to different views, at our third stop to take pictures etc. I began to feel very very sick and I said goodbye to my supper. I felt much better after that and assumed all was well. But I would be sick again before the end of the night. Since no one else seemed ill I thought it was just me reacting to more grease then I’ve had in a few weeks. As soon as we got back to the hotel I got ready for bed, took a Pepcid and proceeded to enjoy the nice bed at the Protea.
The next morning Meaghann said that she got sick during the night too, I was automatically afraid that we might have picked up some food poisoning but I was feeling fine. Next Marja, Jaime, and Ian all complained of upset stomachs…uhoh…we didn’t all eat at the same restaurant so we’ve come to the conclusion that our little projectile vomiter at the Haven must have passed her virus on to us because all of us had been around her for significant amounts of time. Our drive back from Livingstone was not the most pleasant ever even though only Ian was truly ill during the drive. Stomach virus+ Africa= no fun. We are all mostly recovered tonight although I have not attempted anything stronger than plain rice on my tummy. Hopefully all are well enough to spend time at the Haven tomorrow; mainly we do not want to spread anything we have especially to Haven 3.

"The Lost Boys"

First I will fill you in on what happened on Wednesday. We started off at The Haven; Caroline (a feeding specialist from Nashville, TN) is working with several of the infants that are struggling with eating. This tends to be common among babies that are medically fragile and even more so among those in orphanages. Her work is tedious but it's rewarding to see these little guys eating well and looking alert. So she and the other students immediately head to that room in the Haven and I go across the hall to the boys’ room, I lovingly refer to them as, "The Lost Boys". There are four precious little ones in this room, Peter, Jack, Shawn, and Ross. Ross always wears a grin and he's the only one of the 4 that can walk although they are all old enough to at least be pulling up. Shawn wears a constant face of worry unless he is in his bed, where he seems the most content. Peter is a chunky little dude who has an easy smile and a full set of teeth. Jack is the one that concerns me most, he will barely even roll over, something a baby half his age is generally capable of (he can sit up unsupported which gives me hope). So my first chore of the morning was to get them all in dry diapers and out of their cribs and in the floor to play. Ross was out of the room like a shot, headed to the common area for toys. He's a scavenger and always comes back with a toy in one hand and something he's not supposed to have in the other, like...4 pieces of broom straw. He's wearing a grin like he's the greatest hunter around. The weather is beautiful here so I decided we should go out and swing on the back porch. After securing each in a swing we probably ended up swinging for close to an hour. Ross and Peter being the only two that truly seemed to enjoy our outside adventure.
Next I took the boys into another room, it's the home of Bester and Elias (twins), Jana, Courtney, Elaine and Miller. These guys are all just barely old enough to sit up so I put them in bouncy seats and arranged "The Lost Boys" on the floor so we could do some singing. Thank you Mrs. Donna for preparing me thru helping with cradle roll class. We sang, God Made the Big Round Sun, Jesus Loves Me, If You're Happy and You Know It and I asked each little one several times, Who made you? and then told them GOD DID!! Jana was sooo cute imitating all the hand motions and even attempting to say GOD DID!
Throughout the morning I had seen several unfamiliar ladies talking with the Aunties, and then Dr.Weaver said that she thought one of the babies mothers had died in the night and Dr.Tullos had taken one of the men at the mission in to town to make some arrangements and sign some papers. Well actually it wasn't one of the current Haven resident’s mothers that died. It was a mother that died in childbirth and her little one is the newest member of Haven 1. He's tiny and precious. I asked the Aunties what his name was, which they told me...in Tongan so I asked what it meant. Beatrice said, "It means, Problem". I looked at her in shock and said, "No Ma'am! We are not calling him Problem, I think he looks like... Joe. Yes, Joe!" Beatrice agreed that we could call him Joe. I hope the name sticks; no way can this sweet little one be a problem.
We didn't go back to the Haven Wednesday afternoon because we had a half day planned to drive down to Livingstone and see the moonbow at Victoria Falls. I'll write about that adventure in a separate post.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Rocking Elaine

