There will be peace....

We have been on Language therapy duty this week, and it has been a real experience! It is amazing to see our little ones coming out of their shells and coming alive. We have been hear a lot of sound imitation and babbling in our baby classes, and lots more sentence structure with our older kids. They have been requesting and imitating words and sentences, also they are more vocal independently. Our day starts at Haven 2 with they older kids where we have a modified circle time, we introduce items and sing song about them. We have even managed to get the aunties involved. It was awesome to see them teaching portions of the circle time, makes me think this stuff is sticking. Then head to Haven 1 for our 1 year olds and younger kids. We do kind of a modified cradle roll class. After lunch we usually head back to Haven 1 where we do some individual type groups. Small groups with three of four kids and one therapist. We read books, sing songs, and imitate sounds for treats!! Yes bribing works here too. Then we go to Haven 3 and have two groups. One with little babies in bouncy chairs and another with about 12 toddler corralled into two beds. More singing and reading is done here. We have really seen these kids come alive this week and it has been truly amazing to be apart of that.

Wednesday after dinner, Marga, Sarah and I decided to head over to the college to attend the singing class. When we arrived we discovered there was going to be a bible study before our singing class began. The topic of discussion was Forgiving and Forgetting. These ladies posed some really tough questions to each other and it was intense to say the least. After the lesson was finished, the student body President and VP came in to make some announcements. It was a little uncomfortable for the three of us, as they were kind of airing dirty laundry. They told the girls that “there will be peace in the girls dorms”, the president then went on to say “he didn’t want to name names but he would.” After this was brought up, the VP discussed the dress code (which it seemed to me had been discussed more then once). This consisted of modest neat dress, with below the knee skirts and no trousers for girls. I can get behind that, it sounded good to me. Then the big kicker came. The President told all of the women “if you have a husband or a boyfriend that is not on campus, honor them with your actions.”

In Closing, honor your husbands and boyfriends with your actions. Remember who made you and who you belong to.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Today we celebrate the birth of our dear friend Rachel Pugh. Thank you Mr and Mrs Pugh for having her.

We haven’t had good internet service for a few days and every time I tried to post my blog, the internet would go out. So this might be a long one. I am going to combine a few days here.

We have had some great successes at the Haven this week. Our language group has seen imorovemnets in most of the children. They seem to be responding better to group activities and are transitioning much better from one activity to the next. We have even seen a decline in most of the behavior problems we initially saw. This is such a wonderful blessing to see these kiddos unfold and become more interactive. Most of the babies are feeling better but we still have some sick little ones. One in particular is baby Sidney. She is a Tuberculosis baby and is have some serious trouble. She has labored breathing, and is also having trouble eating because she cannot seem to breathe and eat at the same time. BW took her to the clinic today to see the nurse, so keep this precious little one in your prayers.

Other than sick babies and lots of spit up it has been a pretty successful week so far. It is amazing that we have been working at the Haven for almost two weeks now. I have seen so many of our wonderful little one really come out of their shells and it has been such an awesome blessing to witness. I am so thankful I have had the opportunity to come on this trip. One I am sure I will not be forgetting anytime soon. Keep us and our work here in your prayers.

J

Hope does not Float....

Today we woke and Rachel had caught the funk! I sure hope we are not going to just keep passing this around to everyone.

After Breakfast we headed the Haven for our morning rounds. Feeding groups at Haven 1 and Haven 3. Language groups at Haven 2. I am so excited to tell you that our little guy, Hamilton, is doing well. He is filling out in the cheeks and his coloring looks tons better. Keep praying for him but I am going to add another babe to the mix here. Chowle, a 10-month-old little boy is having some real trouble eating. He aspirates, which means liquid gets into his lungs when he eats. So he now Has an aversion to eating. Luckily this little guy is not giving up. He is a fighter. He is happy, inquisitive, and alert. This is so not typical of a failure to thrive baby. We are giving this little guy up to God. Only he has the power to heal and make it possible for him to eat! Do your best work guys.

My personal miracle of the week has been little Teagan. She began this week, on monday, with absolutely no expression or desire to intact at ALL. As we played more on monday, we noticed she has some sensory issued that had not been addressed. So I used the z-vibe to stimulate her oral cavity a little more everyday n=and she has really come to life. She giggles and babbles and mores wonderful eye contact. None of which was she doing on monday morning! I am so pleased to see this precious little one coming out of her shell. Our God is bigger than any obstacle we face. Praise him.

After the haven rounds, we came back and did some buns and thigh workout in the backyard before heading to a dinner spaghettis and garlic bread for dinner. Delicious. Now we are trying to figure out how to watch a movie. Possibly Hope Floats but maybe Twilight! Who knows?

So we could not get the movie to work and Hope does not float...sad times.

That’s it for tonight! More tomorrow.

J

The Funk has come and gone...

