I felt like a penguin as I slowly shuffled toward the edge. Everything within me screamed "no!" as I looked down. Then came those fateful words. "5-4-3-2-1 bungee!" That's right. I jumped off a perfectly good bridge. Pushing all rational thoughts aside, I dove off the platform and began my 4 second, 111 meter plumet towards the rapids below, only to bounce back and free fall again. According to Alan you fall at about 50 mph, then on the bounce back its about 80 mph. Don't know about all that, but it felt pretty fast to me. It was really cool though, and definitely something I would reccomend.
Well, this weekend I went to Victoria Falls with some short time Volunteers that arrived a little more than a week ago. Two of them fly back to Europe next week. Apparently tourism is down a bit. That worked great for me. They put together this nice little package deal over at the bridge. With that package deal I was able to bungee jump, zipline, and go on the gorge swing for just $20 more than it costs to bungee jump. So, I did all three. The zipline was a nice and easy slide accross the rapids, you could probably sip tea as while crossing if you really wanted to. The bungee was amazing, pretty much pure adrenaline. But I would have to say the gorge swing was the most intense.
Basically with the swing you have a harness on and you just step off the bridge into thin air. Kinda freaky. You see, with the bungee at least you have something strapped around your ancles, and that heavy cord almost seems to hold you as you fall. I can't explain it, you just feel more secure. Wheras with the swing you are just free falling and the rope doesn't catch until you reach it's end. Pretty crazy.
The falls are amazing! Apart from flying over the ocean, I've never seen so much water at once! Since rainy season just ended, there is a lot of water shooting over the falls. You can see the mist rising from the falls a good five minutes before you enter the city of Livingstone! Its craziness! There is a bridge you can walk accross to view the falls, but if you walk accross it this time of year, you get soaked! Enrico and I went accross, Ingi and Tommy opted to stay dry. We were thoroughly drenched though!
In other news, I got to go on a Safari on Saturday. We saw a lot of elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocadiles, water monitors, impala and other members of the deer family, warthogs, some beautiful birds, etc... No kitties though. This actually isn't the best time of year for game viewing, so it was pretty amazing that we saw what we did. We saw over 50 elephants at once, all down at the water's edge. I got some pretty amazing pictures as we got pretty close to them. One elephant came prancing right by the vehicle, a roudy teenager, got within about 6 ft of me. We also got to watch this huge bull elephant swim accross the river a ways, then munch on some greens. The morning part of the safari was in a little boat, then the afternoon part was in a vehicle. So, we were right in the water with him. It was cool.
Things have been pretty slow here at the clinic, hence my failure to write as of late. I've been climbing the mountain here after work every day, getting my leg muscles back. One of the incisions on my leg is just a huge scar now, I'm waiting for the scab to drop off the other incision, should be any day now.
There are three new people here doing mission work for just a short time. Ingi from Norway, Tommy from Germany, and Enrico from Switzerland. They've been here about two weeks now I think? Ingi and Tommy leave next week, Enrico leaves sometime next month. They all speak German so that makes life interesting. Anywho, they are all in their 20's as well and they've been helping Alan put up an electric fence around the property.
I get to go out on the next crusade! Sometime at the end of this month. I don't know when or where it is, but Ernest has assured me that it is in the middle of nowhere, which is exactly what I like to hear. So, it should be good. I've gotta brush up on the health talks and VOP (Voice of Prophecy) Bible studies a bit. Fortunately, since things are so slow at the clinic I have plenty of time for things like that.
I had my first bush clinic without Darby this past Wed. It went pretty well, I think we saw 95 kids. This week it will be busier. Luyando. I guess it is farther out in the Bush, so we will be staying the night Tuesday night and hold the clinic Wed. I hear there are a lot of people that come to this one. That's kind of intimidating, gotta work fast and know what you are doing.
Well, it was a long day, what with plummeting to the earth and the long bus ride back and everything... so I'm going to bed.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
RFI Clinic
Well, I sat around all weekend. Litterally. Darby wanted me to keep my leg elevated so I did. Didn't even venture out for church since it was a bit of a commute to get to church this Sabbath (it wasn't here at RFI). It was good though because I have some sermons on my laptop and listened to a couple. They were really good. The swelling went way down, almost to the same size as my other leg. Then I started working in the clinic on Monday. Swelling is going back up now... Gr.
Anywho, working in the clinic is pretty interesting. It is usually very slow, but it has been pretty busy the past couple of days. So, I've been counting a lot of pills, giving tetanus shots to pregnant women, doing paper work to close out the end of April, and yesterday I helped hold a baby's mouth open while the nurse excised its tongue. Poor thing couldn't stick its tongue out, which would cause speaking problems later. So, they just snip a bit under the tongue. It was interesting. I didn't realize babies had such strong jaws!
Paulene told me today that once my leg is healed Alan will let me go back out to the bush to help with the next crusade. I'm excited! Riverside is nice and all, but there's just something about the bush. The people are great, and freaky as it is to me, health talks and bible studies are really needed out there and its nice to be filling a need like that and see how your work is impacting people. Its also just nice to live simply. Sleeping in a tent, cooking over a charcoal fire, talking and reading for entertainment, surrounded by cows and goats and chickens and pigs and kids that are just dying to be played with. People think they have it made sitting in their big mansions with their big screen TVs and piles of money but hey, I'd take the African bush any day.
Darby, Alex, and Mark all left this morning. It was sad. They are all probably in the air or stuck in an airport somewhere right now. Tomorrow there are a couple of people coming from SAU, a guy and a girl. The girl will be staying in the house with me so I won't be alone for long. Anywho, not much else to tell so I'll say bye for now.
Anywho, working in the clinic is pretty interesting. It is usually very slow, but it has been pretty busy the past couple of days. So, I've been counting a lot of pills, giving tetanus shots to pregnant women, doing paper work to close out the end of April, and yesterday I helped hold a baby's mouth open while the nurse excised its tongue. Poor thing couldn't stick its tongue out, which would cause speaking problems later. So, they just snip a bit under the tongue. It was interesting. I didn't realize babies had such strong jaws!
