Hello to you all! I can not believe it has been 11 days since the last time that I posted. It is going by so fast. I love the kids at the Havens and am so glad to see slight improvements every day. I did language enrichment activities last week with Tessa, Ben, & Jill. The kids were CRAZY! They are renovating Haven 2 so the girls are in Haven 3 and the boys are at Eric’s House. We went and picked up the boys every morning for therapy and then took them back afterwards. I walked with Jonathan every day and I found out that he is 5 years old and wasn’t walking in January. I am so proud of how well he walks for how long he has been walking.
I also found out that Ian s the baby whisper. He can get crying kids and kids throwing a fit to calm down and start to laugh.
Jenna & Meagan you may like this next one & Abby it is dedicated to you! The other day during individual therapy, I was working with 2 girls named Dorcus and Peace who were sitting at the table and a little boy named Wesley was sitting in my lap. Peace was giggling and eventually tired out and Dorcus and Wesley were being whiney, so I was trying to entertain them. Dr. Weaver and some other people were across the room talking about sports and Arkansas was mentioned and at this point I was tapped out of songs so I sang the first song that came to my mind, “Hit that line, hit that line, keep it going, take the ball right down the field, give a cheer, rah! rah!, Arkansas will never yield…” and they stopped whining. I finished the song, and they begin to whine again and so I sang it again and again until it was pointed out that I was singing the Arkansas Fight Song to kids J
Today, some of us went to the Havens and some went to Choma. I went to the Havens to play with the kids and held Andrew who hasn’t been feeling well for a couple of days for a couple of hours. He is super sweet. Ashley got to try kampeta today and she even ate the eye balls (dry fish). She has much more bravery than I do. She then got to share sweets with another kid to get the taste out of her mouth. Apparently it doesn’t taste very good.
Much love,
Shanna
Hahaha the fact your chose to start singing the Arkansas Fight Song cracks me up!! Maybe next time you can do the hog call. Maybe I should consider singing the Arkansas Fight song to my kids when they are whiney. I know the feeling of being tapped out of songs. A trick that I've learned from my supervisor is you can turn anything into a song. Just pick a tune and plug some words in that pertain to what you are doing. She's amazing at it. Me...not so much, lol.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could have your therapy techniques on tape :) So the boy Jonathan who is five only began walking recently? Why?
ReplyDeleteOh wow Shanna, really the Arkansas fight song?? Thats too funny :) Next you should sing the Harding song... Oh wait i have no clue what it is!
ReplyDeleteHahahahahhahaha, thanks Shanna!!! That cracked me up :) I think next year we should exchange LSU/Razorback ornaments. What is the typical diet of a Zambian?
ReplyDeletelol that is really funny! Why did Jonathan not walk until January? Was something wrong?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amy I would LOVE to see a recording of all your therapy techniques.
Miss you guys tons!! I'm soo not looking forward to class but I'm counting downt the days till I get to see everyone!!
I'm pretty sure that is the most hilarious thing I've ever heard! I agree with Meagan...ANYTHING can be turned into a song. I feel sorry for the kids that hear me making up songs. We had one kid that can't say "f" in the initial position, and whenever my supervisor sang the clue to him, he was able to produce it perfectly. When I sang... didn't work. We still can not figure it out, but I guess music can fix any situation.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it sounds like you are having so much fun! Miss you!!
hahahah Shanna! I could think of any song but twinkle twinkle little star today and the kids kept covering there ears whenever I sang:) o well.. How do the kids respond to American songs.. are they familiar with them now?
ReplyDeleteShayna
Shanna! I am so very proud of you! That truly is a wonderful song to sing! Next year we should send over Razorback stuff!!!! (and Harding stuff too ;) Also, guess who I have been working with??? Your cousin Kim! She is awesome and such a sweet person! Can't wait till you return! I miss our lunch dates!!!
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