Day 28

Today is Tuesday. Some would say Tessa Tuesday, to others it is Take That, Malaria Tuesday. For me, it is Tyrannical Toileting Tuesday. The toddlers’ energy nearly doubled as we combined Haven 3 with Haven 2. We continued in increasing the production of vocalizations from the kids, using frequently used vocabulary during the session. Though I always enjoy working with the toddlers, I especially looked forward to spending the last few days with the group who I began this whole experience. It was absolutely exciting to compare the progress accomplished in the last 3 weeks. In the last 3 weeks, I was so surprised and overjoyed to see Kurt voluntarily sing and imitate motions to the songs sung. This was the child who defiantly whined during the entire course of the sessions when we first began. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Caleb placing his little finger over his lip to imitate “shhhh” when he began looking through his Hermie book. Even though it was not relevant to the correct book, it was still association to a generic reference. Altogether, SO REWARDING!

It was rather ironic that the behavior issues were brought up in the questions, because I had the misfortune of placing Dow in time out for hitting the other kids when he did not get his way. The kids here have been overall great to work with, but the language barrier and lack of structure in their schedules do seem to lend to great difficulties. Many of the kids here have been defiant and throw tantrums until someone picks them up, but unfortunately we are not in a place to do much other than place them in time-out at a back table and repeat “no hitting” over and over in an authoritative voice. It’s kind of frustrating to be in this position because a lot of the behavioral issues are cultural and could not be avoided because they don’t know any different. The tears are a main way to receive immediate attention from the aunties, which has subsequently corrupted the kids for us :-/

That's about all for now! Packing and hours of adrenaline-filled sleep lie ahead for me now. Livingstone,  ready or not, here we come!!

~Cari 

Malaria Monday!

Day 28 

Today was another great day in Africa. I am now in Dr. Tullos’s group for the first time. Our schedule consists of a language group in the morning with the Toddlers at Haven 3. Then we switch to Haven 1 and work with 6-9 ish month old babies; also language. During the afternoon we work with special needs children which include Crites, Jonathon, and Rita.

The language session this morning went really well at Haven 3. Last week we had some difficulty with behavior in the groups and it was hard to keep the group on task and focused. This morning however went very well. I worked with Lee. Lee is usually a very quiet child during therapy time and he was this morning, however he is always well behaved which is always appreciated. It was encouraging to see many of the children that usually cause problems perform well during the session.

Our next session took place in Haven 1 with younger babies. The session always starts with some tummy time, and language enrichment. It’s very low in structure and a lot of one on one time, which is my favorite. During this time we got to work outside for a little while so the film guys could get some outdoor shots in. During this filming I lost the fun baby I was working with, Peace, and received another baby, Ruben, who later on during the session peed on me. It was a great trade. The last part of our language session in Haven 1 usually consists of lots of singing and reading books to the babies. Today we managed to put 3 out of the 5 babies we were working with asleep during this time! Tomorrow I have a chance to lead and I hope to beat that record… we will see.

During the afternoon I had the privilege to work with Jonathan. Jonathan has mild cp, and autism. I really enjoyed working with Jonathan. He is quite a handful and loves to squirm around, but he is such a happy child. He did not cry or show discomfort, he only smiled and clapped. Today we did some turn taking activities, and we did various activities focusing on “in and out” and “up and down” then we practiced some Tonga words like run, stop, sit, stand, and jump. Jonathan loved running and stopping and falling to the ground and so did I.

After working with Jonathan I walked him back to Eric’s house where he stays and I came back to work with Sydney (my favorite). Today me and Sydney were privileged enough to get some film time. Sydney did her classic “deer in the head lights” look when the camera came out, but eventually we got some looks. Today was very exciting. Sydney needs to learn to walk and usually when I try to practice with her she stands for about 5 seconds and the fusses and stops standing, but today for the cameras she took many steps forward while holding my hands which is more than I have ever seen her do, even with the Aunties. So that was a very fun and exciting event this afternoon.

After therapy time was over we headed back to the Hamby house for dinner. The power had been out all day so we ate sandwiches. Later in the evening we had a group care and share time where we talked about a lot of our experiences here. Over all it was a great discussion. After that time was over we watched a movie out on the porch. Webster and Justin (the night watchmen)  wanted to sit next to me so they said that I must sit in the middle of them both. They are funny guys. I have really enjoyed getting to know them. They are not looking forward to me leaving, and I agree with them.

Thank you for all your prayers.

Ben

Super Sunday!

Shhh. Do not tell Harding, but today I danced in public. But I will return to that thought later.

