Sunday, February 6, 2011

Today was nice.  This morning we went to church.  The sermon was about remaining steadfast in your faith.  It was really good and I needed to hear it.  The worship was good too, we are singing more songs I know.  I am starting to feel more comfortable at the church. 

Afterward we had our Chichewa lesson and then went to Mary O’Neill’s house.  We had a late lunch which was very good.  She served chicken and for dessert we had jello and ice cream.  It was such a treat.  I got to meet two of Mary’s daughters and also Sarah, one of Maribeth’s good friends.  I enjoyed listening to Mary and her daughters’ Irish accents and had a very nice time socializing.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Today was a lot better than yesterday.  I woke up still not feeling good and went back to bed for a few more hours.  James and Tisu came over to use the internet for a while.  When I woke up Maribeth sent Kelsey and I to get a cold milkshake at Kips.  It still hurt to eat but the coldness soothed it and I was able to eat a chicken sandwich.  It was good and I needed the protein.  After that I started feeling better.  The rest of the day was mellow and relaxing.  Mary O’Neill stopped by for a little while, but that was pretty much it. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

Today was bad, but God is taking care of me.  I have been having heartburn-like pain the past three days.  Well, this morning I could not even eat breakfast without it hurting so badly.  Kelsey went to the store and got me an antacid to take but it did not help.  I stayed home and rested, Tiger napped with me, he was a great comfort.  In the afternoon Maribeth and Kelsey took me to a private hospital so I could see a doctor.  The doctor was not really sure what is wrong with me but he gave me two medications that will help the pain.  It will coat my throat and esophagus and make eating better.  It has helped a little so far, hopefully by tomorrow it will be gone.  Also, later Maribeth found some Oragel that she had, which will relieve the pain of my wisdom teeth coming in.  Satan is really attacking my health right now, but I am trusting in God to take care of me.  I pray that I will be feeling better soon so I can continue to help the team and start working at the hospital. 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Today was good. It was a relaxing day, though we remained busy.  Kelsey and I had a lazy morning.  I slept in a bit and then got my laundry done.  Then we headed to town to do some shopping.  We went to two clothing stores, the pharmacy, the bank, and the grocery store.  I ended up getting two chitinji's, which are native skirts, and a hand bag for really cheap.  Then we went to the pharmacy to get the supplements the doctor recommended for my knee, he did not have it in stock but I got a calcium supplement because I have been getting bad Charlie horses in my calves at night.  Then Kelsey had to go by the bank to open an account.  After that we went to Peoples, which is the local grocery store, and got some food for the house.

The fabrics I bought to wear as chitinjis.  

Malawian women wrap the fabric around and wear it as a skirt. 

I am seriously convinced that my health is under attack by the devil.  I have never had this many health issues ever.  The right side of my face hurts, I think it is because my wisdom teeth are coming in.  They have not bothered me for such a long time that I completely forgot about them, until today, but they are starting to cut through the gum, of course, and it hurts.  I also have been having heartburn when I eat food, it does not hurt much after I eat, just while I eat, its weird.  We think talking an anti-inflammatory medication for my knee with my Malaria prevention medicine may be the cause.  I pray that is the case and it will go away soon. 

After shopping we came back home and worked on school stuff for Maribeth.  We also tried to make cookies in our borrowed toaster oven.  We first half dozen we made burned on the bottom but were still doughy on the top, so we moved the rack up and turned the temperature down.  We burned the next half dozen as well.  So, after that we decided to make them on the stove pot in our skillet, it took a while, but they turned out perfect!  The past couple days we have been trying to use the borrowed appliances but they been more trouble than blessing.  The other night I tried to toast bread in the toaster so I put the bread in, set it to the lowest setting and pushed the button down.  Within ten seconds the coils turned bright red and the bread was smoking! I quickly took the bread out, turned it off the toaster and unplugged it.  We were lucky a fire did not start!  Then I decided to use the microwave to warm something up.  So, I turned it on, put the food in, and pushed a button.  I bent down to read what it said and the door quickly opened and shut in my face! It blew! I could not believe it!  After the toaster burned our garlic bread, the microwave blew in my face, and the toaster oven burned our cookies, they found a new homes in the garage!  I consider it a blessing that the house does not have an oven because I probably would have burned the whole house down if we did!  Our motto here is “less is more” and it is so true! We will stick to our two burner stove top, thank you!

Wednesday, February 02, 2011 – Day of Blessings!

Today has been filled to the brim with blessings!

Blessing #1: I went to Cure hospital this morning for my knee and it is nothing serious. Praise God!  Apparently, it is common for young women to get the knee problem I have.  The cartilage between my knee cap and joint are soft, like most women’s.  Often times, when someone does a lot of irregular exercise the knee cap shifts up or down, side to side.  The pain I am feeling is the knee cap moving when I walk.  The good news is I will not need surgery.  The bad news is it is going to take a while for it to completely get better.  The doctor recommended that I go to physical therapy to learn some exercises that will help it and to take a supplement that will strengthen the cartilage.  He warned that it will take two or three weeks for the supplement and therapy to work but that it will eventually go away.  Hallelujah!

Blessing #2: The kids seemed more expectant and excited to see us today at Queens.  I am feeling more comfortable being there and talking to the patients and family members.  We visited the Pediatric Burn Unit and that broke my heart.  The hospital staff used PVC pipe to build a cube to put over the children so the blankets would not touch them, but they would stay warm.  Some of the children had arms wrapped, their torso wrapped, and others had half their face covered.  We did not get to spend as much time as we wanted in the ward because the nurses came to change the dressings.  As we walked out of the unit we could hear the crying of children already getting their dressings peeled off.  My heart went out to them. 

