Two down, two to go!

Well we have officially completed our second week of therapy here in Zambia. We are half way done with our experience here and it is bittersweet. We have all become extremely attached to these babies and it's going to be so hard to leave them. We have continued to track these babies and we assessed our feeding/swallowing groups today. We didn't have as much of a gain in progress as we did last week overall, but some babies are flying through their missed milestones. Nelson is our premature baby and he has been having trouble feeding because he is so tiny. We have been working really hard to get him to have a stronger suck both nutritively and non-nutritively. He finished his bottle (4 oz.) in 16 minutes today which was HUGE for him. On Monday it took him 15 minutes to eat 1 oz. it's awesome to see the therapy working. :) Caroline was stoked this morning as were we. 

 In therapy, cultural differences aren't as noticeable with the kiddos but we have seen a few. One of the main differences is the type of diseases we are working against and the environment that we are in. The most difficult difference is when we are working with the toddlers in Haven 2 and they speak mainly in Tongan. A couple of them know how to code switch but most of them don't. Some of the babies are also anxious around us because we don't look like people they are used to. When we go get a baby for therapy, an auntie always makes us take the babies' blanket with us and they take it very seriously. I think that's about it so far. Sickness is still lingering throughout our group and we just ask for your prayers for good health and safety. Miss and love y'all! Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong! 

Love One Another

Today was a relaxing day around the Havens. We did feeding/swallowing therapy this morning and it was successful. I worked with Jonah Jonah, Katy, Kelvin, Busiko, Jeremy, and Raymond. I love all of these precious babies but I am smitten with Raymond. I already love him so much!!! I get up in the mornings ready to go because I get to work with that precious boy. He reminds me of my little Lucas! :( oh how I miss him. We didn't go back after lunch because sickness is still rearing its ugly face around here. We just completed our paperwork and relaxed. Tonight we practiced our Tongan song with Webster again. We're getting better! :) Reagan, Vivian, and Glenda have made it to the mission and have joined our group. I so excited to watch Reagan do the infant massage therapy she has been training for. I know it will make a huge difference with a lot of the kids. I miss my fiancé so much but I will be home soon! :) Love and miss you all! Until tomorrow...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong. 

Lovely Day!

Today was another long day. We have all hit the point to where we are so exhausted and need sleep. Therapy went smooth with only a few minor glitches. We started out with feeding/swallowing therapy with Haven 1. We have had so much progress in the week in a half that we have been doing therapy it's crazy. Priscilla and Nelson had a difficult time feeding this morning and we're not real sure what was going on with them. We are going to try to use rice cereal in their milk and adjust nipples for them tomorrow. Hopefully that will help them get a good amount of milk. This afternoon we worked on language stimulation outside in the sand box. I am so impressed and leased with the progress that Haven 2 has made. So many of them have started cooing, vocalizing, imitating, and saying words. Some of them are up to sentences. Yay!! I still thoroughly enjoy the Tongan language. I try to learn as many words as I can while we are around the aunties during the day. We have learned different songs in Tongan and they just seem to be way more fun than American songs. We our practicing our song with Webster again tonight. Hopefully we will sound better this time. :) please continue to pray for us and we have a few other members on their way here. Until tomorrow....Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

 

Long day!

It's been a really long day and we are all so tired so instead of blogging I'm just going to post some pics! :) love y'all! Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong.

Amazing Grace!

Today was a different day around the Havens.  We attended  our first funeral service for the little baby who passed away last week. It was such a sad experience but I'm glad to witness it. Another one of the little babies passed away last night and it has just been a very sad week around here. Please keep everyone in your prayers and help us make it through this week full of sadness. 

On a happier note we went to the Havens this afternoon and just got to love on the babies. I have fallen in love with so many of them and I am going to be super sad when we leave. Feeding and swallowing therapy was fun this morning. The babies are becoming more accustomed to us and to the things we are working on in therapy. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, we went to the market again and just traveled back to the mission. I got three Chitange materials and I am getting pajama pants made out of them :) I can't wait for all of my family to see the cool things I got them. We learned a tongan song tonight from our night watchman, Webster. It was so fun and I really love the tongan language. We've learned a lot since we've been here. Can't wait for tomorrow but until then... Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong. 