Paulene told me today that once my leg is healed Alan will let me go back out to the bush to help with the next crusade. I'm excited! Riverside is nice and all, but there's just something about the bush. The people are great, and freaky as it is to me, health talks and bible studies are really needed out there and its nice to be filling a need like that and see how your work is impacting people. Its also just nice to live simply. Sleeping in a tent, cooking over a charcoal fire, talking and reading for entertainment, surrounded by cows and goats and chickens and pigs and kids that are just dying to be played with. People think they have it made sitting in their big mansions with their big screen TVs and piles of money but hey, I'd take the African bush any day.
Darby, Alex, and Mark all left this morning. It was sad. They are all probably in the air or stuck in an airport somewhere right now. Tomorrow there are a couple of people coming from SAU, a guy and a girl. The girl will be staying in the house with me so I won't be alone for long. Anywho, not much else to tell so I'll say bye for now.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Well, the visit with the surgeon went well. He basically just asked if there was any pain, then prescribed an ointment and told me to clean it twice a day and apply the ointment then walked out. Very breif that man. So, apparently things are healing well. Its neat, because when I change the dressings I can see where the tissues are reforming... you know, whatch things grow back together. Tis nice.
In other news, I shadowed Darby in the clinic today since I'll be filling in for her as much as someone who isn't a nurse can do once she leaves Tuesday. Basically I will be counting out pills and running errands and sitting around waiting for a patient to come in. Its not a very busy place. Good thing is, the nurses that work there are very willing to teach you and let you sit in on things they do. So there is definite potential for some learning. Also, they'll let me help deliver babies. So, it should be interesting anyway, even though I'd much prefer the bush. Also, I'll be a big part of the bush clinics we do three times a week. So that should be nice.
The guys here left this afternoon to go do a building project out at Lushomo... I considered stowing away on one of the vehicles. Mark even told me which one would be easiest to hide in but... didn't happen. So, they are supposed to say hi to Lushomo for me. Alan and Paulene are taking the SMs camping this weekend, I can't go though because of my leg. So, I've decided to treat myself to haystacks Friday night (and by haystacks I mean dorritos, beans, and tomatoes... those are the only toppings I can come by, but its still a treat!), and maybe cookies. Should be good.
Last night was "family night" up at Alan and Paulene's. Twas nice. We ate a mean carob cake with some banana ice cream, fri chik (yes, real fri chik... don't see that every day in africa), and popcorn. Then we played Thump thump. It was fun, nice to hang out with 'the fam.'
Not much else to talk about... I do a lot of sitting with my leg propped up these days... no exciting stories there. So, I ttfn... ta ta for now!
In other news, I shadowed Darby in the clinic today since I'll be filling in for her as much as someone who isn't a nurse can do once she leaves Tuesday. Basically I will be counting out pills and running errands and sitting around waiting for a patient to come in. Its not a very busy place. Good thing is, the nurses that work there are very willing to teach you and let you sit in on things they do. So there is definite potential for some learning. Also, they'll let me help deliver babies. So, it should be interesting anyway, even though I'd much prefer the bush. Also, I'll be a big part of the bush clinics we do three times a week. So that should be nice.
The guys here left this afternoon to go do a building project out at Lushomo... I considered stowing away on one of the vehicles. Mark even told me which one would be easiest to hide in but... didn't happen. So, they are supposed to say hi to Lushomo for me. Alan and Paulene are taking the SMs camping this weekend, I can't go though because of my leg. So, I've decided to treat myself to haystacks Friday night (and by haystacks I mean dorritos, beans, and tomatoes... those are the only toppings I can come by, but its still a treat!), and maybe cookies. Should be good.
Last night was "family night" up at Alan and Paulene's. Twas nice. We ate a mean carob cake with some banana ice cream, fri chik (yes, real fri chik... don't see that every day in africa), and popcorn. Then we played Thump thump. It was fun, nice to hang out with 'the fam.'
Not much else to talk about... I do a lot of sitting with my leg propped up these days... no exciting stories there. So, I ttfn... ta ta for now!
Monday, April 27, 2009
crusade, demons, and hospitilization
Well, it has definetly been an interesting month. A little over three weeks ago Ernest, Chile, the new students from life (Alex, Raymond, Becca, and Camalin), Alex (yes there are two, this ones a girl, the other is a guy), and myself headed out to Changa, deep in the bush of Siavanga district. Chaanga is set a good 3-4 hours away from a paved road, so needless to say there was some off-roading involved to get there. We actually got stuck 3 times. And when I say stuck, I mean it is a miracle we got out! We had to cross a lot of really large mud puddles, so when we got stuck, it was burried up to the bottom of the truck in water. One time I was afraid the truck would tip. So, we all took a mud bath trying to push the truck. Fortunately, mud is great fly repellant (and there were a ton of flies).
So, we finally arrived at about 8 Friday night. We were greated by a huge group of kids who were standing by the road, they came running after us yelling “Mugua! Mugua!” That’s their word for white people. So, I climbed out of the truck bed and was met by a huge crowd of people who simply wanted to shake my hand and greet me. “Kwasia buti” To which you reply kabotu kwasia buti!
So we set up camp and spent the next two weeks visiting people during the day, inviting them to come to the meetings and holding bible studies with them. We also had a number of people go through VOP lessons (when you’ve completed them you get a free Bible - one guy completed all 26 in one day. He was serious!) Then, at night I would usually give the health talk, then Ernest gave the message for the evening. We had a pretty good attendance. Maybe at least 500 each night, but I’m not good at guessing numbers.
It was good times. We met a lot of interesting people, saw a lot of interesting things. I got to meet the chief. He gave us a chicken. A very pretty chicken at that, she was grey and specked. I also met and talked with the chief head man (biggest guy under the chief.) Someone else was the spokesperson when we met the chief, but I was the one talking meeting the chief headman (Ai!) I basically went into my typical spiel presenting God as a loving, personal creator who wants to be your friend. Then, my translator started in on Sabbath and baptism. It was a good visit. We also met a couple of apostolic priests. My translator argued with them for about 2 hrs. Craziness. But, they invited him to come back and chat again so hey, you never know where this may go. We may have 2 more church members soon.
