My final moments in Zambia!

     Today was our last day in Namwianga. As we packed up to leave there was a mixture of emotions I was feeling. I was feeling sad because we would not get to see the babies again before we left. I was feeling sad because we were leaving our home for the past 6 weeks. I was feeling excited to see all my friends and family that I have missed dearly. I was also dreading the long journey home. We have all grown to love Zambia, especially Namwianga. We have made some special friends here in Zambia- babies, toddlers, aunties, college friends, our night watchmen, our housekeepers, members of the community, and many more. It was hard saying goodbye to all of the people that we have grown to love. We have all grown to be comfortable with what our lives have been like these past 6 weeks. We have grown comfortable with the lack of showers, with a lack of electricity, and with a wardrobe of t-shirts, skirts, and chacos. We have grown comfortable with our daily routine of meal time and time at the Havens, and spending time with those at the college and with each other. So many of us have hopes of returning. Some plan to return next year as a student, some plan to come back as a supervisor, and some plan to come back to stay forever. I do not want to leave this place thinking that I will never return, because I hope and dream to return to this place that I have grown to love so much.

     I have witnessed many events since I have been here in Namwianga. I have seen babies get sick, some get better, and some fail to survive. I have seen a Zambian wedding celebration. We have seen joy and suffering throughout our stay here and have learned valuable lessons. We have learned that life is short and that even though one life might end there are many other lives that are important and that can benefit from the services that we can provide. As Christians we know that after life we have something more valuable waiting for us and knowing that a child is in a happy place without suffering is a comforting feeling. The little boy who did not make it was named Andrew. He was such a sweet boy that loved to be held and cuddled. He was a special boy that had a place in so many hearts. When I would read him a book he wanted to be the only one sitting with me, and would push others away. I thought this was quite adorable, because all babies deserve some undivided attention. He had a sweet smile, especially when he was tickled. The last time I was with Andrew I was trying to get him to eat some peanuts, because he had not been eating. I pretended to eat the peanuts and said they were yummy. He thought this was funny and laughed at me. He kept trying to make me eat the peanuts and I ate a few. When I tried to feed him the peanuts he looked at me with grumpy eyes, closed my hand, and pushed it away. It was funny and cute all in the same moment. I love remembering these moments. I know that Andrew is not hurting any more and that he is at peace and that makes me happy.

     Our last night in Zambia was in Lusaka. There is a little shopping center right beside the Protea Hotel that we visited. We discovered a cute little coffee shop and a movie theatre. We then found out even better news: the price to see a movie was K14,000, or just under $3.00. As you can imagine we were all pretty excited. A group of us that consisted of Liz, Kara, Tessa, Ben, Naiveen, and myself decided that we must see a movie. We just could not pass up a movie for $3.00. So, we bought popcorn, coke, and chocolate and watched the newest Pirates of the Caribbean. We were so excited that we took plenty of pictures and a video that I’m sure many of you will see in the future. We thought that our last night was a perfect ending to a perfect trip. We all have grown closer as we have experienced this amazing opportunity together. My trip was worth more than money. I hope that those of you that did not get this experience can one day visit Namwianga and the Havens. I have learned a lot about myself on this trip. I have learned as a clinician how to provide language stimulation and therapy with a limited amount of materials. I have also learned to go with the flow, and that if in the middle of feeding or language class someone has to be changed, then that is ok. I have also learned that it is ok to just hold and love on a baby. Some babies need that more than anything else. I have learned so much about feeding and swallowing. I have learned how important “tummy time” is. I have learned and seen first hand babies that have or have not met their developmental milestones and how this can affect feeding. I have seen babies make progress over the past 6 weeks. After holding so many babies I feel more comfortable working with them and have discovered that I might want to work in Pediatrics one day. From this experience I am inspired to travel and learn more about different cultures. I am still sometimes in awe of how people can be so much alike across the world. I am so grateful for my experience and for the faculty that have made this opportunity a part of the Speech Pathology program. Thank you so much for following my blog! I am looking forward to seeing you all! :)