Lunar Rainbow!

Today we got to spend a relaxing day in Livingstone. We are staying at a really nice hotel and we went to the market first thing. I can officially say that I have learned to barter (not completely mastered yet) but I will get there. My dad would be proud! :) They had so many neat things but I wanted to learn how to barter before I just went crazy spending money. We will go back tomorrow for more practice!! Tonight we ate Olga's, an Italian restaurant and we had some yummy pizza. We then went to the Lunar Rainbow which was amazing. Standing there listening to the sound of Victoria's Falls and seeing the Lunar Rainbow reminded me of how awesome our God is. I found myself thinking "How could you not believe in God after seeing this?" It was beautiful and unlike anything I've seen at home before. I will post pics below (thanks to Staci) and keep in mind that it it pitch black dark outside and this is what we saw. I ask that you continue to pray for our group, as some of us have been sick this past week. I love y'all. Until tomorrow....Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

Heavy on the Heart

I blog today with a heavy heart. Jesus took a precious little soul last night. He was having trouble breathing yesterday and he just couldn't fight anymore. Please pray for the aunties and families that are mourning at this time.

This experience just became even more real. We basically went to the Havens today and loved on and played with the babies. We assessed them again for feeding/swallowing and it was awesome to see the progress they have made in just one week. We were assigned three kiddos today to follow throughout our time here. I have Jonah, Katy, and Priscilla. I'm excited to start following them next week. It's finally the weekend and we get to have some fun and relax at the Lunar Rainbow. Hopefully I can get some good pics but until then...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

What a Day!!

Today was such an exciting day for a few of the babies at Haven 3. Candace and Raymond both rolled from prone (tummy) to supine (back). That is a HUGE accomplishment for them both. We were so excited to witness that and it just goes to show that God has a purpose for us being here. We have already seen so much progress from the babies whether it is getting some of the toddlers to talk and sing along to songs or something considered simple back home such as rolling. We got to start taking pictures of the babies today!!! :) I will post some below. Watching these babies progress with the therapy that we are providing for them is such a blessing. It reminds me of my babies at Easter Seals that were so fragile as well but when they made progress, it would give you this feeling of worthy and peace. That is how I am feeling here with these babies. A few of us have been puny the past couple days so I ask that y'all back home pray for us to get better and to stay healthy. As well as one of our little babies. He was struggling with breathing today and please pray for him as well. We will complete our first week of therapy tomorrow. It's crazy how fast it went by. 

We got to experience our first African meal today, nshima. We participated in an African ritual where we all got in a line and passed a bar of soap while one of them poured water over our hands to cleanse them. It was a neat experience. We get to go to Victoria Falls this weekend to watch the Lunar Rainbow which only happens 6 times a year and in three different locations here in Africa. It will be a nice little break. Until tomorrow...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!!

Dispensers of Mercy

Today was a great day at the Havens. This morning in language therapy at Haven 2 was amazing. We split up into three groups to do different language units. I had Ella, Ruby, Lincoln, Martin, Cathy, Dillon, MoMo in my group and they did awesome. They were so much more talkative and interactive with each other. We played with a Mr. Potato Head working on body parts and animals and they were so smart. It gave me a peaceful feeling when they started talking and interacting with me and each other. This afternoon we did feeding and swallowing therapy. I worked with Katy and Raymond the most and they are just so adorable. Raymond has hydrocephalus (overactive flow of fluid in the brain causing it to swell). He is "my baby" right now. I'm already in love with him and I find myself praying for God to bless me and him while we work together. We had an informal Bible study tonight just to talk about things that were weighing on our hearts and it was much needed. I really love all of our supervisors and the positive reinforcement/teachings they have provided us with is very encouraging. Until tomorrow...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

Cow...Another Cow...Actually I think that was the same one!

