Our Group Grows

Three workers from Abilene arrived today from Livingstone. They will be here for the next seven weeks. They really are the first arrivals for the 2011 Zambian Medical Mission. People will now be arriving continually until we leave the end of June. Ellie Hamby arrives next week, and then the activity will really begin. She is the most respected woman in all of Southern Zambia and certainly a force to reckon with. She is also one of the most amazing people I have ever met and she entertains us with stories most evenings.

Regular day at the Havens today. The kiddos were a little more restless but I think we are getting their number. Walking home afterwards, one of Ian's Zambian friends, David, took us around by the lake. There were signs of many animals (none of the big 5) and birds. It was a little longer but a great walk none-the-less.

Webster, one of the watchmen, is teaching most of the students to sing Zambian songs. They have been practicing on the veranda the last several nights and it sounds great. Tonight we have had sporadic power, but they have sang right through. One time, I even went out to see if they needed lights and they just kept singing. One is truly becoming "Zambian" if you just keep going whether you have power or not.

Monday

It was a typical work day here in Zambia with one major exception. We began at 4:30 this morning, in order to see the astronomical allignment of the planets with the moon. It was neat but I'm afraid we didn't get the entire effect. We were either a little early or a little late. The rest of the day was a typical Monday. The kids are falling into a routine and willing to work a little harder for us. The infants are eating better and more willing to lay on their stomachs. We are pushing them to strengthen their upper bodies to sit up and crawl and they are resisting us less.

I am enjoying walking to and from the Haven. As I mentioned earlier, it is about a mile and a half through the bush. It really makes you aware that you are in Africa as you walk along. Hopefully, it will also help me get my exercise.

Lazy Sunday

I will try to post again, but the last two days this "Lazy Sunday" has disappeared into the void. Yesterday was indeed a lazy day. The only real excitement was the arrival of a container late the night before. The Namwianga community gathered after sunrise Sunday to unload it. It was efficient and organized with each item going into the appropriate bin or area for future distribution. I took lots of photos because this is the way Ian got his balls and his Clean Delivery Kits (CDKs) here and how he will get his CDKs for his Eagle Project here next year.

Crazy Day

Today (Saturday) was one of those crazy days where we tried to cram in everything that could possibly be done in a single day. We had originally planned to go to Choma for the day. Choma is a larger town about an hour away from us here at Namwianga. It has a large market for the local shoppers (still not a tourist market) and a regional art and craft museum. We usually spen a day there and had planned to keep with the tradition, but last night we were informed about a wedding that was occurring here at Namwianga this afternoon. The community was invited and we could not miss that because we had been informed that Zambian weddings were something to see.

So we headed to Choma, all crammed into Khaki Jackie and the truck the Pharmacy group has been using. We got to the Post Office in Choma by 10:00, bought stamps and mailed postcards, went to the ATM to get Kwacha (it is always a thrill to see that I have millions of Kwacha in the bank at home), then turned everyone loose in the market. The chitange man did not have a large variety, and the fabric shop had sold out of the pink African material I had wanted to buy for my sister-in-law. The lady in the heart of the market that had all the unique material was not there today, so I headed for the Spar to help get lunch for everyone. We picked up some supplies for Ba Leonard as well as lunch and headed for the museun to eat at the picnic tables. The crafts at the museum were great and the students went crazy (as usual) and probably funded many more projects with the things they bought. The director was so excited that he invited me back in after the students had left to pick a gift from the shop but we were so late for the wedding that I could not.

We raced back to Namwianga, changed into our best (embarrassing, to say the least) and walked over to the auditorium. The usher (who is also one of our watchmen, escorted Beckie, Ian, Scott and I right to the front and seated us next to the groom’s family. We stayed for three hours and it seemed to be just getting going. No cake or food had been served. There is a lot of dancing. The attendants all dance in, the bride dances in, (then the ceremony), then all dance back out, then they all dance back in. Meanwhile, the audience often got up to dance. I was exhausted, just watching. I have wonderful video but could never get it loaded. I found a link online with lots of information about Zambian wedding traditions. Go to the middle of the document to see the Zambian material with even a reference (mispelled) to Namwianga.

At 5:00 we raced back to the Hamby House where Ba Leonard had a huge meal ready for us. I included a photo just so you wouldn’t worry too much about what we were eating.

