Our final days in Zambia were very different from the previous 4 weeks. After all the packing and goodbyes we left Namwianga and began our journey to Livingstone on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel, dropped our bags and headed to see the mighty Victoria Falls. We paid the entry fee, and made our way down a path to the first view point where we stood in awe. It is one thing to be told that Victoria Falls is the world’s largest and to see pictures, but it is quite another to stand there and behold it. From where we stood at one side, we could not see the full width of the mile-wide curtain of water pouring into the gorge because of the mist. After soaking it all in and snapping a few pictures, we walked along the gorge opposite the falls and into the mist. There were ponchos for rent, but I didn’t want to bother so I secured all my valuables in ziplock bags and decided to just go for it. Not long into the walk I discovered that the ponchos might not have been such a bad idea, since the mist from the world’s largest waterfalls is not just a light mist when you’re in it...it’s really more like a downpour. Needless to say, we were soaked by the Zambezi River. But in my opinion if you’re going to travel all the way to see Victoria Falls, you have to walk at least a little ways into the mist to get the full experience. 
Monday we were again amazed by the beauty and vastness of creation when we went on safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Our safari started by boat with great views of animals drinking, hippos sleeping, sunbathing crocs, and several varieties of birds. 
The coolest part of our morning in the boat was getting to watch 4 elephants cross the canal in front of us. Two of them stopped in the middle of the river to play for a little bit before moving on to the other shore. They were fascinating to watch! After a splendid lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon in a truck chasing kudus, impalas, warthogs, giraffes, huge herds of elephants, and all sorts of beautiful and unique creatures. We left the park in awe of all the creativity and design that we had witnessed.Our last two days were spent mostly shopping and enjoying beautiful sunset views on the Zambezi. Because of Victoria Falls and the wonderful gorges around the area, Livingstone has several intense outdoor activities to offer including sky diving, bungee jumping, rappelling, and rafting. Becca and I, seized by some insane drive for adventure, decided we should take advantage of the opportunities around us and following a friend’s recommendation we signed up for the half-day abseil package. The morning started with rappelling down a cliff, which we had both done so it was an easy start. Our next activity was called the “flying fox” which is a zipline across a gorge that you hook onto from your back so that you can fly across in a superman pose. This required us to run off the side of the cliff, but it wasn’t too terrifying because there was no free fall and you could feel the tightness of the harness before taking off. The last activity, however, was the gorge swing. 
For the gorge swing, you have to jump off a cliff and free fall for about 3.5 seconds until there’s no more slack in the rope and it catches you and swings you across in a pendulum motion. Why we were attracted to this activity is beyond me. We did the gorge swing once individually and once together, as if tempting fate once wasn’t crazy enough we had to go twice. Although it was a thrill and a lot of fun, I’m really just thankful to have survived without any injury (there is a video posted on my facebook if you want to get a better idea of how it worked).The grand finale of our trip was a sunset river cruise on the African Queen. It was a lovely and peaceful way to end the trip while admiring wildlife on the river banks and witnessing a magnificent sunset. The next morning, we piled all of our luggage into a truck and took our last trip in Khaki Jackie to the airport. While waiting for our flight we recognized several of the families that had been on our river cruise the night before. The trip home took us nearly 48 hours with two flights over 10 hours long and an 8 hour layover in Johannesburg. We had some dramatic luggage issues along the way, but everything was resolved in the end and overall our trip went smoothly. 
I am so thankful and honored to have been able to go on this trip. The lessons I have learned are invaluable to me personally and professionally. Based on the feedback we received from our hosts and from everything we witnessed I believe that the goals of our trip were accomplished during our time at Namwianga. Valuable data was gathered, speech and language gains were observed, caretakers were educated and most importantly individuals were encouraged in the Lord. With moving and a job search ahead of me, I pray that the business of life here will not deter me from the focus that motivated our work in Zambia. I pray and hope that I will not be content with my life unless I am serving the Lord with my time. I pray that I will never view my clients as items on a to do list, or my job as simply my source of income, but rather as an opportunity from God to share His LOVE. I ask that you hold me to this.Thank you for your encouragement and prayers throughout my trip. Please continue to pray for the work at Namwianga, for the children at the Haven and for the workers there. God is doing great things among his people around the globe, I am honored to be a witness.