Lauren

My entire Livingstone experience

     The past 3 days have been filled with more adventure than I have experienced in a long time. When we first arrived in Livingstone on Wednesday afternoon we left the Protea hotel (I might add that this hotel was amazing- with free breakfast every morning) and headed to the Royal Livingstone for high tea. As soon as we drove to the entrance, we were welcomed by three beautiful giraffes, just grazing in front of the hotel. We were all amazed. We have all seen giraffes in zoos, but there’s something amazingly different about seeing a giraffe in its natural habitat- that is how it is meant to be. The Royal Livingstone was one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the pleasure to eat at. When we first arrived they took our order of tea first, and then we were free to eat from the ritzy buffet of quiche, sandwiches, scones, layered cake, custards, mousses, fruit tarts, pastries, and much much more. As you all can imagine, I ate 3 plates full of all my hearts desires. I ordered a tea called Ceylon Gold. I only ordered this because it had a beautiful name. This trip has made me realize that I do enjoy hot tea (with milk and sugar of coarse). After we were finished stuffing ourselves with wonderful food we headed out on the porch to see the scenery. The outside sitting area overlooked the Zambezi River, as well as the resorts fancy pool and another sitting area closer to the water. When I was visiting with my friends a little monkey came running up in front of me and jumped towards my friend’s table and stole a handful of sugar packets. We were told before hand that there were many monkeys that came up to eat some of the tasty food that is always being served- and I had the very first sighting of one. The Royal Livingstone even hires men specifically to use slingshots to chase off the monkeys. This first brave monkey began the frenzy for the rest of the afternoon. Once he broke the ice the rest of them were brave enough to appear! Then there were many monkeys, some stealing scones, some just running across the lawn, and others dancing on the patio furniture. The men came out and tried to “shoo” them away, which was somewhat affective. After the monkey frenzie we went to the deck that was closer to the rivet and enjoyed some sparkling water. We were able to see the steam from Victoria Falls and the sunset on the river. It was very beautiful and I got some amazing pictures. As soon as the sunset we hopped into Khaki Jackie and headed to the falls to see the Lunar Rainbow. As it got dark we could see this beautiful rainbow arched across the falls. I was not able to get any good pictures, but some did. We stayed there over an hour and a group of us that were freezing in the dark and desperate for warmth decided to head back to the hotel.

     Thursday morning we woke up bright and early, had breakfast, and were ready to leave for the Safari by 7:30. We had our passports because we were leaving Zambia and crossing into Botswana. It was about an hour drive on the bus, and then a boat ride across the river into Botswana. We then climbed on a three-tiered jeep and headed to the Chobe Marina Lodge. This lodge was where we boarded our boat and began the safari! We were on this boat for about three hours, with beverages included. We saw elephants, hippos, alligators impala, and many birds. This was an awesome experience! The weather was beautiful and we got some amazing pictures. After this part of the safari we headed back to the Chobe Marina Lodge for lunch. The food was great, but my favorite part was at the end of the meal- blueberry cheesecake. After lunch we wandered around the luxurious pool and saw a group of warthogs just chillin out. We then boarded the jeep and headed out to the African bush. Being in this jeep made me feel like I was in Jurassic Park or something, though we were not able to leave our jeep at any time. We saw more giraffes, warthogs, hippos, impala, baboons, koudoo (sp?)  and many many elephants, which never got old. Our guide told us that that there are more than 60,000 elephants that were in Botswana. I can’t wait to post some of my pictures. At one point we were following a family of Elephants along the shoreline and the momma was getting quite angry and flapped her ears at us. It looked like she was going to charge us. I was on the outside and would have been the first to go. Haha. We were so close to her and I should have been frightened, but I was not. I was just in awe of them. They really are magnificent creatures. When the safari was close to an end the guide took us to a random location and let us get out and drink cokes. Liz, Reagan, and I had to desperately use the bathroom and were told that we could, but that we could not go far. We found a large tree and decided that it was best. We drank our cokes, got a group picture, and then headed back. We then crossed the river and got back on the bus that brought us. I met a man from Johannesburg, South Africa. It was so interesting to see how we knew the same things but called them something different. He told me different places that I should visit in South African and hopefully one day I can. All of my traveling experiences have really made me want to see the world and experience culture first hand. That night we decided to eat at Olga’s Italian corner. I shared the bruschetta and Margarita pizza with Liz. My meal was amazing- i hope one day I can go back.