So I am alive! Yesterday I came down with a stomach virus. And let me tell you, it was NOT pleasant. We woke up in Livingston and had to ride back in “Khaki Jackie” on the extremely bumpy roads for two hours. Every time we swayed or bumped all eyes were one me. Thankfully I got to take the afternoon off and sleep. It was much needed, though I was in and out of bed making trips to the bathroom about 20 times.

I felt not a lot better when I woke up this morning but decided the show must go on. I headed to breakfast, where Sarah made me drink some juice. It was about all I could handle. Then we loaded up and set out for the Haven. ALL of the babies seemed to be running fever and sick today. So this made for a long morning. I got thrown up on several times and sweat on a lot. I feel so bad for these little ones.

After lunch we took a short nap then head back to the Haven. Babies were feeling better and that made the afternoon go by very quickly. After baby time at the Haven, we were invited to tour the radio station here on the mission. It was neat!

We had a BOSS dinner courtesy of Lenord. It was chicken and rice with green beans and apple cake. Yummy! It was my first full meal in two days, so I was on it.

So in closing, ALL the babies I came in contact with today were sick. I am sure I will be coming down with it again. But seeing the little eyes stare into yours is so worth every minute of sickness.

Jaime

Wacky Wednesdays.....

This morning we woke up and headed to breakfast. It was the one I had been waiting for…eggs and toast! It was so good. After that we all went back and packed an overnight bag to go to Livingston.

After breakfast we headed to the Haven for our morning rounds. We started in Haven 1 with playtime and feeding stimulation. Then we headed to Haven 3 to help with lunch and feed our little ones there.

We had chicken spaghetti for lunch, then we loaded up in “Khaki Jackie” and headed to Livingston. It was a two hour ride, cramped in the back of the Jack on bumpy roads but we sang songs and laughed a lot which made our trip go by fast.

We arrived and our hotel is AMAZING! They have some of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in here in Zambia. We checked in and walked around a little then went to dinner nearby. Kaylee, Lacey, Sarah and I headed for hamburgers. Now I don’t normally crave a hamburger, but I was yearning for one really bad. As it were, it was “Wacky Wednesday”, when you get two burgers for the price of one. How could I pass that up?

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a little rest before we made our way to the falls. Victoria Falls was indescribable. Millions of gallons of water rushing with enough force to knock over tree and spray mist hundreds of feet in the air, AMAZING. The best part was on this rare occasion, we were able to see the “moonbow”. This occurs only when there is a full moon and the skies are clear. The light from the full moon cast a rainbow over the falls. It was breath taking. After capturing pictures of the bow, the group trekked around the falls to several other locations where the mist sprayed us like rain. A few brave souls (Rachel, Ian, Meghann, Jaime, Marga, Caroline, and Catherine) followed our dear guide across the bridge and were SOAKED when we returned.

Back at the hotel, a nice hot shower was in order. After a good long rinse in HOT water bed ime called.

J

Ode to an Eight Legged Friend

Update:

Little Miss Jaime sat on her pillow,

Writing her blog today.

When along came a spider,

and sneaked in beside her,

and Sarah ran to saved the day.

Yes that is correct, while composing my previous blog I noticed a spider had snuck into my bed with me. Calm and collected, I called our resident spider killer and she properly did away with him.

Don't be mad mom, these are not cute little garden spiders. You would approve.

Zumba in the Bush...

Rachel and I did not dress the same today. After a pancake breakfast, we headed over to the Haven for our morning clinicals. Rachel and I will be spending the entire weeks collecting data on our “at risk” babies and doing some feeding groups.

We started our morning in Haven 1 with the feeding group. Seven babies to be exact. With some extra thrown in cause they are so cute and could use the individual interaction. During this time we work on the non-nutritive suck, feed bottles, did “tummy time”, sang songs, and practiced sitting. Later in the morning we crossed over to Haven 3 and had another group of babies for feeding. More of the same. By Lunch time we were EXHAUSTED …feeding is harder work than I thought.

Lenord made us some Meatloaf for lunch and everyone was so tired, I don’t think many words were spoken. After a quick lunch we got an hour of rest. It was so nice and very needed.

Then back to the Haven for afternoon clinicals. This time we started at Haven 3 and moved to Haven 1 about 45 minutes later. We did more of the same. Got babies up from naps, changed diapers and clothes if needed. Then we started out feeding groups.

We have a VERY small baby who is in need of A LOT of prayers. He is very tiny with no fat and very little muscle on his little body. The song “Jesus loves the little Children” takes on a whole new meaning when you are holding one so weak and so fragile in your hands. I know God is good and hopefully little Hamilton will gain some weight with our amazing Caroline and stay with us.

We came back and had dinner and then did some Zumba. Might I say that is the funniest thing I have ever seen. 7 women doing some pretty rad dance moves to workout in Africa. I am certian not many people can say they have done that.

More Tomorrow.

Jaime