Photos: (a) Victoria Falls with mist rising from the gorge, (b) elephants playing in the canal at Chobe, (c) jumping off a cliff for the gorge swing, (d) sunset over the Zambezi, (e) Becca and I on our last day at the Haven with Modia and Luyando chitenged on our backs.
Last week as I held Lydia in my arms, tears came to my eyes because a hard reality had struck: many of the children in Haven will not survive. With so many factors working against them, it is amazing that several of them have made it this far. Each of us knew that the longer we stayed here at Namwianga, the greater our chances of being present when a death occurs. But just knowing the facts can never prepare you enough for harsh reality. On Tuesday morning we learned that sweet baby Judah had passed away in his sleep. The cause is unknown, “sometimes this just happens,” we were told. Judah, was not supposed to be the one to go first, he was gaining weight, he was doing well. There are others whose health has been declining that we would have expected not to survive another week, but not baby Judah. It was hard to hear. It was hard to walk into the pink room and see his empty little bed...but it is good to know that he is free from the harsh world he was born into. Meagan comforted us, by saying that he received more love in the last 4 weeks from our group than he had received in his short life. We ate our lunch in silence that day, sickened by the pain that comes with an inexplicable loss. Although it was hard to accept, we needed to see the reality that the workers here face daily in order to truly appreciate the presence of this place. I cannot begin to imagine the pain they have felt with each loss. Judah means “praise” or “let God be praised” -- what more can we do, but just that. I rejoice knowing that each fatherless child gets to meet his Father, each child plagued by illness gets to find a life free of suffering, and each hungry child will never know hunger again. Judah was buried under a tree on a small plot of land that was recently cleared to be a cemetery for children whose families cannot take them; he is the first to buried there. Sweet Judah will be missed, but there are so many others that still need our love these last few days. The children that do thrive and do well at the Haven are returned to their families if there is family and if they are wanted. Today we had the opportunity to visit a 3 year old girl, Lola, that has been back in the village with her aunt for the last two months. Meagan told us that Lola used to be one of the more talkative of the toddlers. She and Kathy, a 4-year old that lives at the toddler house, were great friends and ruled the house. Now, however, Lola does not talk whenever people from the Haven come to visit her. Perhaps she is just too confused by the changes she has been through. Her aunt reports that she does talk some at home, but Meagan has not heard a word out of her since she has been back in the village. She is healthy and doing very well otherwise. It was good to see her and the small hut that they live in. During our visit we were swarmed by all the neighborhood children who were delighted by the bubble gum that Meagan brought and by all the cameras that we had out and snapping. 
Our visit to Lola was our second time into a village this week. On Sunday, Leonard, our beloved cook, invited us to join his family for lunch after we attended the small congregation out in the bush where he goes. The Kasibi Church of Christ has a small single room building for gathering with a larger thatch-roof pavilion with brick benches next to it for outdoor gatherings. We met under the pavilion. At the end of the service we were asked to sing some songs, which we did of course, but my favorite part was when everyone lined up afterwards, while singing, to shake hands. As we left the pavilion we walked down the line shaking each hand, there were about 100 there that morning. Leonard invited everyone to his nearby home where we ate a traditional meal and enjoyed some live music and dancing. Mostly the children danced in the middle while the rest of us stood around in circle tapping our feet and swaying. Occasionally some men or women would jump in and dance a little. The most impressive, however, was when a circle of women dancing in a line formed and one of the women was breast feeding her child, while she was dancing!
Our time here is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow all of the hearing screenings will be completed. Friday we will all go to the Haven to spend our last day with the children. It will be a tearful goodbye I am certain. One of our group, Meredith, has already returned to the States to be in a wedding. Our group is not quite the same without all twelve.Today we met with several of the aunties that care for the babies in Eleanor’s House to discuss feeding concerns and issues and share some information that they might find helpful. We felt like it was a productive meeting and hope that they will implement changes that will improve the quality of care for the babies. On the same day that we received the devastating news about Judah, we also received encouraging news about Lydia. Her health has stabilized to the point that she will be able to come home from the hospital tomorrow! Apparently she had a strand of salmonella that she likely received from her mother in utero, which prevented her from digesting correctly. We are thrilled that we will see her again before we leave. Thank you for your prayers concerning her health. Please continue to pray for her. Pray for all those grieving the loss of sweet Judah. Pray for our group as we leave this precious place.
