So things are pretty low key at the moment, but from what I hear it’s the calm before the storm! November 3rd starts ferria here, the big fair that they have in town every year. We have already had the start of ‘futbolito’ the soccer games that happen in the town square nightly, and apparently this signals the beginning of chaos of sorts. I’m just happy there is something to do after 7pm at night!
Ferria has a lot to do with the church, for the first week anyways. We aren’t exactly sure what to expect, as we haven’t been told much other than we are supposed to be helping with the daily events. Not exactly an idea job for the rookies who don’t really speak the language or know what the daily events are, but I guess it will be a learning process, as all things here have turned out to be! I will keep you posted as the events unfold!
We went to the clinic yesterday again, and I encouraged yet again about finding my place here in a sense. I thoroughly have enjoyed my time there, and each week I get another taste of what it feels like to be practicing medicine! I never thought I would say this, but I miss working with patients, making people feel better, and just listening when they need it the most. A lot of these people have different things going on than I hear working in the hospitals at home, but none the less they are happy sharing, and are relieved by the smiles that you can share with them.
I have heard several suggestions that Melissa and I should work on starting a clinic, but I just don’t know that this is a possibility. With out limited knowledge, Spanish, and resources, we just don’t know how this could be done. I am working on getting some time at the health center here in town, and hopefully over the next couple weeks will make the contacts to be able to be a nurse a couple more days a week. I am hoping to learn enough about their health systems, diseases, knowledge, etc that I can see deficits and hopefully do something about them!
Melissa and I are also continuing to work on our idea to have a group for elderly people. It’s a bit stalled out for the moment, but we are encouraged by the help of one of the members of the community here and his enthusiasm for our project. Hopefully soon I will be able to report we have started our visits, and are getting to know even more people in our community.
Our cat is doing well also! Melissa and I have names him ‘Minimo’ meaning smallest or the minimum, or also what people call bananas here. The boys seem to think vouldemort (I have no idea if that’s how its spelt) from Harry Potter is more fitting, but for now I suppose we will just have to see which one if more fitting for him once we get to know his personality more.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Just a bit
So we decided to get rid of our dog. Dogs in Honduras really only have one purpose, to protect the house. This means they are supposed to bark, be brave, and actually intimidate people. Our dog, well, our former dog, did none of the above. The only time he made noise was at 5:30 in the morning when he would whimper and throw himself against the front door because he wanted to come in. He didn’t generally react when there was someone knocking at the door, and kids would come in and he would show indifference. It was really a lousy situation for a guard dog. We found someone in the community that was looking for a dog, and off he went.
We then received a kitten from Isabel, someone we spend a lot of time with here in town, and as of yet there are no complaints. The kitten is fun, energetic, and hasn’t meowed yet. Last night it decided to sleep with me, which actually didn’t turn out all that badly. It purred me to sleep, and kept my neck warm all night. The only drawback was a two am wake up call when it decided it wanted to play and bit my nose, but it quickly forgot about wanting to play and went back to its purring and heating business.
Yesterday I went to the clinic again, and had another great day. This time I decided to spend the day with the doctor there, who is Honduran, but speaks some English because she studied in Miami for a year. She was great, really patient and explained a lot to me. I only had to ask for clarification in English once, which means either she was dumbing down her Spanish, or I’m starting to learn more. Probably a combination of both!
This time we saw a lot more adults that I saw the previous week, but I’m glad to see both, as there are very different things to learn from each. As expected the theme was the same as the last week, everything was more or less preventable that we saw. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity were definitely the three most common diagnoses, with a few respiratory infections and some muscular issues due to the strenuous work these people are doing at advanced ages.
Monday we had domestic violence again, and this week was quite an interesting one. The room we usually use had no chair in this week because they were being used for a different meeting, so we had to meet in the hall, and therefore decided not to proceed with our lesson, because often times the discussion gets personal, and things are shared that aren’t to be discusses in the hall of the health center. One of the women in the group decided we should do a ‘dyanimico’, an ice breaker of sorts. She explained it to the group and Melissa and I were just participating. I think it was really empowering for the woman to run the game and have it be a success, and the rest of the women in the group loved it. Everyone was laughing and just being silly, what a perfect way to welcome the two new members of our group!
We then received a kitten from Isabel, someone we spend a lot of time with here in town, and as of yet there are no complaints. The kitten is fun, energetic, and hasn’t meowed yet. Last night it decided to sleep with me, which actually didn’t turn out all that badly. It purred me to sleep, and kept my neck warm all night. The only drawback was a two am wake up call when it decided it wanted to play and bit my nose, but it quickly forgot about wanting to play and went back to its purring and heating business.