Day 2 of being at The Haven brought lots of baby rocking. When I first arrived the babies had just been given bottles so I just picked up one and headed to the rocking chair. Miller is a tiny little guy that has the face of a grown man. He's very rigid and is not used to being held much so it's sort of like holding a 2x4, but he will smile and respond if only given a little encouragment. The other members of our group at settling into a nice routine of language classes, enrichment, and dealing with feeding issues. I have been trying very hard to form a good raport with the Aunties because as Dr.Weaver warned us they are very standoffish at first and by no means do we want to overstep their regular routine. That's why today after lunch I was so excited to hear my name called by Beatrice. She's the Auntie that takes care of the room thats home to the youngest babies. She speaks English well and has a welcoming smile so I had talked with her and expressed my want to help. Well while I was rocking Elaine, a precious little doe-eyed baby girl, I hear "Sarah!, Come!" so I hopped out of the rocking chair and headed towards the bathroom, where it was time for Elaines bath and I was promptly handed Meagan wrapped in a towel post-bath. Beatrice instructed me on what clothes to put on here and told me that it was my job to lotion, powder, diaper, and clothe each little one as she got them out of the tub. YAY!!! Sweet clean happy babies! Even after the vigourous washing they get I'm pretty sure I managed a smile out of each one. I'm positive that I don't accomplish the task as quickly as one of the Aunties might but I got them all done and sitting up in their bouncy seats and was quite happy with the results :) I then proceeded to help Beatrice change the bed linens and do some straightening up. I think that good things will be happening now that I've proved that I can handle whatever Auntie Beatrice throws my way.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Progressive Dinner

The Haven is a beautiful place, not just because there are paintings of Curious George and Winnie the Pooh on the walls and not because the little playground in the courtyard is full of colorful swings but because the children there are beautiful souls who so badly need just that little extra touch of attention to be able to thrive. Again I will let it be known that the Aunties do a wonderful job with meeting the day to day needs of feeding, changing, and bathing the 60 or so little ones that occupy the 3 houses, but there simply are not enough hands or hours in the day to give each one the individual hugging, holding, and loving they so desperately need. So today I started at Haven 1, the house that has the smallest babies and those who are relatively “healthy”. Auntie Beatrice put me straight to work feeding some of the smallest ones, Hamilton is approximately 2 months old and weighs all of about 4 lbs. He’s tiny and we are all so scared for his well being. He doesn’t eat much and often can’t keep down what he does eat. In the states he would definitely still be in the NICU but here he’s in a room with 5 other tiny ones and he’s shown no special treatment. So my job, hold a baby, feed a baby, fresh diaper a baby, hold them some more and then move on to the next. I hate putting one down to pick up the next but I can’t stand to see the twins, Kelsey and Kelly laying there as I hold Hamilton knowing they need the attention just as badly.
So as I struggle to split my attention between so many I’ve learned a few things. I move pretty quickly when a baby projectile vomits, I do gag when changing stinky cloth diapers, you can pick up a Zambian child by 1 arm like the Aunties do and it won’t hurt them a bit, and even though I think its plenty warm its winter here and Zambian babies want to be bundled up like Eskimos.
After this long day at the Haven I got to come back to the B&E house and try for a shower. We have a pretty good schedule worked out so that all of us can get at least a lukewarm shower. After several days of either cold baths or “baby wipe” baths I can’t begin to tell you how amazing a lukewarm shower is. Leonard had a grilled cheese and fresh garden tomato dinner made for us, but little did we know we would eat 2 dinners tonight. The mission decided to have a welcoming party for us and they fixed a feast for us, sang to us in Tongan, and honored us with a “Nice Cake” (yup that was written on the top in icing a special trait of Leonard’s world famous cakes). It was a wonderful experience and gave many of us chill bumps and brought tears to our eyes as these lovely people showed us their appreciation.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Pop Tarts