Witchcraft was a big thing in that area. We saw a lot of demon possession. Sometimes at night we would hear the elders praying and casting demons out of people. Then, the second Sabbath we were there, Ernest preached and gave an appeal. Three of the women who responded to the appeal fell to the ground and started writhing and making strange grunting noises. They just picked them up, carried them inside the church building, and started praying for them while the service continued. Then one of the women came running out, arms flailing, running quite funny with the elders following close behind. She ran out into the middle of a field, fell, and they gathered around and were shouting at the demons to get out, and praying. The other two women took their turns doing the same thing. Now, I have to bragg about my translator. He’s this tiny little thing, maybe 5 ft, 26 years old, and he was always the first to the person who is possessed, then he stands over them, pointing away from the person and yelling the loudest at the demon to get out. Good job Emmanual, good job. We also had about 6 women who had to be carried out of the water at the baptisms because they had demons in them and collapsed when dunked under water.
I believe we had over 75 baptisms though. God definitely blessed. There were a number of people who were not baptized but who were still thinking and studying when we left. So, the numbers may grow yet.
Also, the last Friday that I was at Chaanga I woke up with a very red, swollen, left knee. Painful too. As the day went on it grew more and more painful, gave me a fever, made my stomach upset, at one point I even had trouble breathing. So, I applied charcoal poultices, and took a lot of charcoal by mouth. It was worse Saturday, but I managed to make it to the church service and baptisms before collapsing under a blanket in my tent. Sunday morning we got up early and left. You notice how horrible and bumpy a road is a lot more when your knee throbs with each jolt. Just an observation I made. I would have liked to have gone straight to the clinic then, but it wasn’t possible because we had to pick up Ernest’s daughter at the blacktop and take her with us to Lushomo and whatnot. So, Monday morning I finally got to Riverside, so I was able to see the clinic. By this point, my leg was huge! We are talking more than double its normal size.
The nurses here took one look at my leg and said I needed to go to the Dr in Lusaka for better antibiotics and arranged for transport for me the next day. So, Tuesday morning I went to the clinc and had an appt. with a Dr. Lynen who took one look at me and said I needed to be admitted to the hospital. Long story short, I spent the morning and afternoon in the treatment room on a drip waiting for everything to get worked out so far as finances go and was admitted around 16 hours under the diagnosis of infected knee with abscess and cellulitis. Translation: not good. It could have easily gone septic - and killed me, or resulted in osteomyelitis, or I could have wound up with arthritis for the rest of my life. Fun. So, the surgeon came to look at me and told me he was going to operate in two hours. He’s Russian, very short with words, and not the most cheerful/friendly person I’ve met but he’s a good surgeon so I make no complaints.
All that was easy, hobbling around with an infected knee (walking the long ways to the hole in the ground we call a toilet in the bush - then trying to figure out how to squat on one knee), getting admitted, the IV, news about surgery, etc… Now came the hard part. Calling the parents. Needles to say I met with some unhappy responses. Given the circumstances, they handled it pretty well. Actually, I had talked to them the day before and told them my knee was infected and I had to go for meds, so mom just said “I knew it! I knew your knee was worse than you were telling me!” Yes mom, you were right. Congrats.
Anywho, the surgery went well, the incisions looked pretty nasty. They are good sized cuts. He left it open so that they could drain some more if they needed to. He actually put drains in to keep it open and make sure any pus left in could get out (these were interesting drains, they didn’t have tubes small enough for my incisions, so he cut the fingers off of a latex glove and put those in). Weird. It was very interesting looking. Quite creative. The first few days of wound cleaning were not fun. Since the incisions are so big, the person cleaning would just shove the syringe down in there and blast the wound with saline, then again with iodine. Can you say ouch? Then when the surgeon cleaned it…. *shudders* He was… thorough… yeah…. Thorough. It was funny though, because I didn’t realize the two wounds were connected until he squirted the stuff in one wound, and it came shooting out the other. That was funny. I laughed. He also gave me a big squirt of hydrogen peroxide. Lots of bubbles came pouring out both sides. At first I didn’t realize what he had put, so I thought it was pus and was slightly concerned…. It was funny though. Alex was there Wed night (she freaked out more than my family and myself put together when she heard I was all alone in a hospital going into surgery etc… so she came to visit the next morning and got to stay the night). Anywho, Alex found it all quite amusing. I’m not a big crier, so naturally I didn’t cry when they messed with the wound, even though it hurt like nothing else. So, Alex was there laughing at me saying “Just cry already!” Thanks buddy. The nurse said the same thing… But there weren’t even tears in my eyes to be cried people… what’s your problem? Fortunately the only time I’ve had a lot of pain has been during wound cleaning time. So… I was able to refuse all painkillers with the exception of the night of the surgery. I was so groggy I didn’t even know what they were injecting me with. I just knew it was time for a shot and I was supposed to hold still. Okay.
So, I spent five days in the hospital. Good times. I was so happy to leave though! I’m too independent for all of that sitting around with nurses doing everything for you nonsense. My first night back here the Director and his wife wanted me to stay at their house (she’s a nurse). I’m doing quite well though, so I got to come back to my regular Riverside home today since it isn’t necessary for someone to watch me every second. I just have to take my drugs morning and evening and clean the wounds once a day and rebandage them. The wounds are gaping, so you’ve gotta watch it, but they are very clean. The surgeon wants to see me again on Tuesday. Not sure why. Maybe he just misses me. He probably wants me to be his American granddaughter… yeah that’s it he misses me.
Other than that the only other news is that I have been moved to Riverside now. Permanantly. Bummer. I really like it out in the bush, I would have liked to get to help out with the other two crusades they will hold. Also, I miss my Zambian family. Especially Chile. He’s like my cousin or something. We’d just sit up late at night talking at the crusade since the message was in Tonga and I couldn’t understand, and it was his dad talking so he’d heard the same sermons before. We had some good times. The student missionaries here will be leaving next week. So, then I will be working in the clinic here.
One of the girls here told me she wrote back home about my leg and so her whole town was praying for me. Haha. I guess a lot of people have been praying. I know it has been healing quickly. Even the doctors at the hospital were surprised at how quickly the swelling went down. And the gaping wounds are healing nicely. Its cool to watch how the tissues are reforming already. I think God and my guardian angel have definitely been working over time here lately.