Photos: Meagan holding Lola and passing out sweets in the village, dancing after church (note the drum set), our group with Leonard and his family
I should have posted this long ago, but the Harding students in our group are posting on another blog about this trip as well. There are lots of fun stories to read up on if you're sitting around looking for some fun light reading and want to know more about our trip.
http://www.hiz-path.blogspot.com/
Every night before I lay my head down, I carefully inspect my pillow and sheets sweeping away any unwelcome visitors. This place is plagued with strange flat-backed brown bugs. I’m not sure what they are, but the first time I saw one I thought it was a small stink bug. We’ve grown fairly tolerant of them (a luxury the spiders are not given), allowing them free range of the walls, and window sills, but on one’s pillow is just a little close for comfort. Occasionally I hear or see one fall from our thatch roof ceiling. This is apparently instantaneous death for the poor overpopulated creatures, as there are dead ones lying around all over the place.
I have just had my first warm shower of the week. A shower house with 6 solar-heated showers sits behind our house. Typically, the best time to shower is about 4:30 or 5 after the water has been sitting all day in the sun, but if there is no sun, it doesn’t matter what time of day you take a shower, it’s not going to be warm. This has been an unusual week, Sunday night I had a discussion with someone about whether or not it ever rained during the dry season. Around here, most people would say no, it never does. But Monday, we were proven wrong. It has been cloudy and cool with a good bit of rain most of the week. Only yesterday did it start to clear up again. Today we are back to our warm beautiful weather, and our lovely warm showers (which are so nice to have after a day of being peed and spit up on my the kiddos).During the time we have been here, we have seen progress in our kids. But for many of the toddlers it is hard to know whether the increase in language that we have witnessed is a result of our efforts or simply because they have warmed up to us. This week Meagan Hawley’s return from her 3-week trip back to the States gave us some indication of real progress. Meagan has been living here for 3 years, working with the kids in the Haven and making sure each of them is well cared for. We had heard about her, but I don’t think any of us quite realized how big of a role she plays here. Her first day back she was busily making her rounds among the Haven children. With one tied on her back with a chitenge, she checked out each child and focused on getting medication for those who needed it. The next day she was at the Haven with a doctor, looking at the children which she was particularly concerned about. Meagan proudly reported to us how surprised she was when some of the children used words that they never used before, or were speaking more than before. She was also quick to explain to the aunties how to prop the babies up with the special pillows we had made for their feedings. Apparently every doctor that has come through has told them that the children should not be feeding on their backs, but with so few hands to hold the babies, they could not come up with a realistic solution. Meagan’s arrival has come at a very good time because by this point we have already established ourselves in the work we are doing and progress is being seen. Now that she has seen what we are doing, she and others who work with the children can continue to carry it on as they are able. Right now she is with our struggling baby Lydia at a hospital in another town. Her dedication and love for these children is both impressive and admirable.
Among other exciting news this week: Andrew, one of the HIV positive kids at the Haven, about 2 years old, starting walking today! Yesterday, he took a step or two on his own, and was standing up unassisted; but today he took 7 whole steps all alone. We are so proud to have witnessed his progress. He is in a more progressed stage of AIDS and often looks tired and unwell. But he is one that has starting talking more since we’ve been here and today he walked. We are thrilled.
Choolwe is one of the little boys at the toddler house. He often has a very serious face and he does interact, but quietly. During our session on Thursday, he was laughing and singing along to the songs and participating...not really with real words, but with word-like babbling, which is a step in the right direction.
Sheri is a little girl at the toddler house who rarely smiles and rarely interacts during the sessions. There have only been two occasions in the last 3 weeks that any of us have seen her laugh or even smile. Once was during a peek-a-boo game earlier this week, and then yesterday while I was playing with her, she was laughing and responding verbally, a big step for our straight-faced Sheri. Some of these steps, that I’m reporting, may not sound like a lot. But these children, do not get much interaction. They are rarely read to nor are they ever engaged in conversation, most of them are behind according to our developmental standards. Each step of progress that we see lifts our spirits and reminds us why we are here.