HI! Well today started with breakfast on our own here at the B&E house. Our cook, Leonard, has Sundays off so it was up to us to rustle up cereal, fruit, toast or whatever else we could find. Worship service here on the mission started at 9 am Zambian time...So that means it started when the majority of people got there and others continued to trail in for another 30 to 45 minutes. The service was mostly conducted in English with a few Tonga songs thrown in for good measure. They sing many songs that most of grew up singing in the church so we are able to sing along even without song books to such tunes as Joy to the World and What a friend we have in Jesus. Although the melodies of some are slightly altered from our versions we have really enjoyed learning them the Zambian way. Some of the kiddos from The Haven got to come to church so most of us had a baby in our lap for the entire 2 and a half hour service. Those kiddos can eat more goldfish and cheerios than any other toddlers I've ever seen. Most of them were very well behaved and entertained themselves well with the hair bands on our wrists and our bibles. Dr.Weaver had the most energetic little guy but she handled him like a champ. After service we headed back to the Hamby house to heat up leftovers for lunch, we're all so thankful for Leonard's wonderful cooking. After lunch we all decided a short rest was in order. We worshiped here on the mission again tonight at 7 and some special singing by the students here followed the service at the mission. All of the songs were in Tonga but we enjoyed listening to their beautiful harmonies. For the last hour or so we've been getting prepared for our busy week that starts tomorrow with language classes for the Haven kids, of course we did all of this by candle light because the electricity around here is just not reliable. A few other things that we’ve found to be unreliable include hot water and o yea just plain water. Apparently there is some sort of pump issue and although the water here is wonderful and totally safe to drink some days it just doesn’t want to make the long trip from the well into our faucets. Showers are coveted and warm showers even more so. We all try to go with the military style of water on water off in between soaping up and rinsing off so that everyone has a shot at lukewarm water at least. Let me just say… my hair looks lovely! Haha! Thank goodness it’s really quite cool here during this lovely Zambian winter.

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Haven

Sorry the posts are sort of few and far between. Our group is learning that the internet and electricity are no guarantee here at Namwianga. We have settled into our house here on the mission and it is really quite lovely by Zambian standards. There are some creepy crawly wall spiders and other strange bugs that we either steer clear of or find the closest flip flop to squish them. Our group is getting along very well and filling the lulls in our time at night with Zumba work outs and board games. So far the schedule for each day is breakfast at 8:30 followed by a trip to town or the George Benson college, lunch at 1, afternoons are spent at The Haven. This is 3 houses full of babies from newborn to toddling. One house is specifically for children that are AIDS/HIV exposed. The other house is for the younger babies and the final house is the toddler house. Starting Monday the rest of the group will be working on language enrichment classes and swallowing/feeding issues. Since I'm not taking the grad school hours I get to bounce from house to house helping the "Aunties" with whatever needs to be done. Today while at The Haven for the first extended period of time we learned that these kiddos just simply love to be held. The Aunties do a wonderful job taking care of so many little ones physical needs but there simply aren't enough hands for holding all these sweet little ones. At one point this afternoon all 7 of us had atleast 3 babies in our laps. They are quite content just to sit their resting their sweet little heads against our chests, but it is pretty funny to see the jealousy between them. I was holding a little boy named Sam, and a girl who's name i cant recall but they kept pushing each other away. Sharing a meal is fine, sharing some attention does not go over well. I took some beautiful pictures of them and as soon as there is more reliable internet I will do my best to upload some.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Insect Repellant

I guess I missed this little tid bit last night due to pure exhaustion but I'll share it now. Our hotel is very very nice. I have a feeling that these are the nicest accommodations we will be in the entire trip. It is so nice here at the Protea Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia that they offer every amenity a lovely breakfast, awesome restaurants where we ate last night, all the essentials in the bathroom such as soap, shampoo, lotion and INSECT REPELLANT!!!! You know you're in Africa when the hotel offers you insect repellant!!!