Well, I think I’ve made this blog long enough. That’s all
So, we finally arrived at about 8 Friday night. We were greated by a huge group of kids who were standing by the road, they came running after us yelling “Mugua! Mugua!” That’s their word for white people. So, I climbed out of the truck bed and was met by a huge crowd of people who simply wanted to shake my hand and greet me. “Kwasia buti” To which you reply kabotu kwasia buti!
So we set up camp and spent the next two weeks visiting people during the day, inviting them to come to the meetings and holding bible studies with them. We also had a number of people go through VOP lessons (when you’ve completed them you get a free Bible - one guy completed all 26 in one day. He was serious!) Then, at night I would usually give the health talk, then Ernest gave the message for the evening. We had a pretty good attendance. Maybe at least 500 each night, but I’m not good at guessing numbers.
It was good times. We met a lot of interesting people, saw a lot of interesting things. I got to meet the chief. He gave us a chicken. A very pretty chicken at that, she was grey and specked. I also met and talked with the chief head man (biggest guy under the chief.) Someone else was the spokesperson when we met the chief, but I was the one talking meeting the chief headman (Ai!) I basically went into my typical spiel presenting God as a loving, personal creator who wants to be your friend. Then, my translator started in on Sabbath and baptism. It was a good visit. We also met a couple of apostolic priests. My translator argued with them for about 2 hrs. Craziness. But, they invited him to come back and chat again so hey, you never know where this may go. We may have 2 more church members soon.
Witchcraft was a big thing in that area. We saw a lot of demon possession. Sometimes at night we would hear the elders praying and casting demons out of people. Then, the second Sabbath we were there, Ernest preached and gave an appeal. Three of the women who responded to the appeal fell to the ground and started writhing and making strange grunting noises. They just picked them up, carried them inside the church building, and started praying for them while the service continued. Then one of the women came running out, arms flailing, running quite funny with the elders following close behind. She ran out into the middle of a field, fell, and they gathered around and were shouting at the demons to get out, and praying. The other two women took their turns doing the same thing. Now, I have to bragg about my translator. He’s this tiny little thing, maybe 5 ft, 26 years old, and he was always the first to the person who is possessed, then he stands over them, pointing away from the person and yelling the loudest at the demon to get out. Good job Emmanual, good job. We also had about 6 women who had to be carried out of the water at the baptisms because they had demons in them and collapsed when dunked under water.
I believe we had over 75 baptisms though. God definitely blessed. There were a number of people who were not baptized but who were still thinking and studying when we left. So, the numbers may grow yet.
Also, the last Friday that I was at Chaanga I woke up with a very red, swollen, left knee. Painful too. As the day went on it grew more and more painful, gave me a fever, made my stomach upset, at one point I even had trouble breathing. So, I applied charcoal poultices, and took a lot of charcoal by mouth. It was worse Saturday, but I managed to make it to the church service and baptisms before collapsing under a blanket in my tent. Sunday morning we got up early and left. You notice how horrible and bumpy a road is a lot more when your knee throbs with each jolt. Just an observation I made. I would have liked to have gone straight to the clinic then, but it wasn’t possible because we had to pick up Ernest’s daughter at the blacktop and take her with us to Lushomo and whatnot. So, Monday morning I finally got to Riverside, so I was able to see the clinic. By this point, my leg was huge! We are talking more than double its normal size.
The nurses here took one look at my leg and said I needed to go to the Dr in Lusaka for better antibiotics and arranged for transport for me the next day. So, Tuesday morning I went to the clinc and had an appt. with a Dr. Lynen who took one look at me and said I needed to be admitted to the hospital. Long story short, I spent the morning and afternoon in the treatment room on a drip waiting for everything to get worked out so far as finances go and was admitted around 16 hours under the diagnosis of infected knee with abscess and cellulitis. Translation: not good. It could have easily gone septic - and killed me, or resulted in osteomyelitis, or I could have wound up with arthritis for the rest of my life. Fun. So, the surgeon came to look at me and told me he was going to operate in two hours. He’s Russian, very short with words, and not the most cheerful/friendly person I’ve met but he’s a good surgeon so I make no complaints.
All that was easy, hobbling around with an infected knee (walking the long ways to the hole in the ground we call a toilet in the bush - then trying to figure out how to squat on one knee), getting admitted, the IV, news about surgery, etc… Now came the hard part. Calling the parents. Needles to say I met with some unhappy responses. Given the circumstances, they handled it pretty well. Actually, I had talked to them the day before and told them my knee was infected and I had to go for meds, so mom just said “I knew it! I knew your knee was worse than you were telling me!” Yes mom, you were right. Congrats.
Anywho, the surgery went well, the incisions looked pretty nasty. They are good sized cuts. He left it open so that they could drain some more if they needed to. He actually put drains in to keep it open and make sure any pus left in could get out (these were interesting drains, they didn’t have tubes small enough for my incisions, so he cut the fingers off of a latex glove and put those in). Weird. It was very interesting looking. Quite creative. The first few days of wound cleaning were not fun. Since the incisions are so big, the person cleaning would just shove the syringe down in there and blast the wound with saline, then again with iodine. Can you say ouch? Then when the surgeon cleaned it…. *shudders* He was… thorough… yeah…. Thorough. It was funny though, because I didn’t realize the two wounds were connected until he squirted the stuff in one wound, and it came shooting out the other. That was funny. I laughed. He also gave me a big squirt of hydrogen peroxide. Lots of bubbles came pouring out both sides. At first I didn’t realize what he had put, so I thought it was pus and was slightly concerned…. It was funny though. Alex was there Wed night (she freaked out more than my family and myself put together when she heard I was all alone in a hospital going into surgery etc… so she came to visit the next morning and got to stay the night). Anywho, Alex found it all quite amusing. I’m not a big crier, so naturally I didn’t cry when they messed with the wound, even though it hurt like nothing else. So, Alex was there laughing at me saying “Just cry already!” Thanks buddy. The nurse said the same thing… But there weren’t even tears in my eyes to be cried people… what’s your problem? Fortunately the only time I’ve had a lot of pain has been during wound cleaning time. So… I was able to refuse all painkillers with the exception of the night of the surgery. I was so groggy I didn’t even know what they were injecting me with. I just knew it was time for a shot and I was supposed to hold still. Okay.
