Week 16 and Pictures!

Some of the beds in the small babies room. We have 11 beds like this and 3 pack and play beds.

The walls are painted Winnie the Pooh theme.

I can't add many pictures of the small babies room since the babies are always in it!

Biggest to smallest with diapers and bottles! The smallest bottle holds 2oz!

Auntie Sarah and me. Auntie Sarah works in small babies but will be moving to baby house 2 beginning in March. We will miss her so much here at baby house 1!

Big difference in size there.

Week 16

Sick

I started off this week sick. Cassie was sick last week and it was my turn this week. It started off with an upset stomach but soon moved to a head and dizzy thing. I felt very similar to when I first got here. I am pretty sure that I experienced altitude sickness then so I am not sure what happened this time around. Thankfully it only lasted two days and then I made myself get up and go to work because otherwise I think that it could have lasted a long time. Hopefully I am healthy and feeling well for my last two months here.

The Hospital

The beginning of the week I had the opportunity to go with Nadene to the hospital for head scans for two of our prem (preemie) babies. The head scan was to make sure that everything is developing normally for these little babies and thankfully it is! It was very interesting to see the hospital. It was a government hospital that we went to. I learned that children birth through 7 years receive ‘free’ healthcare since it is government run. The main hallway in this hospital that connects everything together is a mile long! It is a big hospital to say the least. Also because it is a government hospital most things are not scheduled ahead of time and there are not appointments. You simply go in the morning and wait your turn. Usually Nadene will leave before 6am when she has to bring kids to the hospital but this day she went later because this is not usually a very busy part of the hospital and the scans are quick. She has waited in line for over 6 hours with some of the babies though for some things! We waited about an hour and the trip itself was about two hours. It was great to get out and see more of Joburg.

The OT

Well I was spoiled this week and got out of the house twice! I also went along with Nadene and a baby from our house and a few babies and an auntie from baby house 3 to see the occupational therapist. We ended up having the wrong date written down for two of the babies so only one of them saw the OT but the other two got a free outing. I am hoping to go along again sometime so that I can be part of the therapy also. On the way back to the house we had to stop by baby house 2 to drop some things off so I was at all three baby houses this day. It has been interesting to see more of Joburg and also to learn so much about the medical side of the baby house in the past week between the clinic, the hospital and the OT.

March Schedule

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1            Off	2            Off
3       Toddlers	4 Toddlers	5     Big Babies	6               Off	7            Off	8 Toddlers	9 Toddlers
10 Toddlers	11          Off	12 Toddlers	13              Off	14  Toddlers	15 Toddlers	16            Off
17 Toddlers	18           Off	19         Off	20 Toddlers	21   Big Babies	22    Big Babies	23            Off
24            Off	25   Big Babies	26   Big Babies	27    Big Babies	28            Off	29   Toddlers	30   Big Babies
31    Big Babies

I am excited to spend the month with my toddler favorites and to be back in big babies for the first time since the end of December! It will be a busy month as I work lots.

Odds and Ends

-       Our toilet flusher handle is not connected the way that it is supposed to be any more. For the last two weeks we have had to take the back off the toilet and flush it manually. Only in Africa we say.

-       We have an ant problem. It is to the point that I am not grossed out to make my lunch on the counter next to the 8 ants that are just crawling their little hearts out. Again, only in Africa. TIA

-       We ordered KFC again this week and it was delicious. It is a highlight of the week when we decide to order out.

-       We watch movies here all the time and are so thankful for all of the movies that Candice has on her external hard drive. I did not bring any movies with me and it comes back to bit me almost daily. One of the girls will name a movie that they want to watch and we don’t have it here and I will just say I have it at home. We have probably gone through wanting almost my entire movie collection here. Live and learn.

Cute Baby/Kid Stories

Well I know that are waiting for a few cute stories again so I will share are few with you.

-       The toddlers love to be outside and can hear the airplanes from a mile away. My favorite girl, S, is very in tune with her airplanes. The way that they say airplane though is just so cute they say air-o-plane. And when they do they yell it and point with great excitement. It is just so precious.

-       This story is not for the weak stomachs but shows what happens around here a little more. I was working one day this week with Auntie Mary and Auntie Sylvie in toddlers. Auntie Sylvie started to dish up breakfast and I started to get the morning medications ready (18 medications!). Auntie Mary went to wake up the kids. This is always a fun part of the day but also a very smelly part of the day. 8 toddlers in one room for a whole night can be really smelly if you catch my drift. Next thing we know is that Auntie Mary is coming out of the room saying, oh my gosh you have to come and see this. Auntie Sylvie and I stop what we are doing and walk into the bedroom and just gasp. Big Girl N has taken her diaper off and ‘painted’ herself with her pooh. It was everywhere, all over her body, on the crib, the sheets, the stuffed animals, the walls, the carpet and even the beds next to hers. It was horrendous! We had to start the day with the other 10 kiddos so we gave them breakfast and N sat in her bed and cried for that 20 minutes. Then Auntie Sylvie and I started to bathe the other kids and Auntie Mary was going to tackle N. She took N outside and set her in one of the baby bathtubs. She then took out all of her bedding and the other kids bedding that was messy. N and the bedding sat outside, crying, while Auntie Mary cleaned up the room. The other kids thought this was a very fun show to watch N cry outside so early in the morning. Finally N got scrubbed down outside and was returned to the rest of the crew. Auntie Mary the washed the bedding by hand and then put it in the washing machine to wash again. Not a very pretty start to the day. You would have thought that so much humiliation would have made N learn her lesson but she did not. She is just turning into a little naughty girl. The next day at nap she got out of her crib and started to empty the boy’s closet of all their clothes. Auntie Mary caught her and she had her nap on the floor in the dark room. Day 3 she again took her diaper off at nap and since it was clean she decided to shred it to little pieces. She again slept in the dark room when Auntie Sylvie found her doing this. She is a handful and only 1½ years old. We just all pray she is adopted before she is 2 or 3 because we are not ready for that!

Stay tuned to the blog for next week’s post because it is going to be exciting. We have plans for 4 out of the 7 days next week! Plans that involve more than just work and a movie. We are really excited!

Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support and for the emails. They mean so much to me and really do help the time and distance struggle. Part of my heart will always be here in South Africa and I have not idea how I will say good to the beautiful faces that have changed my life here. I do know that they will be plastered all over at my house and I am sure that I will carry their pictures around in my purse like a proud mother does. The friendships that I have formed with the other volunteers here will also be hard to leave. They are friendships that will never be able to be created anywhere ever again and the chance that we will all be in the same place again together is not very likely as we are from all over the world. This being said I am going to treasure the last two months here and prepare my heart for the transition home.

During my time here I have challenged myself to a few things. I challenged myself to write in a journal at least once a day. It could be one word or it could go on for pages but I had to write at least once a day. So far I have kept it up and it is amazing to look back on. I also challenged myself to take a picture a day. This I have failed to do. I have hundreds and it will be thousands of pictures that I take home with me but I did not keep up with taking a picture a day. The last challenge was to read scripture once everyday with the final goal having been to have read through the entire Bible during my stay. This I have also kept up with and I am ahead of schedule to finish the whole Bible. It has been incredible to watch God work through this. So now I am going to give you all a challenge with me. I am almost to the New Testament and will spend my last weeks reading from Matthew to Revelation. I want so company while I read! Will you join me in this adventure and read with me? Take the next two months, 61 days and see what God does with it. Read just 4 or 5 chapters a day to stay on track and watch the transformations that happen. What do you say?!? Will you join me?!?

9 week countdown is on,

Emily