Zambia!

Most of you know, I'm a well seasoned world traveler with such far off destinations as Australia and Italy under my belt, but did you know that even those trips can't compare to the 3 day adventure it takes to get to Zambia, Africa! Sunday evening we flew out of Memphis, to Atlanta a fairly uneventful experience minus the one scare that the airline was only going to let us take 1 checked bag each! HA! Dr. Dean B. Weave set them straight :)
Being the HU Department that we are of course the first stop in the ATL airport was for food, in Terminal T, our flight was leaving out of Terminal E..the complete opposite ends of the airport. But On The Border was totally worth the "Home Alone" style sprint thru the airport after receiving a text from B.Weave saying "RUN to E31 RUN!!!"
We finally arrived in D.C. only to find that our hotels shuttles stopped running at 11 and it was 12:30, then our luggage came out on the belt only to find that our one extra bag with equipment in it had been mauled by the belt. B. Weave, being the champion traveler she is handled it all with ease. We all loaded into Taxi's 24 suitcases in tow for 5 hours of rest before heading off Monday morning to Zambia via, Rome, Addis Abebba, Zimbabwe, and finally Lusaka, Zambia. The flight from Zimbabwe to Lusaka was probably the worst due to the lack of belief in air conditioning and deodorant within the African nation.
Our arrival in Zambia was met with the usual headache, late luggage for over half of our group. We had a quick switchover at Addis Abebba, Ethiopia and not everyones stuff made it. They tell us that it should be here tomorrow or the next day for sure... **Fingers Crossed for the girls that don't have all or any of their luggage** For once mine all showed up and luckily some of the girls had stuck stuff in my extra suitecase so they atleast have deo and tooth brushes!
Our hotel is very nice and I'm pretty sure that after 3 days of non stop travel the shower I just took was one of the best I've ever had. We're 7 hours ahead of Arkansas and even though its only 8:30 pm Tuesday night I am exhaaausstteeddd.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Fro Yo, and not the ice cream place


Well folks, I AM A COLLEGE GRADUATE! yay!!! Saturday morning marked the day of my freedom from college life, and my move back into my parents house! haha! Graduation was long but I'm very glad that Dr.Ganus was the speaker. He did a great job and kept it short which was awesome since there were about 550 of us walking across the stage. In my usual fashion I couldn't just walk across stage without incidence. As I prepared to go up the stairs and receive my diploma I noted to a friend that I should have used bobby pins to keep my lovely hat on my lovely curls...but alas I did not because I was running late getting ready as usual. (Maybe I thought my hair would act sort of like velcro and just hold my hat on!) I did well walking towards Dr.Burks even shaking hands and receiving my empty diploma cover (diploma to be mailed in about 6 weeks) but as I turned to walk off the stage...well my hat just popped right off my fro-ish hair..that's right..the whole place got to witness my hat go flying off and bouncing across the stage! ha! I gracefully scooped it up and proceeded down the stairs. Not quite as exciting as the time there was a proposal at HU graduation, but I did receive several text messages eluding to my hat issues. O well what's a major life event without a good story right?! (The image above was taken moments after I stepped off the stage by the lovely Brittany Denton.)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Classes Slmashes, Hurry Graduation!



Well it has been quite some time since I've made a post and so much has happened since the last one. Spring break was a lot of fun. It included a wonderful trip to see my lovely friend Julia in Nashville TN. We always have so much fun when we are together. I also spent a good amount of time at home in Antoine working with Mr. Jimmy aka "Smilely". We got started on the beautiful remodel/redesign project of my bedroom and bathroom. He did all the tedious painting and I worked on destroying the tile in my bathroom to make room for the new beautiful tile. The project is now complete and looks awesome. I'm looking forward to moving back into my "grown up" room. :)
School has kept me very busy but I've gotten to splash a few other fun things in, like a trip to Houston with Jaime to see Brooks and Dunn at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show! We had so much fun taking a fast and furious weekend road-trip together. Then there was Easter and Spring Sing Weekend! JP and Julia came to visit and I was soooo excited to see them both! I have such wonderful friends!
This week is my last official week as a Harding student. Today was my last day at my offsite clinical practicum. My supervisor and the staff at his office have been great all semester. They were so sweet today, they gave me a sweet graduation gift and let me know how much I will be missed. I'll miss them too. Tomorrow is my last day of classes before finals. It has been a wonderful 4 years. I've learned a lot during my time here and I am excited to take the next steps.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

If I only had a dalmatian..