At lunch we went to a nearby store to get bread and peanut butter, because Kelsey and I wanted peanut butter sandwiches but because we did not have any to spread the peanut butter, we also bought cookies and did the best we could to spread it.  It was a tasty lunch! J

We then went back into the hospital and hung out with the kids in the playroom.  There were a lot more kids this time and they were more excited to play with us.  We had circle time where Simon shared the story of Creation and James, Kelsey and myself took turns reading them books in English.  After that we played more.  One little boy really liked playing with Legos so I built him a tower.  I also watched Yamikani and Paul play the game Connect Four and it was hilarious! They did not realize that you could not only win having four up and down or side to side, but diagonal as well! 

Blessing #3: Then we came home and got furniture!  Althea, one of our friends, has to loan out some furniture for a while because she has to get her flooring redone.  We get to use the furniture for a couple months for free which is great!  We only had beds, nightstands, a table and three chairs.  We were thinking about buying a few pieces because our house is bare and we are going to be entertaining guests next week.   

Blessing #4: Our ceiling was fixed so no more raining in the dinning room or family room!

Blessing #5: The hot water pump was fixed so now we have hot water! I got to take a hot American shower and it was truly like experiencing a little piece of Heaven! 

Our power went out for about ten minutes because of the wind storm outside.  We had to flee to our safety bubbles, literally, our mosquito net over our beds because the mosquitoes go rampant at night.  But it was only for a short time and the power came back on, then we went back to our borrowed, pink, Lazy-Boy chairs! J

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

This morning as Kelsey and I walked to the school we were met by our team.  They surprised us!  They were all lined up on the road, pulling suitcases, that had previously been filled with gifts for the school and needed to come back to the house.  They were so sweet to bring them to us!  Once we got to the school, Kelsey, Abigail and I met to discuss ideas on what we are going to do at the hospital and elsewhere.  It was good and it helped us organize our thoughts and be on the same page. 

The team’s plans for the day had been canceled.  They were going to go to one of the centers and start painting the walls; however, there was a funeral going on too close to the center so they decided not to go.  Instead, the team went to visit one of the school teachers who has been out sick with pneumonia.  I decided to stay back at the school, instead of go with the team, I really did not want to miss out on the adventure, but I had to do the wise thing and not walk with my knee.  I had fun, anyway.  I helped the little kids with their spelling, matching games and colors.  Then I became snack lady, dispensing the snack as the children presented their plates.  This gave me an opportunity to talk to the kids a bit more and get to know them better.    

Funny fact, well, actually not really funny, more like interesting observation.  Kelsey and I are suspicious about the glass bottles the sodas come in.  No matter where you are at, if you buy a soda in a classic glass bottle, you must drink it there and give the bottle back or leave a deposit and bring it back to the seller when you are finished.  We are pretty sure that the bottles are sent back to the factory, by the seller, so that they can be refilled.  Gross right?  So, we have been careful to buy soda in the plastic bottles or in cans.  Well, today I got an orange Fanta (orange soda, really popular here) and once I broke the seal on the lid, I pulled it off and there was dirt under it, on the mouthpiece! Super gross! I used a hand wipe to clean it the best I could and then carefully poured the soda into my water bottle so it would not touch the dirty rim.  Now, we are pretty confident that the plastic bottles are LITERALLY recycled!!  From now on I will be buying soda only from a can.  Oh, and our glass bottle suspicion?  It is pretty much confirmed! 

In the afternoon the team had a meting with some of the Feed the Children and Chikondi teachers.  I was elected the official secretary, which was fun.  The meeting felt long but we discussed some important issues that need to be addressed.  After that it was a pretty quiet evening, despite the repairmen being present at the house again.  And I am anticipating the appointment I have at Cure hospital tomorrow, I pray it goes well and that it is nothing serious.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Today was busy but good.  This morning we walked to the Chikondi Care Center.  It was a 45 minute walk there, but it was worth it.  This center is special because it is specifically for children who have special needs, HIV/AIDs or are orphaned.  There are 69 kids currently attending and they only have 4 teachers, which is crazy.  They asked for more supplies and you could see they needed more adults to help with the kids.  Kelsey and I are praying about possibly helping out there once or twice a week, when we are not at the hospital.  Our team also got to spend some time with the kids, we taught them “Father Abraham” and they loved it!

One of the Malawian team members took these videos at Chikondi:

Our team teaching the kids "Father Abraham".

All of us doing "Father Abraham" together.

In the afternoon, we three girls ran some errands in town.  By the time we were finished, my knee was swollen pretty badly from walking so much and it ached.  Maribeth was concerned so we went to a pharmacy near by and got some disposable ice packs (we do not have a freezer, so no frozen peas) and an ace bandage for my knee.  We then took a taxi home so I wouldn’t have to walk, plus it was raining.

Once we arrived home, the repairmen, who had been at the house working all day, were still here.  AND get this, shortly after we got home, not only did the dining room ceiling begin to leak again, but the family room ceiling as well!  But you know what?  We are not panicked over the fact that our ceilings are raining and that we do not have any water to take showers tonight.  God has given us peace and joy. 

To end this lovely day, we made a nice dinner and sat at the table with our two little candles, despite the chaos around us.  We tried to cure our Mexican food craving by making rice and beans.  They were good, do not get me wrong, but I am really looking forward to a trip to Chipotle or Rubio’s when I get home! J