So, I spent five days in the hospital. Good times. I was so happy to leave though! I’m too independent for all of that sitting around with nurses doing everything for you nonsense. My first night back here the Director and his wife wanted me to stay at their house (she’s a nurse). I’m doing quite well though, so I got to come back to my regular Riverside home today since it isn’t necessary for someone to watch me every second. I just have to take my drugs morning and evening and clean the wounds once a day and rebandage them. The wounds are gaping, so you’ve gotta watch it, but they are very clean. The surgeon wants to see me again on Tuesday. Not sure why. Maybe he just misses me. He probably wants me to be his American granddaughter… yeah that’s it he misses me.
Other than that the only other news is that I have been moved to Riverside now. Permanantly. Bummer. I really like it out in the bush, I would have liked to get to help out with the other two crusades they will hold. Also, I miss my Zambian family. Especially Chile. He’s like my cousin or something. We’d just sit up late at night talking at the crusade since the message was in Tonga and I couldn’t understand, and it was his dad talking so he’d heard the same sermons before. We had some good times. The student missionaries here will be leaving next week. So, then I will be working in the clinic here.
One of the girls here told me she wrote back home about my leg and so her whole town was praying for me. Haha. I guess a lot of people have been praying. I know it has been healing quickly. Even the doctors at the hospital were surprised at how quickly the swelling went down. And the gaping wounds are healing nicely. Its cool to watch how the tissues are reforming already. I think God and my guardian angel have definitely been working over time here lately.
Well, I think I’ve made this blog long enough. That’s all
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Speaking of Flexibility
Well, Sunday after posting that blog, all of us Student Missionaries got invited to take a boat down the Kafue river with this bunch of people that are here for the one day church that was put up yesterday. Anywho, there were some big guys in the Adventist world there. Dick Deurkson, who is the host for Maranatha Mission Stories, was there... shook his hand... that's right. Haha. Also the man who invented the one day church was there, didn't meet him though. And they brought their wives along too. They were nice ladies. So, the whole ride the men had their cameras out (you know, the kind with the mile long lenses), the women all sat in a corner and talked, and the student missionaries played Rook and Thump Thump (except me, I wanted to enjoy the scenery). It was a nice boat ride. We saw some locals fishing, one guy was transporting tomatoes in his little dug out, there were hippos, eagles, parrots, lots of other birds I can't remember the names of etc...
Monday morning Liz and I left for town at 5 hours. We dropped her at the airport at 6:30, then the driver (his name is Oliver, he's a local) went to get supper. I got dropped at immigration at 9:28 where I stood in line with a bunch of people until 9:30 waiting for the doors to be opened. I checked the book to see if my name was in it and low and behold it was! Meaning: Megan has her study permit. So, I got in the line waiting to see the guy that gives those out. The whole process took about an hour, standing in line, getting the permit, sigining papers, getting stamped, etc. Then I went back out and called oliver to let him know I was ready, then waited 1/2 hr for him to pick me up.
So, then Oliver dropped me at Manda Hall. This is the little bunch of stores we shop at for food, books, they have a subway etc... Anywho, he told me he had a few errands to run and he'd come pick me up at 14 hours. (He dropped me at 11 hours) So, I'm not a big shopper and wasn't too thrilled at the 3 hours I had to shop but figured I might as well become well acquainted with the book stores, after that I visited game (kind of like a miniature walmart, minus the food), got me some subway, checked out the Pep, went back to the book stores comparing prices this time, got my groceries at shopright, back to the book store (bought a book on birds), then sat at a table outside at about 14 hrs and waited... and waited... and waited... He didnt come until 16:30. That's 5 and a half hours. Good thing I had a book with me... Great Controversy, nice long read. I also pestered my dad by way of text messaging.
So it was an interesting day. I did meet a really nice Australian couple while sitting and waiting. They are volunteering in the Lusaka area at a place that teaches widows tailoring so that they can make a living for themselves. I liked them. And of course, Australians have great accents. Anywho, Oliver came and picked me up and we made about five more stops before leaving town. We passed a bunch of drunks going through Kafue. One was just lying around on the ground... goofy people. So by the time I got back to Riverside it had been 14 and a half hours since we left. Craziness.
Today I just studied the lessons for giving Bible studies and the powerpoints for Health Talks. Tomorrow we head back out to Lushomo, then Thursday we start off to the crusade. Should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. I miss trapsing through the bush to visit people.
I went for a hike up on the ridge here at Riverside today. I saw a water monitor according to Alan. Or, as I like to call it: The mother of all lizards. If I had been thinking I would have gone all Steve Irwing and tackled it... all 12 inches of it. It was pretty cool.
Anywho... later peoples... pray for the crusade. From what I understand there are a lot of people in that area so yeah... pray they'll be reached.
Monday morning Liz and I left for town at 5 hours. We dropped her at the airport at 6:30, then the driver (his name is Oliver, he's a local) went to get supper. I got dropped at immigration at 9:28 where I stood in line with a bunch of people until 9:30 waiting for the doors to be opened. I checked the book to see if my name was in it and low and behold it was! Meaning: Megan has her study permit. So, I got in the line waiting to see the guy that gives those out. The whole process took about an hour, standing in line, getting the permit, sigining papers, getting stamped, etc. Then I went back out and called oliver to let him know I was ready, then waited 1/2 hr for him to pick me up.
So, then Oliver dropped me at Manda Hall. This is the little bunch of stores we shop at for food, books, they have a subway etc... Anywho, he told me he had a few errands to run and he'd come pick me up at 14 hours. (He dropped me at 11 hours) So, I'm not a big shopper and wasn't too thrilled at the 3 hours I had to shop but figured I might as well become well acquainted with the book stores, after that I visited game (kind of like a miniature walmart, minus the food), got me some subway, checked out the Pep, went back to the book stores comparing prices this time, got my groceries at shopright, back to the book store (bought a book on birds), then sat at a table outside at about 14 hrs and waited... and waited... and waited... He didnt come until 16:30. That's 5 and a half hours. Good thing I had a book with me... Great Controversy, nice long read. I also pestered my dad by way of text messaging.