Well it was quite a week folks. It started out with a wonderful day of worship and fellowship. After church I got to hang out with John and Troy. We did homework and watched the olympic games. I know way more about curling now than I ever cared to I think.
School wise it was a pretty busy week with several tests, and projects to keep me busy. I'm starting to worry a little more about all my grad school applications. 4 students from my class have applied to my top choice school. 2 of them have heard back and been accepted. I have not heard yet. I know it will not be the end of the world if I don't get in but I'm anxious to know.
Thursday I got to have lunch with Sampa,Nana,Uncle Varley, Aunt Judy, and Uncle Norris. It's always so great to get to see them. I hate that I'm so busy so much of the time and don't get to see them very often even though we live in the same town.
I've spent a lot of time at the gym this week and it's definitely paying off! I got into and comfortably wore a size smaller jeans!! woot woot!
Today started off with a bit of excitement. Well let me back up and say that my super exciting Friday night consisted of me sitting on the couch watching a Criminal Minds marathon. Why is it that these whodunit shows always suck me in?! So after finally getting to sleep around 2 a.m. it was quite startling to be awakened at 4:58 on a Saturday morning by the high pitched screeching fire alarm!That's right people...everyone came flooding out of the building to stand out in the cold as the fire trucks arrived.. Well...there was no fire..apparently a toilet from the 3rd floor had leaked all night all the way down to the 1st floor and was shorting out the system. yay i feel safe! The alarm persisted, going off for a solid hour total. So my roomie and I went and got McDonald's breakfasts at 5:30 am.(It was still going off when we returned) Needless to say I did make it back to bed and didn't wake up until 11! The only bonus to this would have been getting to see the hot fire guys..but our R.A. had our check point too far away from their truck...O well I think I'll bake some cookies and go thank them for saving us from the evil toilet one day next week. :)
I spent tonight with my favorite little guy, Riley. Liz called me Friday and asked if I could keep him and of course I said yes! As soon as I knocked on the back door this afternoon I heard him come running, "SAWAHS HERE SAWAHS HERE!!!!" How sweet he is! We played at the house for a little while, then it was off for a fun treat, dinner at "Old McDonald's"! We ate then played in the play place for an hour! He had a great time and bonus it wore the little dude out! All in all a wonderful evening! I just love that little guy sooo much!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Gerontology

