A day in the life...

Monday, February 19, 2007

The hardest thing...

Last week we were able to go and speak at a government highschool. We addressed issues of being a teenager, of course we talked about HIV and AIDS. I think all of us felt that we could offer some hope to these young people that they are the generation who can change their country. They have all these songs about AIDS and have a lot of information, but we challenged them that if they are not living it out is doesn't matter. We also talked and had discussions about other issues such as drinking and drugs and the students were able to share with them about how similar life in America is for teenagers...Until the talk about satanism and human sacrifices, which i guess is a very big problem in the area we are in and especially for school kids. The drink blood from a sacrifice and then are led to money and wealth and good fortune. It gave me shivers as they described these experiences. The teacher stopped the discussion and said that we were here to talk about the big issues - all 90 students began to shout that it was a big problem and she relented and let them talk. Crazy.

We also visited an orphanage this week which was so hard for me. I held a 3 month old baby boy named Voupe, which means gift. He is 3 months old, and is dying from HIV/AIDS. I just wept as i held him, i rocked him and prayed over him, and then cleaned his face. He had bed sores from lying in his crib. Even though the place was clean, they have 26 staff for 113 children, and the infants just don't get attention unless they need clean nappies or to be fed.

Leaving the orphanage was the hardest thing i have done here, his beautiful little face just looking up at me as i said goodbye.

This country is dying from this infection, and the generation who has to change it has lost hope...please pray for Hope.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Only 2 weeks left!!

Time is flying by here, it is hard to believe we are coming to an end. Next Sunday will be our last at the church because weleave for Livingstone and Victoria Falls on the 25th.

The most eventfull day this week was when we went to do Home Based Care in a remote village. They told us it was about a 30 minute drive, but we weren't surprised it turned out to be a lot longer. And our trip made us see the didication that the HBC volunteers have, as they bike to this village each week to give care and encouragement.

Back to our journey. The rain had made one of the dirt paths we tried to drive (in our regular mini bus) undrivable, so we drove back and tried another one. This time the wheels spun and we were well and truly stuck. They tried to lay leaves and branches for the tires to grip but nothing worked. The decided we should walk because the village was "close".

An hour of walking in the scorching heat later and we arrived! We were already tired and knew we would have to walk back to the van!

We visited a man with TB and took time to pray with him. We left and headed for the next house which we were told would be our last one because of time...all that way and we only got to visit 2 patients. However, our walk to the next house took us about half and hour! This time an older man with what looked like severe parkinsons spoke softy of the troubles he had, that he hadn't been able to walk without help for 5 years and that his shaking made it impossible for him to do things. He also kept a wash cloth in his hands and would wipe the constant stream of drool from his mouth. This man was so precious, i was overwhelmed with compassion for him, and how helpless he was. So vulnerable. He was blessed to have a caring and healthy wife who had taken on the sole of bread winner for their family, but how many elderly here don't have people to care for them and are left alone?

It all seems so unfair. His condition could be treated but they have no money or transport to get medical care and so they simply exist and trust God with their futures. This mans name was Rogers, please pray for him and his family.

Then we headed back to the van...at lweast 10 minutes of this walk was on a very narrow mud track with 10foot hig grass surrounding us. Definatley made me feel like i was in Africa!!

We also encountered the divil ants (our nickname) they are about 1 inch long with huge red bums and they bite SO HARD. Not nice.

This week we also had some friends over for dinner, we did a puppet show for the kids after we ae which they loved, and then turned into a dance party! It was alot of fun, and we are really going to be sad to leave them.

Yesterday i took some pictures of the beautiful flowers and plants that are on the farm. Somuch vibrant colour everywhere! The fruit trees too, and the children showed me where the orange tree was. I thought they had misunderstood me when we arrived at what i had thought was a lime tree, because of the green fruit, but then they peeled one and we ate it, and what do you know, it was an orange. A green orange - I love Africa!!!

Friday, February 02, 2007

The rainy season, they weren't kidding!!!

I have less than no time to write this update. There are 4 computers in the town of Luyansha and they are slow, so as a team we take over for a good few hours. On one of the computers, the i key that doesn't work so for future reference if it seems i am mispelling everything with that letter- i might just have that computer!

The rains have come, it have been raining for over 12 hours nonstop. We have lost power a few times and had some 'romantic' candlelit evenings eating peanut butter and jelly sandwichs for dinner!!! All part of the fun of outreach.

Please pray for us not to be discouraged, some of the work we are planning to do is outside and so may get cancelled if the weather is bad. It can be frustrating to not be doing as much as we want so please pray that the team continues to get along well and find useful things to do with our time.

Personally i am loving the slower pace. I have got to read more and journal more, have amazing quiet times, and get at least 8 hours sleep a night, even when breakfast is at 6.30am!!!

We have been going to a lot of schools and meeting many, many children who have many many sad stories. I hope our songs, dances and stories can bring them a little joy. We have been telling and acting out the story of Daniel and the lions den, having them make lion masks! We talk a lot about trusting God, and also have a dance to the song 'Dare you to move' by Switchfoot that has the same message and goes over well.

The most enjoyable part of being with these kids is having them teach us songs and dances. They are precious as they sing so loud, with such heart, and wiggle their little bodies as they dance, it is awesome. They could teack J-Lo a move or two!!!

We went to a wedding this past weekend and it was quite the cultural experience. The bridal party, groomsmen and bridesmaids dance into and out of the church, and actually every time they enter or leave the room even at the reception place, they had a new dance that goes with it!!!

It was so much fun, a couple of the girls on the team did dances dedicated to the bride and groom adm we all enjoyed learning some of the traditional moves! I think they just enjoyed that we tried, but i know we looked pretty silly.

I continue to take pictures i wish i could share with you to explain some of the stories i write but i guess that will have to wait until March...

I miss you and think of home often - (Seattle and Croydon!!!!)

Thank you for your prayers, we appreciate them. We have all kept pretty healthy and i know that is a result of prayer so thank you.