So it was an interesting day. I did meet a really nice Australian couple while sitting and waiting. They are volunteering in the Lusaka area at a place that teaches widows tailoring so that they can make a living for themselves. I liked them. And of course, Australians have great accents. Anywho, Oliver came and picked me up and we made about five more stops before leaving town. We passed a bunch of drunks going through Kafue. One was just lying around on the ground... goofy people. So by the time I got back to Riverside it had been 14 and a half hours since we left. Craziness.
Today I just studied the lessons for giving Bible studies and the powerpoints for Health Talks. Tomorrow we head back out to Lushomo, then Thursday we start off to the crusade. Should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. I miss trapsing through the bush to visit people.
I went for a hike up on the ridge here at Riverside today. I saw a water monitor according to Alan. Or, as I like to call it: The mother of all lizards. If I had been thinking I would have gone all Steve Irwing and tackled it... all 12 inches of it. It was pretty cool.
Anywho... later peoples... pray for the crusade. From what I understand there are a lot of people in that area so yeah... pray they'll be reached.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Flexibility
One thing you have to learn here is flexibility. The schedule is tentative and constantly changing. My permit didn't come in last week. So, I found out that if it didn't come in by April 3 I would have to be issued this special peice of paper by immigration that says I have permission to stay in the country longer. So, I headed back out to the bush expecting to come in and get that paper later this week. Fortunately it came in on Friday. Huzzah! Now, I just have to go get it tomorrow. Anywho, we were supposed to head out to the crusade today. But, since their are these four Americans coming on the 2nd of April, Ernest said it would work better to just wait for them and then go out. So yeah, the schedule is always changing.
Alex, one of the Student Missionaries here at Riverside, will becoming out to the crusade with me. So that will be fun. I think she'll probably be helping me with the health talks a bit too (not sure about that one though). I do know she will be going visiting with me in the mornings. I'm excited to have some company.
Well, Wednesday I headed back out to the bush with the bush clinic. That was good because it gave me a chance to learn some more about how things work with that. Darby went over all vaccines with me, explained how she usually packs up the container for the clinic - what poisons... errr. drugs she takes, etc. I weighed babies and recorded their information, gave some shots (I got to stab Liz! Tetanus shot.), made some babies cry, etc. It was good. I'm really not looking forward to coming back in from the bush, I like it out there. But, going on the clinics will be nice once I get the hang of it.
It was cute, when we pulledup to the Lushomo clinic, Mezinga (Ernest's granddaughter) saw me in the window of the vehicle and and went Mega! So, I called out Nana and waved (everyone calls her nana - it means baby). So, when I got out she came over and found me and held her little arms up to be picked up (so cute!). She's freinds with me now. When I first arrived she was terrified of Liz and I. She would hide behind mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/chile and start crying every time she saw us. So now everytime she sees me she calls out Mega! And I reply with Nana! We have fun going back and forth.... and she is ticklish. Cute little thing.
We spent Thursday cleaning up the buildings we've been painting a bit, sanding and varnishing shelves, and organizing books in the old office and moving them into the new office. Its going to be a nice office. Friday we hung out, did laundry, worked on the office a bit more, made pancakes (amazyingly enough you can do that in the bush). Liz was supposed to ride into town on Friday since she flys out on monday, but since I was going to have to find my way in to get my permit (they were going to drop me at the blacktop Monday morning and I was going to hitch in) we decided to just hitch in on Sunday instead. But, we wound up coming in on Saturday because the Nzalas (the fam we are staying with) have a funeral that they have to attend today, so they came in yesterday, dropped us at Riverside, and went on to Lusaka. See... flexibility...
Friday evening when the family came back from town they had a big speaker and a couple of microphones with them that have to go out to the crusade. They spent a lot of time working on setting them up and playing with them. It was cute, they are so proud of that thing. It pretty much made their month. Chile was testing the microphone out, he has quite the singing voice (the kind that belongs in the shower). Anywho, Mezinga (little 2-3 yr old girl) was terrified of that thing! She was balling her eyes out. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and Chile put the mic up to her mouth.... it was funny... So, I wound up taking her into the kitchen with me while I cooked some beans for suppoer, and holding her for a while to try to calm her down.
So, they used the mic for church the saturday too. Everyone that went up front wanted to use it. It was so cute, when Demus lead out in the song service he had this big grin on his face and a bit of an extra sparkle in his eyes as he held the mic. Its funny how something so simple that you see all the time in the states is such a big deal here. It was a long church service. The preacher was a guest preacher... and he really had a lot to say. the woman sitting next to me kept looking at my watch, the woman behind me fell asleep and had her head resting in the center of my back, the girl on my other side dozed off on my arm, and Mezinga was in my lap and got squirmy and cranky about the time church usually lets out and had to be passed off to mom. So, the sermon ended at about 12:45ish. Then we had communion. So, church didn't let out until maybe 14 hrs.
Communion was interesting. Liz didn't stick around for it, so I had trouble finding someone to practice with because I don't exactly speak the language and I didn't know how things worked, where to go... Then I sat down in the wrong spot in church. You see, normally women sit on the left and men on the right. But... apparently for communion those who are not baptized sit on the left and those who are baptized sit on the right, women in front and men in back. So it was ammuzing. It was like all the women of Lushomo banding together to help this poor ignorant white girl figure out where she is supposed to be.
Well, that's all folks. I need to go study health talks and whatnot for the crusade.
Alex, one of the Student Missionaries here at Riverside, will becoming out to the crusade with me. So that will be fun. I think she'll probably be helping me with the health talks a bit too (not sure about that one though). I do know she will be going visiting with me in the mornings. I'm excited to have some company.
Well, Wednesday I headed back out to the bush with the bush clinic. That was good because it gave me a chance to learn some more about how things work with that. Darby went over all vaccines with me, explained how she usually packs up the container for the clinic - what poisons... errr. drugs she takes, etc. I weighed babies and recorded their information, gave some shots (I got to stab Liz! Tetanus shot.), made some babies cry, etc. It was good. I'm really not looking forward to coming back in from the bush, I like it out there. But, going on the clinics will be nice once I get the hang of it.