Well I survived Valentines Day weekend with the help of my best friend Jaime. We spent Saturday in Hot Springs, we had a lot of fun running around and finished off the day with a meal at our favorite Italian spot "Angels". YUMO! Sunday I went to church with Mom and Dad. Mom fixed a great lunch for the 3 of us, Dad's friend Joe, Joe's daughter Madalyn, Mam and Bro. Allen. It was a lot of fun sitting around and visiting with all of them. I got ready to head back to Searcy and guess what it was SNOWING! It was beautiful! The last time it snowed on Valentines day was in 2004, I was dating Aaron. So this snow brought back bittersweet memories of spending that day with him. I was so blessed to have had him in my life. He was a great guy and lived each moment to the fullest. He is really missed.
Monday was pretty run of the mill,as far as class goes. Monday night our apartment celebrated the engagement of Shayna and Cole. We all got to go to her ring ceremony after her club meeting with Iota Chi. It was so sweet to watch them tell the story of their engagement.
Tuesday I went to the gym then headed to the clinic for an exciting day of audiology! We had one older gentleman and his wife that came in for a little wax removal. After they were all done with the wax, the gentleman and I were visiting. He wanted to know if I went to Harding, and when I would graduate. Then he told me that he used to work on campus as a plumber, I say wow that's great I could use your help we've got a cranky toilet! To which he replies, well would you might have to go out with me. Haha! That's right, he wanted to trade a date for fixing our toilet! haha (never mind that his wife was standing right there the whole time...she said, you wouldn't want him!) haha! How funny! Wish he would have been around last weekend, I would've had a hot Valentines date! ;)
Wednesday afternoon I made a long drive to Pine Bluff...you may ask..Sarah why in the world did you go to Pine Bluff..well I had to go pick Dad up at a marina where our boat is now residing. So I get there by car a little quicker than Dad can get there by boat. It was about 7 p.m. when I rolled through Pine Bluff..its a lovely city..the family dollar has bars on the doors and windows. I mean..really?! The guy that runs the marina there is quite the character as well. Tight jeans, leather jacket, black t-shirt with a skull, pointy toed boots and he was sporting an awesome mullet-ish ponytail. O yea did I mention he used to be a bouncer and he also has his barber license. I just love meeting new people! :)

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Global Warming






Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday, so after a great period of worship and lunch I prepared some snacks for the gathering at Dirk and Wendy's. Matt planned the theme for the menu, "Bacon Wrapped". That's right hold on tight diet everything was wrapped in bacon. Chicken,steak,shrimp,pork,green beans,stuffed peppers etc. too much bacon! I made the green bean bundles and fixed triple chocolate brownies for desert. My diet took a small hit because I couldn't pass up trying all the goodies but I stuck to small portions of everything. The game was exciting but the commercials were a little disappointing in my opinion.
This morning I got up a little late so I hurried to hop in the shower. While trying to decide what to wear I took a gander out the window and what do you know SNOW!! So I checked Harding's website to discover a 2 hour class delay! YAY! It gave me some time to do a little reading and catch up with Jana on MSN messenger. Then it was off to class, outside was a winter wonderland! Both of my Bible classes met but one other class was canceled. When I got back to the apartment my roomie and her boyfriend invited me to go play in the snow with them. We bundled up the best we could and headed out. It was soooo much fun! The front lawn was on epic snowball fight!! There were probably 200 or more students out there having a blast! We joined in and had a great time! Of course once our clothes got wet we were freeeeezzzinngg!! So Molly and I headed back to the apartment. Yea, right global warming! Pttp! This snow is AWESOME!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Smoothies :)

Well let me think back over the last few days...Wednesday was a busy day of classes. I had a terrible headache Tuesday night during/after dinner, which made studying for that Missionary Anthropology test a little difficult. It was not a terrible test, but a little lengthy so I got a little bit of test ADD around question 60. I didn't do too well on the listing part either. O well, I try not to worry about first tests, next time I'll do better. :)
Wednesday night I went to Bible study at the Smith's as usual. This semester we are reading another book by Francis Chan, "Forgotten God". The study is going very well and I try to read/study the chapter, look up the corresponding scriptures and have something to bring to the table. This week, I read chapter 3 in preparation to discuss it, however Dirk had other plans (he noticed last week that not everyone has a book/is reading) so we watched a video from the Passion 2010 conference.
Wendy had fixed brownies, and although I am now keeping a food diary (the trainer at my gym suggested it so she can check up on me :) ) I still had one tiny brownie. yummy! Some of the guys got out playing cards when there were just a few of us left sitting around visiting. We started what turned into a pretty vicious game of ERS. It got so bad there was actual blood spillage! (accidental of course)
Thursday morning I met with the trainer at the gym. She informed me that I'm not eating enough. I should be doing more small meals and snacks throughout the day, so I will continue with the food journal. She suggested a smoothie as a snack, which is all well and good...if you have a blender to make a smoothie..So I went out and got one..hehe! yay new kitchen gadgets! It's pretty snazzy! Thursday afternoon at clinic was non-eventful aside from one patient that tried to fool us and pretend they weren't hearing as well as they should, but its hard to fake a hearing test...so don't try it..and why would you want to be hearing impaired anyway?!
Friday not much went on. I had a girls night, 4 of us went to see Dear John. It was ok...I think The Notebook is better. Mom got here late tonight so I'm excited to get to spend time with her tomorrow. Sorry this is a long post..guess I'll try to keep them short and sweet.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A ROCK?!