Thursday, Becca and I again had the opportunity to go to the hospital with Rogers to encourage the patients and family members there. We were happy to see some of the patients looking better, though there were some, that look worse. It is a sad place, but they were all grateful for our prayers and words of encouragement. I pray that God used our short visit to encourage them to cry out to Him.
We have one more week at Namwianga, before we head to Livingstone for our last few days in Zambia. Please pray that our last week will be productive and that we will be able to encourage the workers here. Please pray for the health of these children, especially sweet little Lydia.
Photos: Brittany holding Andrew, Choolwe and me, Sheri
This has been a week of many changes here at Namwianga. Mr. Phiri, the superintendent of the mission, has stayed very busy with all the happenings. First of all, there are the roads. When we arrived a little over two weeks ago, the roads on the mission were bumpy dirt and sand roads spotted with decent sized potholes. We joked that a trip in our Land Rover (which we have affectionately named “Khaki Jackie”) was not entirely successful unless someone’s head hit the roof. On our tour one of the first days, Roy Merritt pointed to some road equipment nearby and explained that a Chinese company is responsible for fixing the road, but the rest of the equipment was stuck in customs. Just a little over a week of bumping along the rough paths, the equipment arrived, much to our surprise. We were skeptical that any progress would happen while we were here, even with all the equipment in place, but we were wrong. After a day or two of workers standing around the machinery, seemingly discussing what to do, they began tearing up the road, wetting it down, and smoothing it over. 
The road between our house and the Haven is now so smooth that we can get up to 4th gear (which previously could only be wishful thinking). Driving over the road whilst it was being repaired, however, was quite an experience as Khaki Jackie proceeded through deep mud ruts occasionally sliding and sometimes at a steep angle. Beckie Weaver skillfully navigated us through keeping full control of the Rover despite the challenging conditions. They are still working on the road into town, and we are hoping it will be finished by the time we go in this afternoon.
Another change for the better that Namwianga has experienced this week is the beautifully painted walls at the Haven. The other group that came last week has put all of their time and energy into painting the new house at the Haven, named Marjorie’s House, and painting new murals in the other houses, Kelly’s House (toddlers) and Eleanor’s House (babies). They did a fabulous job; the murals brighten up all the houses. In Kelly’s house, an entire wall has Winnie the Pooh and all his friends. Some of the toddlers pointed to Tigger and said “monkey”. The painters were a little disappointed, but our group was so proud because monkey is one of the animals we have worked on in our activities with them. One of our pictures of a monkey is orange and a little tigger-esque, which means they are generalizing words, a sign that our intervention is making a difference. Besides the progress we’ve seen with the toddlers speech, we are seeing progress with the feeding development of the infants. As mentioned previously, we were working on implementing some changes in the feeding system that will help decrease ear infections and other problems. When there aren’t visitors around to feed the babies, they are fed on their backs with the bottled propped next to their head. Your initial reaction may be troubled by this news, but there simply aren’t enough hands to hold each child during feeding. The women that care for the infants do well to keep each child fed, changed and cleaned as well as caring for the facility and their own needs. One realistic way we are addressing this issue is to have special pillows made that will allow the children to be fed propped up at an angle, decreasing reflux and infection. Mono, the lady next door to us that sews, made two pillows according to our direction and we tried them out yesterday. The aunties that take care of the children in the Haven seemed to understand what we’re trying to do and why and they appreciated the pillows. We’re going to have a few more made as well as spend some time encouraging the staff to hold the children during feedings when they can. Besides addressing the general feeding method, we have spent some time focusing in on specific children who have shown increased difficulty with feeding. One little girl is Lydia. She is about 3 month old, but is much too small for her age. Her skin hangs on her tiny bones and her little belly is swollen. She hasn’t been diagnosed with any specific infection, but she has not been gaining weight. Whenever our group goes to feed, we make sure that someone is feeding her in hopes she will gain some weight. This week we observed that she often looses some of her milk on the left side, so we give her extra support on that side and have informed her caretakers to prop her bottle on the right side during feedings. We check daily to see if they have been weighed in anticipation that all our little ones are gaining as they should be. We were told that a nurse comes to weigh once a week, but they were not weighed this week...perhaps because of the strike (read on for further explanation of that). Another one we’ve given special attention to is Judah. His sweet little head is covered in the softest little fro. He is about 7 weeks old and looks like he was premature. He takes a long time to get through a bottle and would likely benefit from using a preemie nipple if we could get a hold of one (We’re trying to get some sent with the medical mission group that is coming just after us). When we first came we discovered that his breathing was often congested after feedings and since he was always on his back, it was hard for him to clear it. This week he has been strong enough to clear the congestion with a few strong coughs. This is a very good sign that he is gaining strength and control. We are hopeful that with special attention and modified feeding he will continue to improve.