Hiking Through the Bush

There is a shortcut between the Mann and Hamby houses and the Havens. It only saves a few minutes, but it cuts through the bush. Since everyone cannot fit in Khaki Jackie (our name for our Land Cruiser) some need to walk each day. It is about a mile and a half. Here is a photo of Ian on the trail and another photo of Liz, Cari, and Lauren. I actually enjoy it. The option is to walk around on the dirt road.

We are truly into a routine now. The only problem today involved other kids wanting to be a part of the special sessions we have going. I kept redirecting them, but they were determined.

We met with Mr. George Phiri this afternoon. I think he is still considering how we can get the speech therapy class going with the students here. He also mentioned that the community is planning another big welcome back for us so that is yet to come. I mentioned that Ian wanted to talk to him about his Clean Delivery Kit Eagle Project and he was excited. We will schedule that in the near future.

Making Progress

We are here in Zambia to work with the children at the Haven. We are fairly rigid in our schedule and provide three hours of therapy each morning and one hour and forty-five minutes of therapy each afternoon. This puts us in contact with the children as long as we can possibly work with them each day. After several days of work, we are beginning to see results. Some of the kiddos are eating more and Kritz (my special spectrum child) imitated three words today. He and Ian have a special bond and he smiles and waves at Ian but doesn't open up to many others. We hope weeks of intensive work will help him and the others along.

Beckie, Ian and I made an early morning rush to the little market in Kalomo this morning. It is run by an Indian couple who have always been very kind to us. They always slip Ian a "sweet" while we are there. I will try to connect a photo to show the interior. I described it to my Mom and she said it reminded her of the little community stores in the States during the 1930's. She reminded me that her parents had run one and she worked in it. It put things back into perspective.

Thursday lunch is our Zambian food day. Here is a typical Zambian meal of nshima and relish. The nshima is ground corn and the relish is anything else that may come with it. Today we had this sauce with cabbage, rice, and chicken, along with a cabbage slaw. It is really OK and most of the students were impressed. I think they probably prefer hamburgers however.

Africa Freedom Day

Today is African Freedom Day, a holiday celebrated throughout Africa. All the offices and stores are closed and the schools are off on holiday. There was a big futball (soccer) match on the field between Namwianga and a community around 40 kilometers away. There was cheering and celebration when Namwianga won.

We worked with our kiddos today and now have our process in place. We also met with all the workers tonight to prepare them for the possibility of an infant death. Most of them have been shielded from death but here it is a daily reality and Beckie and I felt they needed to be prepared.

Check out the blogs of many of our students linked on the left. Many of my friends have shifted to Facebook and do a running status report of their comings and goings and no longer maintain their blogs. I continue to keep a blog as a type of journal of my adventures.

Routine

We finished our assessments/evaluations and developed our schedules today and will be ready to begin with the regular routine tomorrow. We've got all supervisors and clinicians working full time to get everything done in the next four weeks. It makes for long days but similiar to past years. We have heard nothing about the Introduction to Speech Therapy class we usually teach at the college. We are hoping they forgot to work us in this year since we need all supervisors at the Haven. Next year we will try to bring an additional supervisor so that the absence of one will not result in reduced therapy.

Quiet evening at the Hamby House. Ian is next door playing Trivial Pursuit with the college students and I am catching up on some work. He spent the afternoon playing hide-n-seek in the African bush. How neat is that?

I Shall Not Die

“I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord. Psalm 118:17”

This was written on a sheet of paper taped to the wall with a bandaid in one of the rooms in Haven 3 today. We are just meeting these children and someone left this special prayer here for this child.

It has been a good day (and a very tiring one). We laid all the gifts (diapers, covers, jumpers, blankets, etc.) out on the table in Haven 1 and I am amazed how much we were able to cram into our suitcases. Thanks to all of you that contributed to these items. I can assure you that they were greatly appreciated. We are diagnosing (informally) all the kiddos to determine what we need to do over the next several weeks. There are a number of swallowing/feeding kids, some special needs kids, and a great number in need of language stimulation. It will be a busy time here. There was a lot more interacting with the kids and our signs about how to do things were still up. I’m sensing that we are making progress.

Spent some time with two of my dear ones today. Hamilton is a little brick and seems to be progressing well. Can you believe that this is the kid who was dying in our arms last summer? He’s still behind in language but seems to be ready to move ahead. Kritz is walking but not talking at all. He is still exhibiting characteristics on the spectrum, but appears to be healthy. Ian spent a lot of time with him today and got him to smile once, but I didn’t see it.