Today started with a trip to the gym. I blamed my absence on the weather. First it was, "I'm not getting out in that snow and ice to go work out." Then it was "I'm sure my ice skating moves on the way to class were a sufficient workout." Well today I had no weather to shove the blame on so to the gym I went. I did my cardio and some hard core abs. There is a determination to look rocking at the beach this summer. The trainer at the gym and I have an appointment to work up a program to make that goal happen. Even though I've had a trainer before and know what I should do I still seem to need that little boost to make it happen.
So here's the exciting part:
It's well known fact that little kids stick things up there noses. You know they find a stray bead or pea laying around and next thing you know there's a trip to the doctor for a bead-ectomy. As some of you know I've started my off-site clinical work this semester so on Tuesdays and Thursdays I shadow an audiologist. Well did you know...kids stick things in their ears too! Today we removed a rock! That's right this poor kiddo had no idea how this piece of pea-gravel ended up in the ear. From the looks of it the rock had been chilling in there for some time, it was COVERED in ear wax! This little sweetie took the rock removal like a champ, it's bound to be an odd sensation to have a rock pulled out of your ear. Can't wait to go back Thursday and see what else we find in ears!

Tonight was open dorm and since my dear friend John had a birthday Saturday I promised him a birthday dinner today. All his favorites, poppy-seed chicken, corn, and rice. I tried a new Italian bread mix too. I thought it was pretty good but the boys didn't seem to care for it, o well more for me...o wait..no that means more time at the gym. Anybody want some bread?! But the thing he was most looking forward to were the triple chocolate brownies, no worries waistline..I sent them all home with him.whew! It was a good dinner and I'm glad I got to spend some time with John, being seniors in college keeps us busy and our time together is growing smaller and smaller.

Well I have a test tomorrow in my Missionary Anthropology class so its time to look over notes and fill in study guides. Fingers crossed that it's not too difficult.

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Beginning

I'm really excited about starting a blog. Hopefully it will be more successful than my last few attempts at journaling. Those only seem to last about 4 days max, then get lost under a pile of books and magazines never to be seen again.
A lot of exciting things are happening for me. Such as graduation from Harding coming up in May, a 5 week trip to Zambia, Africa this summer, and hopefully beginning a doctorate program in Audiology in the fall. I hope that I will be able to keep up and keep you all informed with everything. If I slack off someone please call/text/email and remind me that I have this blog haha!
So one funny story to start off this week. Sunday I attended a house church with some friends that go there regularly. It was a wonderful experience, the group was very open, generous , and loving. We worshiped and studied together then shared a meal. The funny part came after the meal. One of the families that attends have a little boy that's 5 yrs old, let's call him "John". He's quite the character. The conversation went something like this...
Daniel, Sarah (that's me) and Taryn sitting on the couch. "John" approaches me.
"John" : I want to sit there
Sarah: O well you didn't ask me very nicely.
"John": Can I sit there PLEASE, I was sitting there before.
Sarah: O really, I didn't see you sitting here before, are you sure you aren't pulling my leg?
(Look of confusion on poor lil "John's" face, guess he'd never heard that expression)
Daniel: Just pull her leg and see what happens
Taryn: Be careful she might toot if you pull her leg
Sarah: O no I wouldn't do that girls don't toot!
"John": Uh huh my momma does!!

Thank goodness his mom was in the other room and didn't hear sweet little "John's" comment. Kids..they say the darndest things!