     Friday morning A group of us walked around 2 miles to the market in downtown Livingstone. This experience was unlike anything I have experienced before. I have been to Mexico and have bardered before, but here it is different and quite overwhelming. There were maybe around 100 shops back to back and everyone pressured you to come inside, look at their things that they have made, and then made you feel guilty for leaving. I had a hard time with this at first because I like to make everyone happy and I eventually had to be a little mean to get them to quit chirping in my ear and leave me alone. All in all I got some really cool items and the panic attack was worth it. I thought my shopping experience was over, but it was not. We then grabbed lunch and headed back to the hotel to go Victoria Falls. So I put on my heavy-duty poncho and hoped I wouldn’t get soaked. The falls were absolutely stunning. The mist from them pours on you like rain but you don’t even c are. We ran and danced and took pictures in the rain. It was something I will never forget. After we walked out of the falls we decided to shop in the market outside. This time I was already fed up with all of the chirping men who kept shouting “no pressure” yet pressured you to buy items, that I told a group of men to hush and that I would look at their things if they would not speak. The silence lasted about 5 seconds. At least it worked for that long. Even though I had another traumatizing experience I still got some awesome things to bring home. We then left the falls and went back to the hotel to change clothes and head out on our sunset cruise. The cruise was very plush, with complimentary beverages the entire time. We were served a series of appetizers and some cake for dessert. I got some amazing pictures of the sunset (and hippos too).

     Saturday morning Liz, Reagan, Ashley, and I ate breakfast at 8:00 and were ready to be picked up for the “flying fox” by 8:30. After a 20-minute cold and bumpy ride, we made it to our destination. The guides then briefed us, and made us sign a waiver. We were then strapped in with VERY tight ropes and were ready to go.. We were hooked in with a strap around our stomach and legs and were able to fly in a superman position with our hands free. We were able to do 2 runs across the gorge. Let me explain. We were to run and jump off of a cliff and float across a gorge, superman style. They let us hold our cameras and take video while we did this! I can’t wait to post the video I took. It was so amazing- I could have done it all day long. Since I was the last to go, the guide pushed me out there one more time and it was great. I was a little worried he would want to charge me, but he let me do it for free. After we were finished they gave us a coke and took us back to the hotel. The first group then left to go back to Namwianga and the second group stayed to eat lunch at Olga’s one last time. I had an entire margarita pizza for myself and enjoyed it. We then loaded up with all of our souvenirs and headed back to Namwianga. Today was our last day to go to church here. Children’s church was great, and I was able to get some great video. While we sang I held Kurtie, held another boy’s hand, and had shane hanging on my back. It was a happy moment that I did not want to end. I am sad that we only have 2 more nights here, but I am excited to see many of you when I get back. Bittersweet. I will try to blog one more time while I am here! If not I will see you when I get back and thankyou so much for reading about my adventures in Zambia!

Lauren

Livingstone!!!!