Today we got to do more dysphagia therapy and it was so fun! I worked with Raymond for the past two days and he did not tolerate any buccal stretches or Beckman exercises yesterday. He tolerated the stretches a lot better today and is warming up to me. :) I really love the sensory integration from the oral motor stretches for the oral musculature we have been doing. I have always liked sensory integration when I learned about it from working at Easter Seals. I worked with Helen, Owen, and Jeremy this morning for language therapy and I got vocalizations from all three, which is progress from yesterday!! The toddlers in Haven 2 were amazing this morning!! They attended and participated in our songs and games that we presented. Lincoln was so precious and we actually got a "bye-bye" from Vigi. It's awesome the progress that we are already seeing and it has only been two days. I'm enjoying this experience way more now that we have developed relationships with these babies. Fun fact...there was a herd of cows crossing the road on the way to the Haven and a few of them actually stopped and let our bus pass then crossed the road. It was so strange. Anyway, until tomorrow...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

A Day of Firsts

We completed our first day of therapy at the Havens today. It's so different than therapy in the states. We are split up into two groups; Staci, Rachel, and I in one group and Courtney, Jake, and Brittany in the other. My group started out doing language therapy this morning and it was so fun. We sang multiple songs and read books about animals. We ended morning therapy with Red Light, Green Light in the Tongan language using zuzu (go) and imma (stop). That game was my favorite part of the whole day because the kids loved it!! In the afternoon session we worked with Caroline on feeding and swallowing. That was our first experience with dysphagia therapy and I'm already in love  with it, I could see myself working in that area. I can't wait to see the progress some of the kids make while we are here. I have developed a special bond with Lincoln, Katy, and Raymond. It was a great day and I'm excited for tomorrow. It's actually storming here tonight which is out of the ordinary!!

Day of Worship

Today we had the pleasure of visiting the Namwianga Church of Christ and it was so inspirational to be able to worship with people in what feels like another world. We spent the rest of the day resting and spending quality time with one another. After dinner we spent time playing Catch Phrase as a group and talking about our therapy plans starting tomorrow. I am so excited to begin therapy and hopefully watch the progress that the babies make. We went back to church tonight where we heard a sermon on true love. After we got back to the Mann House we took freezing cold showers. Literally the coldest shower I've EVER taken in my life, but at least I'm clean. :) Can't wait for tomorrow, but for now Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!

Chill time!

We had a very relaxing day today. After breakfast we got to experience the African markets. It was an eye opening experience to see the way some of the people make money to live. I am going to be honest, we were all very scared and nervous while walking through the market. It was interesting to learn and see cultural differences. I am so blessed to be able to learn about a different country and its customs. After the market, we spent time at Ms. Mono's home shopping for purses, wallets, place mats, aprons, pajama pants, etc. made out of Chitange material (Zambian material). We ended the night watching a movie on the patio of the Hamby house. It was a very peaceful and relaxing day and I am so thankful for my friends and supervisors that are sharing this experience with me. 

Meeting the Haven

Today was an awesome day. We went to the Haven for the first time and met all the precious babies. I was shocked at how fast they stole my heart and placed me at their mercy. We delivered donated therapy materials and clothes/shoes to the Haven, where we were thanked in a way that we knew it was really meant. After observing the kids' developmental milestones and rocking them so sleep, we took a break for lunch. We then took our first walk from the Mission to the Haven which was interesting and quite a work out. Once we got back to the Haven we played with the toddlers on their playground for two hours where we gained a better relationship with them. It was awesome to see them go from saying nothing at all to us to full out sentences, although they were in the Tongan language and we couldn't understand! After a long day of play, we attended singing night at Eric's Place, where children in their mid-teens to young adult live. It was the most inspirational and genuine meeting of worship I have EVER seen in my life. I found myself soaking up the awe of God under the African night sky by the bonfire in a way that I didn't even know existed. Their voices and passion brought tears to my eyes multiple times because of the way many people worship back home, including myself by going through the motions. It was the most beautiful acapella music. It was a great experience to worship God with another culture and I can't wait for next time. 

Landed in Africa

We have finally made it to Zambia. It was definitely a long two days of travel but we arrived safely. We have encountered a whole new world and experience from the everyday customs of our country. It is definitely an adjustment that will take us all a while to get used to. We have had many laughs and tears along the way so far, but they were all out of love. We had our first meal (Taco Soup) tonight in Zambia and I have to say it was delicious! We are settled in to our rooms and have been enjoying being able to relax and talk with one another. We have many days ahead of us and we get to meet the babies tomorrow. Please continue to  keep us in your prayers as we begin our clinical and personal experiences.