Today was one of the best days I have experienced in Zambia as of yet. For our Sunday morning service we attended Ba Leonard’s church out in his village called the Kasibi Church of Christ. The adventure began as soon as we piled into our different vehicles and started down the road. It began as the normal dirt road we always journey on but it quickly became a dirt road that did not look like a road at all. We were all moving around and falling on top of each other as we continued down our road for about 30 minutes. I have to say, I was slightly carsick whenever we ended the journey. The village is honestly not significantly far away but not one of those people own a car. It would take a few hours to walk to any sort of help whenever someone was sick. This blows my mind. The best part of the entire time was how joyful all of the people in the village were through everything we did. The church service was at an outdoor pavilion that was added on to the little buildings so everyone could fit. The service was done in both Tonga and English with translators; it was such a wonderful experience. Dr. Hopper and Mr. Ragsdale, two of the teachers who joined us last week, were asked to give some thoughts and then Dr. Tullos did the Lord’s Supper. Afterwards we were able to hear a quartet sing some songs in Tonga; they were absolutely hilarious. I wish I would have known everything they were saying the entire time because all of the Zambian people were laughing. We were then asked to sing a few songs so we sang “I love you with the love of the Lord” and then the two Tonga songs Webster has taught us. I am so glad we learned those two songs in Tonga because we could tell that the people really appreciated us singing songs in their native language. After us singing we then shook everyone in the church’s hand in a line. All of us have learned the Zambian handshake so we were able to practice our new learned skill. Then we headed to the village for lunch and the other festivities.

My life was made today. I was able to dance with Zambian children. Our amazing lunch made by Leonard consisted of traditional food including shema, relish, and a secret sauce. Then the dancing began thanks to the wonderful people that played instruments. These instruments were so legit, made of wood and animal skin. I believe there were a banjo, bass, guitar, drum, and cymbals. As soon as the music started, the children were out to dance and I of course joined them. I was not the first, Dr. Weaver and Dr. Hopper began the party but I quickly joined. They are the most legit dancers I have ever seen in my life. The little 3 year olds put me to shame, hard to imagine, I know. I have never seen people’s hips and legs move quite like that; I wish with all my heart I could move like that. After dancing the entire time music was playing, I finally persuaded, with the help of Dr. Weaver, Ian Tullos and Ben to join the party. I seriously could have stayed there forever. I loved everything about that village; they were all so joyful. Sadly, the adventure in Kasibi had to end and we headed back to the house. Yet again it was an adventure riding back to Namwianga.

In the afternoon I headed to the Havens to work on my capstone project. Did that happen, no? Instead I played outside with the beautiful children from Haven 3, aka the sick house. I absolutely love all of those children and if I could, I would bring them home in a heartbeat. Someone might need to check my suitcase to make sure I do not have Bennett or Sydney in there. We talked inside for a while and then took them outside to play since that does not happen very often. I took Bennett and we went to swing on the swing set. He is the smartest child I have ever seen in my life; he mimics everything said to him, including songs, phrases, and facial expression. Sadly, I had to leave the Haven after two hours to head for dinner. Good news, dinner was awesome because we had pancakes and bacon. Wooo.

We went to church that evening and there ended up being 3 people baptized tonight. So everyone headed to our backyard for the baptism. The power went out on our walk over so it was an in the dark baptism. Good news, the moon is super bright right now, so we could see everything. After they were baptized, singing and rejoicing happened. Now I am sitting plotting ways to be super awkward towards the camera guys that arrived a few days ago. No worries I have already succeeded on multiple occasions. I am not worried though because secret sources have told me they think I’m funny; that means game one. In this moment, I have Mark as my desktop background. It can only get better; I just hope they join in on this fun and try to make me feel awkward too. Bring it on boys; I am ready.

Oh also, I am staying here with Ashley. See ya.

Also in response to Amy’s question. Jonathan is the boy that has mild Cerebral Palsy and Autism and maybe some Mental Retardation. My guess is all of that factor into the fact that he just recently began walking.

Meagan, I am also awful at singing random songs to random tunes. Shanna is amazing at it. Maybe one day I will be able to do it as well. I can only wish.

Saturday...

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

The Ultimate Trade

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others." Audrey Hepburn

We came to Africa expecting to bless those less fortunate than we were. We came expecting to give love to everyone we met. We came to demonstrate happiness and contentment to a third world country in need of both. And we came believing that we were the blessing.

So we traded our perfume and cologne for some bug spray, our heels and nice shoes for some Chacos, our stylish clothes for some oh-so-classy, shin-hitting skirts and scrubs, our wall decorations for some wall spiders, our extra blankets for some mosquito netting, and our daily vitamins for some anti-malaria medication.

And in the process, we have learned some valuable lessons. Mosquitoes bite. Ants bite harder. Black mambas exist. Cobras are fast. Pepto-Bismol is effective. MiraLAX is powerful. Sunscreen is important. Bug spray might be more. Doxycycline and Mefloquine are our friends, as is Imodium.

When spoken to in Tonga and you don’t know what to say, go with “Kapatu.” When proposed to say, “I have other plans.” When approached by a cobra, run. And when bitten by a mamba, enjoy your last 20 minutes.

But our journey has taught us invaluable lessons that we didn’t expect. In reality we’ve ended up trading our pride for some humility, our luxury for some discomfort, our plans for some uncertainty, and our put-together lives for some broken hearts

We came to be kind only to learn the meaning of true kindness. We came looking for the good only to find the best. We came to share with those in need only to receive, realizing our internal, invisible need. We have all at some point had our hair styled by the skilled hands of these children. We have never had to walk the path to the Haven alone. And in our efforts to restore, renew, revive, reclaim, and redeem, we are the ones who have received the blessing.