This trip has gone by way too fast! Tomorrow we leave for Livingstone, and I am sooooo excited. Before I dive into the events that will be taking place in the next 4 days I will talk about this past weekend. We went to Kasibi to church on Sunday, where our cook Leonard is an elder. Kasibi church of Christ was quite a bumpy ways from our humble abode in Namwianga. It was quite an adventure to get there. We stuffed as many people in Khaki Jackie as we could ( and 2 other vehicles) and hit the road. At times the car ride did feel like an amusement park ride, which was great fun! Kasibi church was so very welcoming. There was around 50 smiling members, and many that kept arriving during the service. I am guessing that it is a long walk for some of them, especially those families with many children. They were very honored that we came and when they greeted us, to show a sign of their honor, they held their right arm with their left hand. Several people spoke and we had the Lord’s Supper. After the lesson was over the Kasibi ladies group and another mens group sang many songs, and they were all wonderful to listen to. We were told ahead of time by our dear friend and choir director Webster, that we were to sing the songs we learned from him at Kasibi church. Our group sang one song in English and two songs in tongan. They were all beaming with joy to hear us singing in tongan. We were told by Ms. Ellie Hambie, who owns the house we are staying in Namwianga, that no group has ever sang in tongan at Kasibi church and that it was a great honor. After church everyone shook hands with everyone and it was awesome. We then headed down the valley to eat the food that Leonard had prepared for us. We had nshima, rice, relish, and bread, which is a typical meal here. Then while we were eating a band began to play. What was cool about this band was that several of the instruments, such as a guitar and bass, were wood carved by the men. The children were the first to dance in a circle around the band and let me tell you these children were born knowing how to dance! After we ate, we all danced with the children, including Dr. Hopper, Dr. Tullos, and Dr. Weaver- that was awesome! This was one of my favorite days! I loved dancing and watching everyone have so much fun! Unfortunately we could not stay very long after lunch and had to return, but this will always be a day that I remember (plus I got some awesome videos). Well this week has been great so far. I have been working with Rita, who has Cerebral Palsy. I have been reading and singing to her, letting her feel different textures, and trying to reduce her spasticity in her hands, just by messaging them and encouraging her. She seems to enjoy the books and has been attentive and following along with the pictures. Well now I am packed for Livingstone and ready to go. There is two separate groups going to Livingstone, because little Khaki Jackie just cant hold all of us.  I will be going with the group that leaves at 12. Since we are leaving later we can get some hours of therapy in the morning J At Livingstone we will be staying in a nice hotel with comfy beds, nice showers, free breakfast, and unlimited internet! We get to go on a Sunset Cruise, see Victoria Falls, go on an ALL DAY safari, (part boat, part jeep) have as much tea and dessert we wanr at the royal Livingstone, and SHOPPING! I still have many things to buy for myself and everyone else. This is going to be such an amazing 4 days. I cant wait to take pictures and show all of you! I hope all of you are having a wonderful week, sending my love from Zambia!!!

Lauren

How time flies- leaving in 2 weeks!

This week is going to go by fast! I got moved from language group to feeding group for this week, because only so many students can be in certain groups at the same time. There is a new baby that came to the Haven, named Ellen. Ellen is believed to have TB and HIV. Her father died and her mother is in the hospital. Ellen is almost 7 weeks old, but is having difficulty eating. She is on an iv drip to stop her diarrhea. She has lost weight since she was born and now only weighs a little over 2 pounds. She was the smallest baby that I have ever held, and I wont lie- it was a little frightening. She kept falling asleep while I was trying to feed her, and when I could I would do some facial exercises to strengthen her muscles. We also would use the Z-vibe to stimulate the muscles while we fed her and it seemed to work. I think by the time we left the Haven in the late afternoon she had almost a full bottle for the day, but that is not enough. Please everyone pray for Ellen! Also today with feeding class we had an interesting visitor- the aphasic preacher man. While we were having feeding class in Haven 1, he kept coming to our door way talking up a storm in tongan and laughing, while watching us. For those of you who have not yet heard about this man, I will tell you about him briefly. He is a man that used to be a preacher here in the village, until we assume that he had a stroke and has aphasia and/or cognitive problems. People just assumed he was crazy and then he was eventually asked to leave the church because of the many disruptions he caused. Now this man wonders around all of Namwianga, especially at the Havens, where we work everyday. He will just come in the back door of the Havens and will walk around and watch all of us with the babies while talking and laughing. We all were frightened of him at first, but we have gotten used to him by now. It is quite sad how that happened to him, but honestly he doesn’t know and he is quite happy just how he is. Anyways I am officially not sick anymore! Also I am so excited for this week to fly by so that we can go to Livingstone next week! I cant wait to take pictures and show them to all of you! There are many things we can do there, zip lining, bungee jumping, or white water rafting! Im not sure I will have enough money to do any of these, but I would LOVE to! We will be leaving Zambia two weeks from tomorrow! I miss many of you so much and cant wait to come home and see you! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Lauren

Half way through!