It was cute, when we pulledup to the Lushomo clinic, Mezinga (Ernest's granddaughter) saw me in the window of the vehicle and and went Mega! So, I called out Nana and waved (everyone calls her nana - it means baby). So, when I got out she came over and found me and held her little arms up to be picked up (so cute!). She's freinds with me now. When I first arrived she was terrified of Liz and I. She would hide behind mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/chile and start crying every time she saw us. So now everytime she sees me she calls out Mega! And I reply with Nana! We have fun going back and forth.... and she is ticklish. Cute little thing.
We spent Thursday cleaning up the buildings we've been painting a bit, sanding and varnishing shelves, and organizing books in the old office and moving them into the new office. Its going to be a nice office. Friday we hung out, did laundry, worked on the office a bit more, made pancakes (amazyingly enough you can do that in the bush). Liz was supposed to ride into town on Friday since she flys out on monday, but since I was going to have to find my way in to get my permit (they were going to drop me at the blacktop Monday morning and I was going to hitch in) we decided to just hitch in on Sunday instead. But, we wound up coming in on Saturday because the Nzalas (the fam we are staying with) have a funeral that they have to attend today, so they came in yesterday, dropped us at Riverside, and went on to Lusaka. See... flexibility...
Friday evening when the family came back from town they had a big speaker and a couple of microphones with them that have to go out to the crusade. They spent a lot of time working on setting them up and playing with them. It was cute, they are so proud of that thing. It pretty much made their month. Chile was testing the microphone out, he has quite the singing voice (the kind that belongs in the shower). Anywho, Mezinga (little 2-3 yr old girl) was terrified of that thing! She was balling her eyes out. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and Chile put the mic up to her mouth.... it was funny... So, I wound up taking her into the kitchen with me while I cooked some beans for suppoer, and holding her for a while to try to calm her down.
So, they used the mic for church the saturday too. Everyone that went up front wanted to use it. It was so cute, when Demus lead out in the song service he had this big grin on his face and a bit of an extra sparkle in his eyes as he held the mic. Its funny how something so simple that you see all the time in the states is such a big deal here. It was a long church service. The preacher was a guest preacher... and he really had a lot to say. the woman sitting next to me kept looking at my watch, the woman behind me fell asleep and had her head resting in the center of my back, the girl on my other side dozed off on my arm, and Mezinga was in my lap and got squirmy and cranky about the time church usually lets out and had to be passed off to mom. So, the sermon ended at about 12:45ish. Then we had communion. So, church didn't let out until maybe 14 hrs.
Communion was interesting. Liz didn't stick around for it, so I had trouble finding someone to practice with because I don't exactly speak the language and I didn't know how things worked, where to go... Then I sat down in the wrong spot in church. You see, normally women sit on the left and men on the right. But... apparently for communion those who are not baptized sit on the left and those who are baptized sit on the right, women in front and men in back. So it was ammuzing. It was like all the women of Lushomo banding together to help this poor ignorant white girl figure out where she is supposed to be.
Well, that's all folks. I need to go study health talks and whatnot for the crusade.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The latest from Lushomo
There are a few things about the trip to Zimbabwe that I forgot to write about last time (actually, I'm sure there are more than a few but hey...).
When I was at the border, about to go into Zimbabwe, I got proposed to! Some random guy was sitting there and asked me if I liked Zambia. I said yes, and he then asked if I'd like to stay in Zambia and genrously offered to marry me so that I could stay. How thoughtful of him! I'm sure it was my citizenship he was thinking of too... Anywho, I never even caught the guys name, much to my mom's dismay.
Then, while at the orphanage in Zimbabwe I picked up a little todler named Mary-Belle. She sat in my arms just staring at my hair. So, I pulled a little bit out from behind my ear for her to see. Her face lit up! She started running her little fingers through it and her big brown eyes just danced. It was the cutest thing.
Anywho, I haven't been out visiting since I got back from Zim because our translator has been busy over at the place where the crusade will be setting things up there. Also, there were some meetings held at Lushomo for a long weekend. Liz and I got asked to teach some classes. So, we taught on Health Evangelism. Basically talking about the importance of Medical Missionaries and how you can use that to reach people, then going into the basics like water, cleanliness, diet, some hydrotherapy, etc.
We were scheduled to talk at 10:30 last Friday morning. So, we were happy to be able to sleep in a bit, then make our lesson plans that morning. So I got up at 7:45, went out to wash my face and get a drink and whatnot. Then, when I came back into the house I met a frantic Liz who told me that Godfrey had just come and asked if we could speak at 8:00 instread of 10:30. It was exactly 8:00 when he came to the door! Ai ai ai! So, we grabbed our stuff and ran down to the classroom.... Stress! Kinda scary... so the rest of the weekend we were constantly on the lookout for Godrey to come ask us last minute (and overly prepared, just in case...)
Pathfinder Sabbath was a couple weeks ago and we had about 70 kids in our Sabbath School class because of it! It was kinda crazy. I started handing out stickers as a reward when kids answered questions correctly and nearly lost my life. Seriously, I almost died. These kids love stickers. It was cute though.
Last Sabbath we had some baptisms in the afternoon. 21 baptisms to be exact. Abishy and his wife Eunice were among them. They are a couple we had been giving Bible studies to. If we had been able to go out more often, Godfrey says we would have had more baptized but whatever... its not about numbers anyhow. So yeah, it was cute. Here, when you are baptized you fold your hands on your chest. So, she folder her hands on her chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and they were dunked together. It was sweet. Also, Chile, the youngest son of the family we live with, was baptized. So was Sarah, the wife of their oldest son and Rita, a local girl that sometimes helps out at the house. It was a good day. Abishy had mentioned he would like to have an English Bible because the Tonga translation can be a bit rough at times. So, I was able to give him an old Bible of my mom's. He was super excited about that one.
Other than all of that, we've mostly just been painting, hanging out with Chile, studying, and baking. There are some great places to swim out in Lushomo. One of them is at the base of the waterfall, and you can actually climb up part of the waterfall and sit on the ledge with the water crashing down on your shoulders. Good times. I've been experimenting with baking. I really want to get my hands on a good whole wheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with cookies, coffee cake, made a loaf of banana bread... pretty successful attempts actually. We've also made pancakes a couple of times. The ingredients are a tad different from those in America but hey, they are wonderful.
I've also found myself to be Ernest and Christine's secretary. They have had a lot of reports they have needed typed up to send of to the higher powers, and for the board meeting that Ernest is here for tomorrow. It's funny, they are in awe of how fast I can type. Liz and I had to explain how in America computers are used for everything, and they start you early etc... Its been interesting.