Yesterday I went to the clinic again, and had another great day. This time I decided to spend the day with the doctor there, who is Honduran, but speaks some English because she studied in Miami for a year. She was great, really patient and explained a lot to me. I only had to ask for clarification in English once, which means either she was dumbing down her Spanish, or I’m starting to learn more. Probably a combination of both!
This time we saw a lot more adults that I saw the previous week, but I’m glad to see both, as there are very different things to learn from each. As expected the theme was the same as the last week, everything was more or less preventable that we saw. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity were definitely the three most common diagnoses, with a few respiratory infections and some muscular issues due to the strenuous work these people are doing at advanced ages.
Monday we had domestic violence again, and this week was quite an interesting one. The room we usually use had no chair in this week because they were being used for a different meeting, so we had to meet in the hall, and therefore decided not to proceed with our lesson, because often times the discussion gets personal, and things are shared that aren’t to be discusses in the hall of the health center. One of the women in the group decided we should do a ‘dyanimico’, an ice breaker of sorts. She explained it to the group and Melissa and I were just participating. I think it was really empowering for the woman to run the game and have it be a success, and the rest of the women in the group loved it. Everyone was laughing and just being silly, what a perfect way to welcome the two new members of our group!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
My day at the clinic!
This past week, I had the opportunity to spend a day at the clinic in Guiamaca with a pediatric nurse practitioner. She is a volunteer living there for three months who is actually from Massachusetts also, so it was a nice little connection we were able to have about many things. She was really knowledgeable about nursing and working with kids, and although she herself was still learning the language and the culture, she was great in the clinical setting.
I think there were several thing there that certainly impacted me a lot. One of the kiddos we saw was a little girl that was malnourished. It was hard to see, a four year old weighing 19 pounds, but she was in relatively good spirits. They came down from "the mountains" early that morning, and it took them about 4 hours to make the trek to the clinic. The mother that brought her in was very thin also, and I'm sure was malnourished herself. There was no father in the picture, and not a huge amount of familial support it seemed (which is odd in this culture, but who knows what situation the family was in after having seen this girl and her mother). She happened to be sick also, parasites, amoebas, who knows what else. Of course, the family had no electricity, so to think of giving them something you could refrigerate was out of the question. The child couldn't swallow pills, so this left the NP in a bit of a tough spot. There were other alternatives, but you try and save those for last resort. Well, with her, this was the last resort. We gave them some elixirs and medications, tons of vitamins for mom, child, and the three other children that were still at home waiting for their return, some clothes they had in the clinic, toothbrushes and paste, soap and shampoo, rice, nutritive powder, and lots of prayers.
The clinic, I found was really good about trying to cover everything. In a place like this you may not see the family for two or three months, meaning, give them everything you can while they are there. Every patient we saw got toothbrushes and vitamins and a few got soap and shampoo. Imagine a doctors office in the states doing this!
There were also these great packet of nutritive powder that the clinic made themselves. The farm that is part of their project grows all sorts of soy and nuts and other things high in protein, vitamins and minerals. They grind it all up, add it to purified water, and its an instant meal packed with the good stuff. Its really done wonders for many children and families (the NP said).
A lot of the other kids that came to the clinic that had some interesting stuff going on (well interesting to a nurse anyways), and I certainly will spare you the details, but I would like to discuss the common theme. Everything we saw, to some extend, was preventable.
The biggest issues here are respiratory issues, mostly asthma, gi issues with parasites and amoebas, and some of the tropical diseases, like malaria and dengue. (HIV is huge here also, but that's a whole other topic in itself). The respiratory issues come down to parents smoking, and families weekly burning trash (plastic is the worst offender to kids lungs). If parents recycled or put things into dumpsters, there wouldn't be half of the issues that we see in the kiddos. The gi issues are commonly caused because of kids that drink water that isn't clean. People in the mountains do not have great access to clean water, but any water boiled for three minutes will at least kill whatever is in it. People don't take the time to boil it, or kids just drink whatever is easiest when they are thirsty, and kids get sick. Malaria and dengue are pretty preventable as well. Its the things like wearing long sleeves and pants, especially at night, and having a net over their beds, that could save a lot of trouble. For the amount they will spend on medicines they could have bought the nets. Its a bit troubling.
I think the biggest issue here is simply education. People rarely learn to read and write beyond a fourth grade level here, never mind to understand how parasites, respiratory diseases and other health related issues work. The education system is lacking so badly that this just isn't a part of the curriculum, especially in those mountain towns where they need the health information the most.
I guess its food for thought for me for me. Hopefully I can work in some type of program but I still will continue to go to the clinic, and hopefully a few other clinics in our town, and learn, so I can see what I can do about all of this. Its a bit daunting, but certianly a jumping off point.
Take care! Thanks again for all the love and support!