Well it is Sunday here in Namwianga, and we will be going to church again at 7. It has been a fun weekend so far! Yesterday we loaded up in Khaki Jackie and headed to Kolomo to buy much needed chocolate, coke, and of coarse more shitanges. Last week seemed to go by fast. Time always flies when your having a good time J. This past week one of the Aunties, Beatrice let us help prepare nshima, rice, potatoes, and beans for the toddlers! They told us that we could even help grind the corn to make nshima in the morning time, though I’m not sure we will have time to do that. Beatrice also taught us some more songs. One song called “Blessed Child” and another called “Yahweh”. She sings with us while we are swinging the toddlers on the playground. Sweet Beatrice told us how she has lost her husband and has many children. I complimented her shitange and she wanted to give it to me! It was such a kind and sweet gesture. I told her it was too beautiful to give away and that she must keep it. I hope to give her a shitange that I bought in the market a few weeks ago.  I got sick on Friday and I am still trying hard to fight it off. I think I will be back to my normal self by tomorrow! Its not much fun spending your time in the bathroom! Ha. Well our trip is over half way over now and part of me is loving the trip and wanting to stay all summer, while another part of me is homesick. Our busy schedule, and the fact that I am very easily entertained and love spending time with people really doesn’t leave me feeling homesick very often. I am excited to have our last full week of therapy, Kasibi church this Sunday, and then off to Livingstone for a Safari, Sunset Cruise, and High Tea at the Royal Livingstone next week! I still have many things to buy in Livingstone! Don’t worry I still have plenty of kwacha. Well anyways hope you all are having a great weekend! 

Lauren

Wabota Munzi Waba Jesu!

I have had such a great week! We have been working with the toddlers in Haven 1, 2 and 3 this week! I am exhausted every day but it has been totally worth it. Today Charissa and I led the different groups in songs and we had a lot of fun! We know a lot of songs between the two of us. I held a sweet boy named Andrew today and he was so funny. He would get jealous of anyone who came up to try and sit in my lap and would cry or push them away! It made me laugh. I wore my hair in braids today and every child I played with seemed fascinated by them. Some would hold or pull on one or both of them with a wide eyed look, which was pretty stinkin cute. I would tickle Dow’s face with the end of my braid and he would giggle each time. It is so awesome to play with and love on the little ones and to see them laugh and giggle- it makes me want to stay forever! Also these past two days we have been learning songs in tongan. Our friend, Webster has been teaching us songs with 4 part harmonies. I sing saprano in the group but when no one seems to be paying attention I sing alto! It takes a lot of effort to sing soprano for so long! One of the songs is called “Wobota Munzi Waba Jesu”, which is about walking, praying, sitting, and sleeping with Jesus! Webster is such a great teacher, he has so much energy! I can’t even explain just how cute he is! He would laugh and giggle constantly and would get excited when we would do a good job! I made another new friend named Grace, who attends the George Benson College here in the village. She spoke such good English and was very eager to make friends. She showed us her dorm and we went with her to an all girls bible study! She was very funny and witty and is one of my favorite people I have met so far! Well tomorrow we get to eat the native Zambian food, Shima! I absolutely love it! It does not have much of a taste, but has a really cool texture! They put this orange sauce on it that makes it taste really good! Shima is a food that everyone eats here on a daily basis. It is made from ground corn and is sort of like grits or cream of wheat, buts is more thickened and formed into a patty like shape. Everyone has HUGE piles of corn in front of their house, mostly stacked in a wood-like structure. They could eat this every day and could be content for all time. This is something that I admire about the people that live here. They don’t have much to choose from, but are so happy, joyful, and content. They really are some of the happiest, friendliest people I have ever met! It is so much fun making friends here! I cant wait to make more over the last 4 weeks we have here! Well I hope you all are having a great week! Love you all!