Liz leaves a week from monday for Kenya, and a week from Sunday I head out to the crusade. I have to do home visits and give health talks in the evenings at the crusade. I may also get roped into helping with the kids corner, although I really don't think I'm the person for that job. Anywho, good news... there are four americans coming April 2nd. They will be helping with the crusade, then taking over at Lushomo. This makes me happy. I hated to start visiting then stop because Riverside needed me. So, this works out great. And, they have been through an Evangelistic training school. Meaning: they know what they are doing. So, this works out perfectly!
Anywho, I'm just in for a few days. Hopefully my Student Permit has come in, we'll be checking on that Monday or Tuesday. If it doesn't come by the middle of next month I'll have to leave the country, so hopefully it is here.
One last thought that occurred to me as I sat in church today. Metal roofs are wonderful, they really are... especially if you get a good quality one like the ones my dad sells (yup, just let me know if you want to get in touch with him... ) They last forever, they hold up better than shingles, no leaking... I'm sure if I were my dad I could go on and on. But, if you are using it on a church in Zambia where there is a rainy season that lasts for several months consisting of many a torrential downpour, and the church doesn't have a sound system, please insulate it so the congregation can hear the speaker... There you go, my thought for the day.
Well, I may write more later before heading back to the bush, who knows. But TTFN, Ta ta for now! :)
When I was at the border, about to go into Zimbabwe, I got proposed to! Some random guy was sitting there and asked me if I liked Zambia. I said yes, and he then asked if I'd like to stay in Zambia and genrously offered to marry me so that I could stay. How thoughtful of him! I'm sure it was my citizenship he was thinking of too... Anywho, I never even caught the guys name, much to my mom's dismay.
Then, while at the orphanage in Zimbabwe I picked up a little todler named Mary-Belle. She sat in my arms just staring at my hair. So, I pulled a little bit out from behind my ear for her to see. Her face lit up! She started running her little fingers through it and her big brown eyes just danced. It was the cutest thing.
Anywho, I haven't been out visiting since I got back from Zim because our translator has been busy over at the place where the crusade will be setting things up there. Also, there were some meetings held at Lushomo for a long weekend. Liz and I got asked to teach some classes. So, we taught on Health Evangelism. Basically talking about the importance of Medical Missionaries and how you can use that to reach people, then going into the basics like water, cleanliness, diet, some hydrotherapy, etc.
We were scheduled to talk at 10:30 last Friday morning. So, we were happy to be able to sleep in a bit, then make our lesson plans that morning. So I got up at 7:45, went out to wash my face and get a drink and whatnot. Then, when I came back into the house I met a frantic Liz who told me that Godfrey had just come and asked if we could speak at 8:00 instread of 10:30. It was exactly 8:00 when he came to the door! Ai ai ai! So, we grabbed our stuff and ran down to the classroom.... Stress! Kinda scary... so the rest of the weekend we were constantly on the lookout for Godrey to come ask us last minute (and overly prepared, just in case...)
Pathfinder Sabbath was a couple weeks ago and we had about 70 kids in our Sabbath School class because of it! It was kinda crazy. I started handing out stickers as a reward when kids answered questions correctly and nearly lost my life. Seriously, I almost died. These kids love stickers. It was cute though.
Last Sabbath we had some baptisms in the afternoon. 21 baptisms to be exact. Abishy and his wife Eunice were among them. They are a couple we had been giving Bible studies to. If we had been able to go out more often, Godfrey says we would have had more baptized but whatever... its not about numbers anyhow. So yeah, it was cute. Here, when you are baptized you fold your hands on your chest. So, she folder her hands on her chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and they were dunked together. It was sweet. Also, Chile, the youngest son of the family we live with, was baptized. So was Sarah, the wife of their oldest son and Rita, a local girl that sometimes helps out at the house. It was a good day. Abishy had mentioned he would like to have an English Bible because the Tonga translation can be a bit rough at times. So, I was able to give him an old Bible of my mom's. He was super excited about that one.
Other than all of that, we've mostly just been painting, hanging out with Chile, studying, and baking. There are some great places to swim out in Lushomo. One of them is at the base of the waterfall, and you can actually climb up part of the waterfall and sit on the ledge with the water crashing down on your shoulders. Good times. I've been experimenting with baking. I really want to get my hands on a good whole wheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with cookies, coffee cake, made a loaf of banana bread... pretty successful attempts actually. We've also made pancakes a couple of times. The ingredients are a tad different from those in America but hey, they are wonderful.
I've also found myself to be Ernest and Christine's secretary. They have had a lot of reports they have needed typed up to send of to the higher powers, and for the board meeting that Ernest is here for tomorrow. It's funny, they are in awe of how fast I can type. Liz and I had to explain how in America computers are used for everything, and they start you early etc... Its been interesting.
Liz leaves a week from monday for Kenya, and a week from Sunday I head out to the crusade. I have to do home visits and give health talks in the evenings at the crusade. I may also get roped into helping with the kids corner, although I really don't think I'm the person for that job. Anywho, good news... there are four americans coming April 2nd. They will be helping with the crusade, then taking over at Lushomo. This makes me happy. I hated to start visiting then stop because Riverside needed me. So, this works out great. And, they have been through an Evangelistic training school. Meaning: they know what they are doing. So, this works out perfectly!
Anywho, I'm just in for a few days. Hopefully my Student Permit has come in, we'll be checking on that Monday or Tuesday. If it doesn't come by the middle of next month I'll have to leave the country, so hopefully it is here.
One last thought that occurred to me as I sat in church today. Metal roofs are wonderful, they really are... especially if you get a good quality one like the ones my dad sells (yup, just let me know if you want to get in touch with him... ) They last forever, they hold up better than shingles, no leaking... I'm sure if I were my dad I could go on and on. But, if you are using it on a church in Zambia where there is a rainy season that lasts for several months consisting of many a torrential downpour, and the church doesn't have a sound system, please insulate it so the congregation can hear the speaker... There you go, my thought for the day.
Well, I may write more later before heading back to the bush, who knows. But TTFN, Ta ta for now! :)
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