Baby Ruth

I’m in love 100 times over. These babies steal my heart on a daily basis. I’ve already taken 500 pictures and we still have about four weeks left. I think, though, that I’ve (unintentionally) chosen a favorite: Ruth. As I mentioned in the last blog post, she is eight months old and one of the TB babies. She made a lot of improvement last week in feeding class. She isn’t leaking as much when she takes her bottle, is starting to lift her head up when she is on her tummy, and is beginning to put some weight on her legs when she stands. Ruthie loves to hear her name and to be told she’s beautiful; she smiles, laughs, and coos when I talk to her. She almost always cries when I put her down because, like all the children at the Havens, she craves the touch and attention. Today she sat by herself for a few seconds for the first time ever! She’s still not babbling, but we’re working on it. 

What breaks my heart the most about the babies at Haven 3 (the sick babies) is that many of them are suffering because of the mistakes of their parents: the babies, like Andrew, who painful skin conditions caused by syphilis; the babies who will struggle with HIV for the rest of their lives; the TB babies who have been so sick that they are developmentally delayed. That’s where we come in: we can help with development and, more importantly, give these sweet babies the love and attention they need. It’s so special when we walk in and little Andrew comes up to me, grabs my hand, leads me to the couch, indicates for me to sit, then curls up in my lap, and snuggles for as long as I will allow him. He cried all day today, though, and wouldn’t participate in language group because he wanted to be held the whole time, so Dr. Tullos had to put him in time out until he calmed down.

Three girls from Abilene came to Namwianga tonight and will be staying for seven weeks as interns at the Havens. I think they will be partnering some with us, as well. They seem sweet, and I’m excited to get to know them better in the next few weeks.

 Be sure to check CSD in Zambia daily for updates from all of us. We will take turns updating that blog.

Kulweela - Sweet

We have been at Namwianga for five days, and it still feels like home. It’s amazing to come back and see some of the same kids I cared for two years ago. There’s Seth and Dow, who were so tiny we didn’t know whether they would survive, and are now sweet, hilarious troublemakers. There’s also Mary, who we have nicknamed Mary Mary Quite Contrary, because she never smiles. I think I saw her smile maybe two or three times when I was here before, but we still love the little cutie anyway, and she enjoys being held. And then there’s five-year-old Jonathan, who is one of my favorites. We think he may have a combination of autism and cerebral palsy; he loves tickle games and just learned to walk this year, and he has the most adorable laugh I have ever heard.

I also love getting to know the new babies. I love the itty bitty room at Haven 1 (the yellow room). That room houses giggly Dennis, and Caleb, who has casts on his legs to correct clubbed feet. There are also Nicole, who is my favorite and fighting for her life, and precious Shannon (they were both born on March 27 of this year, and I’m taking them home with me). There’s also Louise, Wilma, Leah, Russell, and Layla.

I love the TB room at Haven 2, which houses the babies who either have or have been exposed to tuberculosis. Today, BWeave, Charissa, Lauren, Naiveen, and I conducted the first of our three feeding groups with the babies in this room. There’s Baby Ruth, who is absolutely beautiful and another of my favorites. Marcus, Joel, Sibajene, and Heath also share the room. It’s heartbreaking to see the effects of TB on these precious, happy little children. They are on average around eight months old, and several of them cannot hold up their heads during tummy time, cannot sit up alone, and have feeding problems.

We started the feeding groups by doing a developmental and feeding assessment on each of the children in the group. We evaluated trunk support, ability to hold their heads up and put weight on their legs, nutritive and non-nutritive suck, and speed of feeding with a bottle. We did some stretches and exercises on their faces and bodies, gave them some tummy time, and sang and read books with them. We also made contracts with each of the children in the group, saying that we will work hard but they have to work as well, and shook on it. We ended our class with a song and sat the children in their little seats so they faced one another in a circle and could look at one another.

We come back and enjoy Leonard’s cooking on the Veranda of the Hamby house at around 5 pm every day. Then, some local girls come over to play each day, so we play games, color, or play soccer with them (Pamela, Misozi, Chipo, and Brenda – I have a pictures of Brenda and Miso from 2009 that are hanging on my bedroom wall in the States). We sit and talk or play games in the evening. We are already having so much fun, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead in the weeks to come, although I know 6 weeks will not be nearly enough time!

Ino tusike lili? ~ When are we going to arrive?

We are leaving the United States tomorrow at 12 noon! Here's the itinerary:

May 18, 2011: Depart Washington, DC at 12:00 pm
May 19, 2011: Arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 7:45 am, depart at 9:30 am
                        Arrive in Harare, Zimbabwe at 12:45 pm, depart at 1:30 pm
                        Arrive in Lusaka, Zambia at 2:35 pm, check into hotel
May 20, 2011: Depart Lusaka, Zambia at 8:30 am, arrive in Kalomo, Zambia in the afternoon

Lots of stuff I will blog about later!

May 22, 2011: Depart Kalomo at 8:30 am, arrive in Lusaka, Zambia in the afternoon, check into Hotel
May 23, 2011: Depart Lusaka, Zambia at 3:25 pm
                        Arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 8:25 pm, depart at 10:15 pm
May 24, 2011: Arrive in Rome, Italy at 3:25 am, depart at 4:25 am
                        Arrive in Washington, DC at 8:40 am
                       
Here's a video I took of some of the kids in 2009. Enjoy!

Mwabonwa

Only one week left until we leave for Zambia! I've been waiting for this for two years, and I'm beyond ready. Still, I can't help but be a little bit nervous. Will I still love Zambia as much as I did the first time? Will readjustment to the U.S. be as difficult as it was in 2009? I sure hope not because that was very emotional and it took me a long time to reintegrate to life in this busy, noisy, superficial society. I was downright angry when I  landed in Detroit, was stuck in the airport alone for 23 hours, and was bombarded with the news of Michael Jackson's then-recent death. This man who was hated and accused by many was being worshipped and mourned by millions of people across the globe; meanwhile, I was mourning the loss of sweet baby Judah (the little guy on the right side of the top center picture in my header). Judah died when he was just shy of two months old; he never made any mistakes or hurt anyone, but only a handful of people attended his funeral and nobody was allowed to cry during the ceremony. This stark contrast felt like a slap in the face to me, and is not something I will ever be able to forget.


I think over the last two years I have slowly been able to accept life in the States by strategically surrounding myself with wonderful people who remind me daily how wonderful people can be in any country. On the other hand, I'm constantly at battle with myself over what is an appropriate use of my finances and what is superfluous. I'm also more prone to getting caught up in my personal "catastrophes" and have begun to lose the perspective I gained in Zambia about what constitutes a crisis and what I should let go. I've gradually become more lax on my thinking in these areas, especially over the past year, and I wonder what my perspective will be when I return home this time. Stay tuned to find out....


To end on a more positive note, I will introduce some basic phrases in the native language of southern Zambia:

Chitonga (Tonga) Greetings:
Good morning~ Mwabuka Buti
Good afternoon~ Mwayusa
Good night~ Kwasiya
Cheers~ Twalumba
How are you?~ Mwapona
Fine ~ Kabotu
Welcome~ Mwabonwa
Kwiiya ~ Learning

Namwianga (Kalomo, Southern Province, Zambia, Africa): http://www.zambiamission.org/
Chitonga Dictionary: http://bit.ly/m72pe4