Our journey has caused us to question if we truly are the fortunate. We have learned the activity of real love as opposed to the emotion. We have witnessed actual happiness and contentment instead of the façade. And we have learned that we were the ones in need.

Charissa

5 days of therapy left in Zambia :(

     Today has been such a wonderful day..but not only today has been a wonderful day, but this whole experience! We really wish all of you girls could have joined us. The people here are so friendly, from the babies, to the college aged people, to the aunties and everyone else. The people here are just naturally joyful, and are always fun to be around. The singing is always wonderful to listen to during regular church service and children's church. We have also learned 2 songs in tongan from our friend the night watchman, Webster. We might even have to sing the songs we learned in church, but maybe Webster will forget and will not ask us to (fingers crossed). 

     I have been in the “feeding class” this week with Anna, Liz, and Cari. Our typical day begins in Haven 3 and ends in Haven 1. I got to spend time with Sibajene and Mary in Haven 3 and Shannon in Haven 1, which happen to be some of my favorite babies! As some of you probably already know we have been working on orally desensitizing the babies with nuk brushes and z-vibes and have been doing various stretches to strengthen their little facial muscles so they can eat better. Other babies that do not need as much oral stimulation and/or facial exercises we focus more on tummy time, trunk support, bearing weight, crawling, and pulling up. Sibajene has been able to lift his head/shoulders during tummy time and roll over, and Mary has been able to “scoot” forward and backward- no crawling just yet. Shannon tolerated all of the stretches and enjoyed the z-vibe and other vibrating toys. It is always a joy to work with the little ones because they are always so cute and funny! It is always great to see them achieving certain developmental milestones while we are here working with them! I wish you all could experience this with us.

     We ended therapy early today so that we could celebrate Ian’s birthday at Jordan’s rock! Jordan’s rock is a place that Zambians have come for centuries to celebrate different events. It is this huge rock out in the middle of the African bush, which was quite a bumpy ride away from our house. This week we have had certain visitors, such as Reagan and Ashley, Dr. and Mrs. Hopper, Dr. and Mrs. Ragsdale, Ms. Ellie Hamby, and the 2 videographers. So we currently have a pretty large group here! We had a fire on the rock and roasted hotdogs and made s’mores while the sunset! It was such a fun night! We only have 5 days of therapy left. Time here as really flown by. I’m sad to leave but I am excited to see all of your beautiful faces in a few weeks! Thank you so much for reading our blogs and commenting (even though its required ha)! I hope all of you are enjoying your offsites! I cant wait to hear about it when we get back!

Lauren

Potty time and fun in Africa!!!!!

This trip has definitely been a huge eye opening experience for me thus far! I really have enjoyed being here in Africa! Lets just say that I am thankful for the many blessings that we have in America. One of the many pleasures I get to do every morning is wake up and take a freezing cold shower. Its so cold that my scalp starts to hurt after awhile!!! I am thankful for my shower at home! Then I have a little time to read and just watch the sun come up! The colors are amazing! Red, orange, pink and yellow and blue all in the sky! This week I am in the language stimulation group working at the Haven’s and it really is a lot of fun. We dance, sing songs, play and talk with the children!

From Anna’s blog post I see there have been some questions regarding the crazy man that hangs out at the Haven. Honestly, in my own opinion I think that he has been hanging around the Haven so long, I do not believe that he is a threat to any of the babies or the staff. The Auntie’s do not seem to mind him and pretty much ignore him. It seems as though the Haven gets many visitors through out the day from family members of the children to doctors to people volunteering to help out. It seems as though anyone is welcome! Most of the people that are around are from the Namwianga mission and people know who they are. I feel sad for the crazy man because no one can understand him, and most people just ignore him.

One of the cultural things that I believe is worth mentioning is their potty training technique. There is none!!!! Most of the kids who are of toddler age are running around with no diapers on and just pee right through their clothes. In America, we stress having our children potty trained by the time they are at least three, have pamphlets on getting rid of diapers, and books and books on techniques to potty train. It is so interesting to me that it is not a huge priority here! There have been many of us in the group that have been inducted into the pee club for those of us who have been peed on!!! I believe almost all of us have been peed on once on this trip. So to sort of get rid of the pee problem during our therapy sessions we take a potty break where we bring the children to the potty to try and go so that there may not be any accidents!!! It has sort of worked so far. I think a reason that they are not so focused on potty training like we are is because the Auntie’s have so much going on all through the day. The Haven’s really have no set schedule except for meal times, and if the children are fed, the Auntie’s have to do laundry, give baths, pretty much run a household for all these children. I had to think about that the other day that the Haven’s are these children’s home. They live there day in and day out! The Auntie’s are saints and are amazing at what they do! I am glad we are here to help them out!!! I feel blessed to have had the great childhood that I grew up in. We should all be so thankful for the families we have and the people who helped raise us!!!! I think it would be helpful to have a schedule at the Haven but with so many different ages and levels that the babies are at it would be somewhat impossible. The toddlers at Haven 2 would be better to have a schedule than the other Haven’s because they are all toddlers!!!  Love to all,
Jill