One Month!

A few of us at montecasino Back row: Me, Renita, Katy Front row: Nicole, Talitha, Erika

Giraffe Kisses

One more!

Petting the lion cubs

Week 4- 1 Month!

There are pictures included again! I have put up a few of the giraffe pictures from the Lion Park because some of you have been wanting to see those as well as a group photo of a few of us at Montecasino on Thanksgiving day.

Well we have hit December now and I have been gone for almost a whole month. Sometimes it feels as though I have been longer and other days it feels like I just got here. We have had to say goodbye to a few of the volunteers in the last week so we are adjusting to a smaller group and new normal.

A Little Exciting News

It is official… I am going to Cape Town! January 16-21 I will be in Cape Town. I will be going with 3 of the other girls here. We are flying down early in the morning on the 16^th and returning in the late afternoon on the 21st. A group of girls went just before I came so we have some great ideas of things to do from them. A few of the things on the list include cage diving with the great white sharks, horseback riding on the beach, visiting a prison that was used during the partied, finding the point that the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and going to Boulder Beach (the beach where penguins run wild!). In one week I will be able to play with African babies and hang out with penguins on a beach. This is a dream come true for anyone who knows me well! If any of you have any other great ideas of things that we should do we are open to ideas. We are hoping to stay at the same place the other girls stayed at because it is cheap and they have free Internet! I am really excited for this trip. It will fall about the half way point of being here so that will be great timing to have a week off.

Pie Baking Lesson

One of the girls that just left is from the Netherlands. I did not get to claim the Dutch title as she won that contest. She loves to back and cook and is very good at it. One of the things that she is famous for among the volunteers is her apple pie. I can attest that it is very good. I have had it three times now in 4 weeks. Since she was leaving we wanted to learn how to make it and get the recipe from her. The recipe that she uses is in Dutch so we had a lesson on how to make the pie and a translating night this past Monday. It was me, Cassie (from Florida), Nicole (from Virginia), Kirsten (from Pennsylvania), Lisa (originally from Wisconsin but has lived here for about 2 years now) and Jason (Lisa’s boyfriend from South Africa) that got the lesson from Talitha (from the Netherlands). Our kitchen is very small but we all squeezed into it. It was a fun night of learning the Dutch way of making pies. Once the pie was in the oven we turned on a Christmas movie. We had warm pie half way through the movie. It was a great night of enjoying each other’s company. It was also one of the nights that I have had here that I most felt like I was at home.

More about Door of Hope

I have mentioned the IMB (International Missions Board) a few times now on the blog. They are the group that we had Thanksgiving with. They have a website called africastories.org that tells more about some of the things that they do. They have a section of the site on Door of Hope. If you want to watch a few videos about DOH or read a few articles you can find those by going to africastories.org. Then in the top right corner of the page you will see a tab that you can click called stories. Once you get to the stories page scroll down until you find the Door of Hope section. These pieces will give you a little bit more about what I am doing. DOH also has a facebook page that you can visit to learn more about them as well. I have visited the page a few times since being here and now know the babies that are pictured. Hopefully these few pictures of the babies can tide you all over until I get home!

Small Babies

I was able to work in small babies once this past week. One of the aunties asked me to switch with her. She is working big babies for me one day and I worked small babies for her. There are 9 small babies between the ages of 2 weeks and 5 months. There are two people on at a time to watch these babies. Small babies is really easy to work and can get boring at times. The babies really only eat and sleep and are awake for a little while in between. The small babies are split into two groups. One group is the bigger small babies and the other group is the smaller small babies. Many of the bigger small babies are ready to move to big babies but there is not enough room for them. I have to believe that I will see a lot of shifting and switching of babies from area to another really soon. The two groups drink bottles at different times so we were always feeding babies it seemed. There were a few times that I had to go and start feeding while auntie finished up other things. I can say that I successfully fed 5 babies between the ages of 2 weeks and 2 months by myself. Not something that you do on your average day. I did enjoy small babies and hope that I am able to spend some more time there eventually. I love the aunties who work in small babies as well. The one I worked with today kept saying that she hopes I can come back and work in small babies more. That was really encouraging to hear.

A little about the Babies

-       One of the small babies moved up to big babies this past week. She is 4 ½ months old.

-       One of the big babies was adopted the week before I got here. She was adopted by a couple in the Netherlands and had to stay in the country for a few weeks after. They to visit this past week before they left and I happened to be working. They were able to see for the first time the aunties who cared for their daughter, the crib she slept in, the friends that she played with and so on. I did not know the little girl before her adoption but this was still a very emotional visit for me to see. It is such a prayer that all of these kids can soon experience the arms of a forever family around them.

-       I am slowly starting to have favorites so to speak of the babies. This was going to happen and between everyone almost all of the babies are a favorite to someone. One of my favorites is a little girl ‘L’ who is 1 year old. She is not yet walking because of some delays. She is a diva through and through! You can be sitting by her and calling her name and she will just ignore you or look at you out of the very corner of her eye. The other day she was just getting frustrated and started to cry, which she does not do often. I picked her up, kissed her and started to talk to her. She did not respond much so I started to tickle her. She started to laugh and the laugh soon turned into a belly laugh. It was so funny. I then a little while later had to go and wash the bottles so I put her back on the blanket. She got really mad at me for putting her down but I told her I would be right back. When I got back she smiled as I came into the room. We played again for a little bit and then I was able to tuck her in bed for the night. There is so much to learn from these little babies. The love that she was willing to give because someone paid her attention. That was also all this little girl wanted was to be held and given some attention. Jealousy is a big problem with some of the babies. When one is being held they all want to be held. It is hard to tell them that they have to wait their turn when they just throw themselves down on the floor and cry. 