Sunday

We are moved in and unpacked. After Church this morning, we unloaded the containers to get all of our HIZ-Path stuff out so that we will be ready to go to work tomorrow. We found most of what we had shipped, but it looks like all of our boxes were just thrown into the back of a big container. Knowing Ba Leonard like I do, I know that he didn't leave everything that way. The group must have left without much planning in the Fall.

An African Day Washed Clean

What a storm last night! All the locals are saying that they have never had that much rain here in May. We were even accused of bringing it in our suitcases. The logistics are difficult. We don't have enough transportation until Monday, so we made multiple trips where ever we went. The kiddos at the Haven were wonderful. Little Hamilton is big and fat and a delight to play with. Kritz has moved to the toddler house and is acting more normal but there are still some problems. I still wish we could take him home with us.

We went to Kalomo in shifts today. The locals are very aware that the makuas are back in town because the chitanges were going for 10,000 to 20,000 each instead of the standard 8,000 or so. I managed to get a Manchester United chitange for 8,000 so was feeling pretty smug.

Still having trouble posting photos. I am going to put them all in a file and post them as I am able.

The Rains Down in Africa! (5-20-2011)

It has been raining heavily for the last hour. It seems the rains have followed us here. This is supposed to be the dry season here in Zambia, but this year certainly seems to be an exception. The flowers are blooming everywhere and everything is greener then I have ever seen it. (We also must be more vigilant against the mosquitoes).

We drove down from Lusaka today. It is about a 5-6 hour drive and we stopped, as usual, at Tooters to go to the toilet and get some lunch. (Remember that in British associated countries, a bathroom is just for that purpose.) I think it was the first shock to our students expecting something like an American rest stop. We sat on the steps and ate, then returned to the bus to discover that it would not start. With a little pushing, we got it started but I am sure the locals will be telling the story for the rest of their lives.

We arrived here in Namwianga to find Ba Leonard waiting with all prepared. Ian and I are in the Hamby House with all of the wonderful African motif, most of the women are in the Mann House, the guys are in the bunk house and a couple of the girls are in a house behind. We are all closer together this year.

Unfortunately, we did not have Ba Leonard’s wonderful fried chicken, but he did have a welcome cake waiting for us. For those of you new to this whole Zambia adventure thing, Ba Leonard’s cakes are famous and we were honored with one right off the bat. Every cake is labeled and we always live for the next one.

We Have Arrived!

We left Memphis at 12:00 on Tuesday and we landed here in Lusaka at around 2:30 pm. It was good to finally arrive and walk away from any more flights. I can remember when flying was an exciting adventure. Now it is such a pain. When we get our group flights through the Harding Travel Service, you can't ask for seat assignments. Now that the US Airlines are expanding the number of seats in economy so that they can cram in big dollar seats in "business" etc., it is just plain painful for me to fly. My knees are crammed up against the seat in front of me and I'm always stuck in the middle (on this trip anyway). One of the reasons I like Ethiopian Air is that they haven't gotten as bad as the U.S. carriers. It was still a long, long trip but we all made it and we are resting here in Lusaka tonight. Tomorrow we will head on to Namwianga, which is 5-6 hours away.

We all ate at Rapsody's tonight along with the drivers who have come to take us back. Beckie and I had also invited a speech-language pathology student who took a year off from Case-Western Reserve and an audiologist who practices here in Lusaka. We got a lot of new ideas that we will try to make work as we continue with this project.

I will try to include some pictures tomorrow. BTW: We saw Mt. Kilimanjaro from the plane window today. I was thrilled to finally see it.

Arkansas is Getting Hot So We're Off to Africa!

We are off again. I am not dead, but my daily life tends to be less exciting so I blog about the exciting things. Ian and I, along with 2 other speech-language pathologists, 11 of my students, one pharmacy professor and three students, one occupational therapist and her student, and several others are heading back to Zambia. It is never an easy trip. We fly to Chicago, Washington D.C. (spend the night), fly out Wednesday morning to Rome, then to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Harare, Zimbabwe, and finally to Lusaka, Zambia on Thursday afternoon. One doesn't drive in Zambia at night so we will spend Thursday night in Lusaka and across Zambia (5-6 hours) to Namwianga on Friday.

I will post updates and photos when we have electricity. Keep us in your prayers. I can't wait to see how my kiddos are doing.