I'm in a glass case of emotion.
First off, yesterday we went to church and it was great! Long.... but great. They sang a few songs in Tonga but also a few in English so we were able to sing along. After lunch, we all were hit by that usual Sunday afternoon feeling. Almost everyone took a nap and some of us read all afternoon. After dinner, Lacey, Kaylee, and I stopped by Mrs. Mono's to pick up our latest orders. I got 3 aprons and a little pouch, and they both got dresses, 6 aprons, and a few pouches! Mrs. Mono is making a killing off of our group! When we got back we just had to take a picture with our favorite purchases thus far!
When we got home last night, our electricity went off (surprise, surprise) AND our water was off. It had already been two days since most of us had showered so that was not good news! It started working in the morning but it was freezing cold so we all decided to just go without. I got dressed and when I came out of my room, Jaime was wearing the exact same outfit! Love it.
Today was our first actual day of work at the Haven! After breakfast, we had about half an hour before we were supposed to be there. Catherine, Kaylee, Sarah, Lacey, Jaime, and I decided to walk and Ian informed us he knew how to get there (we'd only been in Khaki Jackie and not on foot). Dr. Weaver told us we'd better hurry because it was a good 15 minute walk. After we passed the college, Ian pointed out a trail that his Namwiangan friend, David, had told him led to the Haven. We totally believed him. Bad idea. After 30 minutes of walking, Dr. Weaver called our GA cell phone asking where we were! We were definitely just out wandering in the bush. Finally we came upon what look like a tiny village and some of the kids pointed in the direction of the Haven. It ended up being just around the corner, but Ian later admitted that he had no clue what he was doing! We will never trust him again! Ha... Jaime and I were assigned to be with Caroline, who is a swallowing specialist in Nashville. This morning we went to Haven 3, which is where the medically fragile babies are. We screened every baby to find where they were on their milestones for gross motor, fine motor, language, and feeding. Few of the babies were where they’re actually supposed to be. We identified 6 babies that we are going to start a feeding group with and we found that all of the babies need language stimulation. After lunch, we went and screen the babies in Haven 1 that the aunties had identified as needing special attention. There were three babies we really focused on. Meagan is hypersensitive and has not been gaining much weight because she is a weak eater. Miller (who I fell in love with!) has failure to thrive and poor weight gain. And Hamilton. HAMILTON NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS! He weighed about 3 kg when he was born and now, 2 or 3 months later, he has only gained 0.5 kg. He is the tiniest baby I have ever seen in real life and he really needs a NICU. He is a poor eater and is obviously behind on his milestones. We took pictures of him today so hopefully we can have before and after pictures. These pictures are very sad, but they are real. Caroline is really going to work with him and hopefully we can improve his feeding so he can gain the weight he needs to grow!
Hamilton's tiny feet: the size of Caroline's thumb.
Hamilton's tiny feet: the size of Caroline's thumb.
Hamilton yawning. Look at his poor little chest.
I'm not sure if you can really tell, since the picture is not high quality, but he is so tiny that his skin on his arms and legs is just hanging on his little bones! It makes me so sad! Even though we had to deal with some harsh realities, I really enjoyed what we did today! Since we haven't had our class on dysphagia yet, it was so interesting to learn from Caroline! I can really see that what we're doing will make a difference in these babies lives and I am so proud to be a part of it! On a different note, when I was carrying a baby back to hear bed, she apparently decided that was the perfect time to have some yellow diarrhea. It got all down my shirt and skirt!!! GAG. It smelled so terrible! Oh my gosh, I cannot even explain the grossness of this situation. Luckily, it didn't happen until about 20 minutes before we were done for the day so I was able to shower and change clothes pretty soon after!
This afternoon, we were informed that a "meet and greet" type party in our honor was going to be held tonight from 6-8. We always eat dinner at 5:30 so we just ate quick and headed over. We had no idea what this party would entail and were pretty skeptical about it since we were the only ones there at 6:05! Dr. Weaver told us we might be asked to sing a song so we landed on Wonderful, Merciful Savior. We spent about 20 minutes practicing it to make sure we all knew the words. Finally people started showing up and they brought in huge pots of food! I mean, HUGE. Dr. Weaver told us, we'd just have to tough it out and eat it, even though we'd already had dinner. Fourth meal! They had cooked a traditional Zambian meal: rice with "chicken soup", grilled chicken, beef riblets, cole slaw (which I did not eat), and of course, cake.
Being fatties and eating fourth meal!
The beef was just a little tough. Actually, I couldn't even get a bite of it. Oops!