-       The other day when I was working one of the big babies who is able to move around and get in trouble was the sweetest little guy. I was wearing my blue Day Camp shirt with three suns. Baby ‘L’ crawled over to me and climbed into my lap. He then would touch each of the suns, get very excited with a big smile and then just fall into me for a hug. This continued for a good 10 minutes. It was so nice to receive the love from him without any kind of initiation or asking.

-       One of my favorite parts of the day is feeding time. We put all of the babies in their bumbo chairs or highchairs and turn the TV on so that they can watch their PraiseBaby DVD. They love the DVD. We have three different ones that we rotate through throughout the week. Each of them has been watched so many times that there are places that they skip and pause for a minute before starting up again. All of the babies love them though. It is so neat to be singing along with the music and feeding the babies one at a time.

This is Africa (TIA)

This is Africa or TIA has been a catch phrase here. There are times that things are crazy, don’t happen when they should or are not able to be explained so we all just look at each other and say TIA. Here are two examples of this for you. Margie has a pickup type truck that fits 5 people. The bed in the back is covered and is great to hold all of our belongings when we are able to get out. It is also great to hold more people if there are going to be more than 5 people going. She has been pulled over before because there were 6 people in the truck. She was told that only 5 people can be in the truck but as many as she wants to put in the back is fine. I have yet to ride in the back but I am sure that I will get to experience it a few times before I leave. TIA. In order to get Internet we have to go to The Glen about a mile away. We try and get rides as often as possible but sometimes this does not work so we walk. The walk there is fine because it is all downhill but the way back is all uphill. Not fun. (Beth and Aubs thank goodness I got that practice hiking hiking hiking hiking in Maine huh!!!!!) The other day during our hour lunch break a few of us made the trip on foot to The Glen. Walking a mile to get Internet for 30 minutes to walk a mile back. The following day I walked to and from The Glen again with some of the girls. TIA. I am excited to have more TIA moments while I am here.

Odds and Ends

-       Many kids don’t wear shoes when they are out at restaurants or shopping. It is weird to see.

-       We are regulars at Mugg and Bean for Internet and staff and manager know us. They know that we will be there for a while when we come and that we like to sit in the back where we can plug computers in to charge. It is fun to be a regular somewhere in South Africa.

-       I was able to lie out for the first time since being here this week. My African tan has started!

-       There is almost always music playing around here. I love it. It does not take long before you find yourself singing along and many of the babies watching as you do.

-       So far I have about 1000 pictures that I have taken or have received from people since being here. If this continues I will have well over 6000 pictures by the time that I get home!

-       I was able to go to the airport so see one of the girls that left this past week off.

-       This past Wednesday before Bible Study it was raining and we were just sitting around talking. I was sitting near one of the windows and I thought it looked like rainbow weather. I kept my eye out the window to see if one would appear. It did not take long before there was a big and vibrant rainbow stretching across the sky. Every color was visible. Soon it became a faint double rainbow. It was a great reminder of God’s promise to me that night.

-       I rode past a dynamite factory the other day. First time to see one of those.

-       There are rainstorms that happen at least three times a week here I would say. The other day we had a one and it started to hail. The hail was about ½ inch in diameter and covered the ground. It looked like it had snowed!

-       The baby house is decorated for Christmas. It is so much fun. I will take a few pictures and post them soon. There is a Christmas tree in the living room where the big babies are. It is tucked in a corner and half hidden by furniture. Should be an interesting month trying to keep them away from the tree.

-       We were recently given a big bag of candy for the flat. When we opened it we found Easter candy that we are thinking is from last Easter. We have about 50 old chocolate covered marshmallow treats to eat now. You never know what is going to show up around here.

-       The past three or so days have been really cold and rainy here. By cold I believe that it is in the 60s so yes at home you would consider this warm. It had been in the 80s and 90s until this point. We are really missing the sun and warm weather. This weather also makes it hard to do laundry because all of it has to dry outside. Usually at least 4 loads are done everyday so we were really behind.

-       A group with a huge donation came to the baby house the other day when I was working. They brought many useful things such as diapers and formula and wipes and laundry detergent. They also brought Christmas gifts for the babies and a big basket of goodies for us volunteers. So humbling to be on this end of the giving and receiving circle.

All of your prayers and emails have been great. I have loved receiving the emails and can feel the prayers. Thank you also for all of the financial support that you have given. I have almost reached the goal I had set back in the fall. God is good! This week I want to leave you with a scripture passage from Psalm 13. We read this passage the other day during our 10am devos times.

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me

                        forever?

            How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

            and every day have sorrow in my heart?

            How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.

            Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in

                        death:

my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

            and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love:

            my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

            for he has been good to me.

At first when we read this I thought why this Psalm. There are so many great Psalms to read and learn from but this one, really. As I continued to read it over and over again and we started to talk about it I really began to like it and understand why we had read it. There are still some days that being here and away from home is really hard. It can be easy at those times to just question God about his plan. When you look at how many kids in this baby house alone need a family it is easy to just see defeat. But we have to keep reading even if it is hard and God promised that it would be hard. His loves never fails and he has given us salvation. Excellent gifts and amazing promises he left with us. Hopefully this can provide some encouragement to you all today as well.

Love you and Miss you,

Emily