The majority of our group are graduate students from Harding who get credit and practicum hours for this trip. Becca and I, however, have completed our graduate work and do not have to meet the same requirements as the rest of our group. This allows us the freedom to explore other areas of ministry and work. Every Thursday, a man from the Namwianga church named Rogers, takes a small group to the Kalomo Hospital in town to visit and encourage the patients and attending family members. This Thursday, Becca and I joined them. In a previous post I briefly described the Namwianga Medical Clinic. The hospital in town is in much poorer shape. A narrow hallway from outside led us into the hospital courtyard. Spotted with patches of grass and a tree or two, in the center of the small courtyard is a pile of broken beds, extra wheelchairs and scrap metal. Along the blue walls, windows and doors from the different wards open into the courtyard. We started in the maternity ward where about 7 beds were tightly fitted in a tiny room, a mother in each bed, some with their newborns. Laura gave some words of encouragement and one of the brothers led a prayer. We proceeded on to a room where a women named Juliet stayed with her mother. We’re not sure what her illness was, but she was very weak. Rogers gave some words of encouragement and Becca led a prayer for her. We went on to the women’s ward, the men’s ward and the pediatric room, taking turns sharing words of encouragement and praying for the patients in each room. One of the men in the hospital had been severely burned. Laura said she would give the nurses some ointment and pain medication to help. It made me wonder how much the facility could actually do for most of these people. They have very little resources to offer. Several of the beds were empty and we found out that is because there is currently a strike going on among several of the public services including medical professionals and teachers. Our work has been indirectly affected by the strike (as alluded to previously) and we are hoping that it will not last long. Behind the hospital is a building that serves as temporary housing for family members who are caring for their ill, patients who are recently discharged, and patients waiting to be admitted. Every week, Rogers leads a devotional for all the people there. This week he asked us to lead it. We shared some words of encouragement and they sang some beautiful worship songs in Chitonga. It was a really neat experience and they were obviously encouraged by it. For those who are there several weeks in row, I’m certain Rogers’ visits are a highlight. We distributed vitamins to all the families before we left. 
We are headed to town this afternoon for some shopping and perhaps a little birthday celebration for Meredith. A friend sent me this link which explains our increased power outages: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20090603175553459C431411 Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon. Peace be with you!
Photos: (a) driving down the torn up road while it was being fixed, (b) our favorite room in Marjorie's House, (c) holding baby Judah, (d) the only ambulance that we saw outside the hospital, (e) gathering in the "mother's shelter" behind the hospital for the devotional, (f) our newly smoothed road at sunset
Our electricity has been in and out quite a bit in the last few days. Yesterday we went nearly 24 hours with only only having about 5 hours of electricity in the early morning. Out of the last 4 evenings, we have only had one with electricity. We’ve learned to always have our flashlights on us, and keep our plans flexible. With the power outage water supply also becomes a concern. The water that we use for showers and the bathrooms comes from a tank that is filled by an electric pump. If the electricity is out, the water cannot be replenished. So we’re trying to use our water sparingly, especially with the electricity being so capricious. Saturday was a day off for us. After breakfast we drove into town to take care of some errands and then we drove to Choma, a town about 40 minutes away. Choma has a small museum which records the history and culture of the southern province. After viewing all the displays, we spent about the same amount of time in the gift shop as the museum itself, buying up the beautiful handiwork of local artisans. After a picnic lunch on the museum grounds, we went to the market looking for pillows and material to make some special pillows for the babies. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful, but we’re still working on it. Sunday we again each had a child on our lap during the service. 