The people that came were mostly the local adults who are all involved in the mission in one way or another. It was great talking to them. I met a woman named Royce who teaches 8th and 9th grade English. She told me all about her two daughters and how much she loves teaching. She also wanted to know all about my studies and my family. Soon after talking, we were asked to have a seat. One of the men got up and told us the order of the party (so organized!). We prayed for our food and then ate. The same man got up and said, "While we are still chewing..." and spoke for a minute. Mr. Phiri, who is the superintendent of the schools and one of the main leaders of the Namwianga Mission, gave us his formal welcome. He was such an eloquent speaker! He gave a brief history of how our program came to be. He talked about how speech and language are the main basis for communication and that Zambia is lagging behind in their communication skills. He said he is so thankful for speech-language pathologists and that they have come to Zambia. He said many other beautifully worded things and it was so moving! Kaylee and I almost cried! It was so obvious that these people really need our services and that we are capable of helping them! God has truly placed us here for a reason and I think we all felt that tonight. After he spoke, a group of guys from the college sang a few songs in Tonga. They explained to us what they meant afterwards in English and again... so moving! The spirit of God is definitely in this place. Then they asked us to sing our song... ha! It was hard following the college group, but they all loved us. Mr. Phiri spoke one more time and said that in order to show their appreciation to our group, the people of the Namwiangan mission would like to present us with a cake! Love it.
Yep, they apparently label all of their cakes here, and this one was a Nice Cake.
This is our group with Mr. Phiri! We absolutely loved him! He told us that he hopes to become the first speech-language pathologist in Zambia. We hope he can do it!
It's now about 11 pm, and Catherine and I are again the last ones awake. It has been a long, but blessed day. Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!
This afternoon, we were informed that a "meet and greet" type party in our honor was going to be held tonight from 6-8. We always eat dinner at 5:30 so we just ate quick and headed over. We had no idea what this party would entail and were pretty skeptical about it since we were the only ones there at 6:05! Dr. Weaver told us we might be asked to sing a song so we landed on Wonderful, Merciful Savior. We spent about 20 minutes practicing it to make sure we all knew the words. Finally people started showing up and they brought in huge pots of food! I mean, HUGE. Dr. Weaver told us, we'd just have to tough it out and eat it, even though we'd already had dinner. Fourth meal! They had cooked a traditional Zambian meal: rice with "chicken soup", grilled chicken, beef riblets, cole slaw (which I did not eat), and of course, cake.
Being fatties and eating fourth meal!
The beef was just a little tough. Actually, I couldn't even get a bite of it. Oops!
The people that came were mostly the local adults who are all involved in the mission in one way or another. It was great talking to them. I met a woman named Royce who teaches 8th and 9th grade English. She told me all about her two daughters and how much she loves teaching. She also wanted to know all about my studies and my family. Soon after talking, we were asked to have a seat. One of the men got up and told us the order of the party (so organized!). We prayed for our food and then ate. The same man got up and said, "While we are still chewing..." and spoke for a minute. Mr. Phiri, who is the superintendent of the schools and one of the main leaders of the Namwianga Mission, gave us his formal welcome. He was such an eloquent speaker! He gave a brief history of how our program came to be. He talked about how speech and language are the main basis for communication and that Zambia is lagging behind in their communication skills. He said he is so thankful for speech-language pathologists and that they have come to Zambia. He said many other beautifully worded things and it was so moving! Kaylee and I almost cried! It was so obvious that these people really need our services and that we are capable of helping them! God has truly placed us here for a reason and I think we all felt that tonight. After he spoke, a group of guys from the college sang a few songs in Tonga. They explained to us what they meant afterwards in English and again... so moving! The spirit of God is definitely in this place. Then they asked us to sing our song... ha! It was hard following the college group, but they all loved us. Mr. Phiri spoke one more time and said that in order to show their appreciation to our group, the people of the Namwiangan mission would like to present us with a cake! Love it.
Yep, they apparently label all of their cakes here, and this one was a Nice Cake.
This is our group with Mr. Phiri! We absolutely loved him! He told us that he hopes to become the first speech-language pathologist in Zambia. We hope he can do it!
It's now about 11 pm, and Catherine and I are again the last ones awake. It has been a long, but blessed day. Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!
4 comments:
Rachel this almost made my cry--i couldn't be more proud of you and what you are doing...God has led you to this moment and i am so thrilled for you...i love the pics and the descriptive writing...i love love love hearing about your time in Zambia...we pray for you continually and love you more than life! Mom
This is Ms. Lowry! What a wonderful day you've had! Seems like God is answering so many prayers and using you very powerfully for His good purpose. Can't wait to hear more! Say "hello" the the rest of the group for me and take some breadcrumbs in your new little Zambian purse the next time you follow Ian into the African bush. : ) I love the cake -
Aww!! How touching!! The food looked good!! How many times a day do ya'll eat? I hope your day at the Haven went well!!
Hi Rachel!
I enjoy reading your blogs! I will be praying for Hamilton to gain weight and grow! I know he is precious! I can't wait to read more from each one of you!
Have a blessed evening Zambian time! Mrs. Vendetti
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