Monsoonia Monday

Day 14

Today was the first day in our new groups. I am now working with Dr. Weaver in the feeding class with Shanna, Jill, and Tessa. Some of the babies have feeding issues because either their cheek muscles are too weak to suck so they spill, or they might be older but don’t have good trunk supports so they don’t eat like they should. In our class we do a lot of stretches on the lips, cheeks, and in the mouth. We also do stretches a lot in the arms and legs to loosen them up. We practice sitting up, and we also have tummy time, where they can practice holding their head up and hopefully learn to roll over. We also have various chew toys, pacifiers, and vibrating toys to stimulate facial muscles. Now you know what feeding class is all about. Our morning starts in Haven 3 where we work with two separate groups of babies, and then we move to Haven 1 where we get to pick up a baby and interact with them before we eat lunch. After we finish lunch we return to Haven 1 and work with younger group of babies (0-4 months ish) During this group today I worked with Tawpangwa. We did just fine through the whole session, and then I was peed on… I smelled like urine. Lucky for me I brought some extra scrub pants to change into. There wasn’t really a place for me to change so Dr. Weaver stood in front of a door way because there was no door. Thanks Dr. Weaver. This being my first peed on experience, it really wasn’t that bad, thankfully.

After working with our afternoon feeding group we get to choose what Haven we want to go to and pick a child we want to interact with for the rest of the afternoon. I choose to go back to Haven 3. I love the kids in Haven 3 the most. They are sick, but they are so entertaining and I love to interact with them. Today I got to work with (the cutest baby) Sydney. She was adorable as always and well behaved. We worked on talking and I tried to teach her my name. She talked but no success on the name, but that’s alright, we have plenty of time left.

After our time is over in Haven 3 we are done for the day. We walked back to the Hamby House and had dinner. After dinner we went and picked up some things from Mrs. Mono’s house. I bought some fabric I liked (in the market) and she made me some scrubs! They are really neat and very African. I like them a lot. One is a little too big, but I think Mom can fix it once I get back to the States. Tessa and I played drums for a while and then I tried to build another card house. We met up with Webster at 7:30 like he planned and we practiced the Tonga song he taught us Saturday night. We are sounding better. He wants us to sing it this coming Sunday! So we are planning on practicing more this week.

After the group finished singing Ian, Tessa and I stayed with Justin and Webster and we talked for hours about the various things. They taught us some Tonga words, and we taught them about the weather in America. They could no believe how cold it gets. And they were amazed that now in America its summer and here in Zambia, its winter. We talked about snakes in American and Africa, and they gave us Tonga names. It was really fun interacting with them. After tonight I consider them friends. They were so nice to us. I asked them how they became watchmen and they described how God provided a way to work where they are now, and they are so thankful, and so am I. Webster is very funny, he made us laugh all night. I look forward to hanging with them tomorrow night and learning more Tonga songs and words.

Thank you all for reading! I appreciate all your prayers and thoughts. If you have any specific questions you would like me to answer you can email me or post a comment!

Thank you.

Ben