Lauren

Weekend in ZAMBIA!

Sorry its been a few days since I have blogged. Friday my group finished with feeding classes, and I am sad! I loved working with the babies. I think I mentioned earlier about what we did this past week, but in case I didn’t I will tell you again. We worked with babies that are orally defensive (when babies are resistant to anything on or around their mouth), have difficulty drinking from a bottle, or that aren’t getting enough milk and therefore are not thriving, or babies that are not achieving all of their developmental milestones. Babies should always learn to lift their head, neck, and shoulders, should be sitting up, and should be crawling by so many months. They need to have a strong core so that they can eat efficiently! The babies that do not have strong muscles do not eat as well and do not thrive as well as other babies. So to work on these different developmental milestones we have “tummy time” with the babies and we let them sit in “bumbo” seats so the babies can learn to lift their heads. I have learned that tummy time is very important for babies and that they need it every day! To help the babies that are orally defensive, or that aren’t eating well we have different therapy tools that we use to help! We have something called a “nuk brush” that has texture on the end that we can put around the babies mouth to get them used to oral stimulation. They can also chew on the end of this brush. We also have something called a “z vibe” which is a lot like the nuk brush, but vibrates. Babies that are orally defensive do not typically like this and it is our job to get them comfortable with oral stimulation using with small steps. We also worked on doing different facial exercises, such as buccal rubs, (rubbing their cheek muscles), upper and lower lip stretches, and “c-stretches” (stretching the babies cheeks in a “c” motion). Our group loved working with the babies and we got to see them make progress in just a few short days! Well now that this week is over we will be in another group with our dear friend and supervisor Cara next week! I am excited to work more with the toddlers and use some of my language skills that I learned from TLC at the HUSC. Well anyways lets move on to Saturday! Saturday we got to travel an hour on “Khaki Jackie” (our safari jeep) to Choma! We crammed 14 of us in this little jeep, But hey we loved every minute of it! We got to go shopping in the market for shitanges (African skirts). We can buy a lot of the material in the market and we can have our friend, Ms. Mono, make different items of clothing, wallet, purse, or headband out of the material. I just had Ms. Mono make me a skirt for the first time! It cost 50,000 Kwacha for her to make this, which is around $10.00. I have lots of other fabric for her to make gifts for other people! I just need to get some more Kwacha, because I used up my first stash! Woops. Anyways Saturday we also got to have a picnic in a park and then got to visit a museum in Choma. In the museum there was a craft store that had many wooden carved animals, decorations, baskets, and artwork! It was fun buying souvenirs there! After we left the museum we were headed back to Namwianga to see a Zambian wedding!! One word: Amazing! The whole village is invited to the wedding, but not the reception. Only the wedding party is invited to eat the food at the reception. The wedding was similar to American weddings, with a bridal party and flower girls, the bride being escorted down the isle, and the lighting of the unity candle. It was different because the bride did not wear white- she wore a floral dress that matched the grooms shirt. The entire bridal party danced down the isle many times! The bridesmaids and groomsmen had a different dance they did every time they came down the isle and It was so entertaining!!! Their dancing will be summed up in one word- provocative! I took so many pictures and cant wait to show all of you! It was really cool to have this experience, which we were not expecting to have while we were here in Zambia! Today we went to church and got to play with many of the children there and it was fun! We went to something called childrens church and listened to many bible stories and sang many songs, which reminded me of Vacation Bible School! Anyways today we had a relaxing Sunday afternoon, which was much needed. The weeks make us very exhausted with all of the walking. We typically walk to the Havens each day, which is 1.5 miles one way. If we walk each time we go to the Havens we can walk up to 6 miles each day. I can already feel the pounds dropping. Haha. We also play ultimate Frisbee or soccer after supper! So you can say we are all staying in shape while were here. Theres so much more I could say about my trip so far but I cant think of everything, and I am getting sleepy. I will be going to bed soon… Goodnight everyone! 

Lauren