The church that we have been attending meets in the Johnson Auditorium which is shared by the high school and the college. The large auditorium is packed every week with students and faculty from both programs as well as a few members of the surrounding community. Tonight we learned that there are two other churches in the Namwianga area. The one in the Johnson auditorium is primarily done in English because it is made up of people from several different tribes. The other two churches worship in Chi-Tonga (the predominant language of this region). 
We have nearly completed the hearing screenings at the basic school (1st through 9th grades). Besides the challenge of explaining how to push the button when you hear a beep for the audiometer, our most challenging part has been to pronounce some of the names. Several names, however, are quite common; and then there are the handful of names that are familiar words, but not familiar as names. Some of our favorites have been: Gift (a common name for both males and females), Medium, Bright, Cornhill, Scholastica, and Obvious.Our hosts had a treat for us this evening. Rather than having dinner at the Hamby House (the house next door where we have been eating our meals), the three groups that are here now went out to a place called Jordan’s Rock for a cookout. Jordan’s Rock is a large black rock not far from the school. It has been a gathering place for Christians in the area for many, many years. Roy Merritt (who has lived and worked in Zambia all his life) told us that there is a small pool near the rock where the church would go for baptisms and they called it “The Jordan”, thus the rock became “Jordan’s Rock”. The gathering was fun and provided a peaceful evening where it didn’t matter if the electricity was out or not. Our three different groups gathered there along with Roy and Kathy Merritt (who run the Haven as well as house many of the kids in their own home, which is part of the Haven), several of their kids from the Haven, Don and Laura Oldenberg, Sheri (a teacher at the college), and several Zambian brothers. We were also joined by Claus and Christiana Muller, a German couple who have lived and worked in this area for 30 years. We talked about third culture kids and some of the struggles their kids have faced. He spoke of his kids being homesick, while still trying to pursue their own goals and visions in Germany and elsewhere. It was good to hear someone else’s story, but one I can resonant with despite so many cultural differences.
As I write this, the electricity has just come on after another candle/flashlight-lit evening. The internet has to be rebooted in the other house, so posting will have to wait until morning...assuming the electricity is on.
Photos: One of the many breathtaking sunsets, singing at children's church, holding babies during the service, Jordan's rock
Monday we were again amazed by the beauty and vastness of creation when we went on safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Our safari started by boat with great views of animals drinking, hippos sleeping, sunbathing crocs, and several varieties of birds. 
The coolest part of our morning in the boat was getting to watch 4 elephants cross the canal in front of us. Two of them stopped in the middle of the river to play for a little bit before moving on to the other shore. They were fascinating to watch! After a splendid lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon in a truck chasing kudus, impalas, warthogs, giraffes, huge herds of elephants, and all sorts of beautiful and unique creatures. We left the park in awe of all the creativity and design that we had witnessed.
For the gorge swing, you have to jump off a cliff and free fall for about 3.5 seconds until there’s no more slack in the rope and it catches you and swings you across in a pendulum motion. Why we were attracted to this activity is beyond me. We did the gorge swing once individually and once together, as if tempting fate once wasn’t crazy enough we had to go twice. Although it was a thrill and a lot of fun, I’m really just thankful to have survived without any injury (there is a video posted on my facebook if you want to get a better idea of how it worked).
I am so thankful and honored to have been able to go on this trip. The lessons I have learned are invaluable to me personally and professionally. Based on the feedback we received from our hosts and from everything we witnessed I believe that the goals of our trip were accomplished during our time at Namwianga. Valuable data was gathered, speech and language gains were observed, caretakers were educated and most importantly individuals were encouraged in the Lord. With moving and a job search ahead of me, I pray that the business of life here will not deter me from the focus that motivated our work in Zambia. I pray and hope that I will not be content with my life unless I am serving the Lord with my time. I pray that I will never view my clients as items on a to do list, or my job as simply my source of income, but rather as an opportunity from God to share His LOVE. I ask that you hold me to this.