I think there were several thing there that certainly impacted me a lot. One of the kiddos we saw was a little girl that was malnourished. It was hard to see, a four year old weighing 19 pounds, but she was in relatively good spirits. They came down from "the mountains" early that morning, and it took them about 4 hours to make the trek to the clinic. The mother that brought her in was very thin also, and I'm sure was malnourished herself. There was no father in the picture, and not a huge amount of familial support it seemed (which is odd in this culture, but who knows what situation the family was in after having seen this girl and her mother). She happened to be sick also, parasites, amoebas, who knows what else. Of course, the family had no electricity, so to think of giving them something you could refrigerate was out of the question. The child couldn't swallow pills, so this left the NP in a bit of a tough spot. There were other alternatives, but you try and save those for last resort. Well, with her, this was the last resort. We gave them some elixirs and medications, tons of vitamins for mom, child, and the three other children that were still at home waiting for their return, some clothes they had in the clinic, toothbrushes and paste, soap and shampoo, rice, nutritive powder, and lots of prayers.
The clinic, I found was really good about trying to cover everything. In a place like this you may not see the family for two or three months, meaning, give them everything you can while they are there. Every patient we saw got toothbrushes and vitamins and a few got soap and shampoo. Imagine a doctors office in the states doing this!
There were also these great packet of nutritive powder that the clinic made themselves. The farm that is part of their project grows all sorts of soy and nuts and other things high in protein, vitamins and minerals. They grind it all up, add it to purified water, and its an instant meal packed with the good stuff. Its really done wonders for many children and families (the NP said).
A lot of the other kids that came to the clinic that had some interesting stuff going on (well interesting to a nurse anyways), and I certainly will spare you the details, but I would like to discuss the common theme. Everything we saw, to some extend, was preventable.
The biggest issues here are respiratory issues, mostly asthma, gi issues with parasites and amoebas, and some of the tropical diseases, like malaria and dengue. (HIV is huge here also, but that's a whole other topic in itself). The respiratory issues come down to parents smoking, and families weekly burning trash (plastic is the worst offender to kids lungs). If parents recycled or put things into dumpsters, there wouldn't be half of the issues that we see in the kiddos. The gi issues are commonly caused because of kids that drink water that isn't clean. People in the mountains do not have great access to clean water, but any water boiled for three minutes will at least kill whatever is in it. People don't take the time to boil it, or kids just drink whatever is easiest when they are thirsty, and kids get sick. Malaria and dengue are pretty preventable as well. Its the things like wearing long sleeves and pants, especially at night, and having a net over their beds, that could save a lot of trouble. For the amount they will spend on medicines they could have bought the nets. Its a bit troubling.
I think the biggest issue here is simply education. People rarely learn to read and write beyond a fourth grade level here, never mind to understand how parasites, respiratory diseases and other health related issues work. The education system is lacking so badly that this just isn't a part of the curriculum, especially in those mountain towns where they need the health information the most.
I guess its food for thought for me for me. Hopefully I can work in some type of program but I still will continue to go to the clinic, and hopefully a few other clinics in our town, and learn, so I can see what I can do about all of this. Its a bit daunting, but certianly a jumping off point.
Take care! Thanks again for all the love and support!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Nuevo
This week has been a busy one also. Monday was domestic violence group, which proved to be interesting as always. I think that as soon as you start to consider something as part of the routine, it surprises you all over again, and for different reasons. Maybe it’s my fault for starting to get comfortable in life here, maybe there is not such thing as being comfortable in life here. Group, which is scheduled to start at 2, generally gets underway at about 2:30 or 3 if we are lucky, because well, that’s when people get around to coming. This week one of the women showed up at about 2:15, our thoughts… success! Well, in actuality, she came to talk to us about a problem that she was having. She proceeded to ask us, point blank, what she could do to feed her eight children. Now I was hoping that I was loosing the point of the conversation in translation, because of course this was asked of us in Spanish, but come to find out, once she repeated it, and I replayed it in my head about a hundred times, this was what she was asking. My immediate reaction was to think about how much money I had on me and where the nearest pulperia was so I could buy her food for her family. I restrained myself and soon my head took over (funny how the heart always is first to react in these situations). What would be the point in just running out and buying food to give her for her family? As the other women of the group entered they overheard the conversation and jumped in. What could she do? Does she have a skill or a job? No. Is there now a man in her life that is helping her? No. What did the Gringas have to say about this situation? Nothing.
We simply told her that we weren’t sure how to respond to the question, and after a few moments of awkward silence, began our discussion for the day about self-esteem and faith. Now, I certainly do not write this for donations or for sympathy, after all, I am the one that signed up to put myself in these situations, I merely describe these events for the comment I am making. That unfortunately, for good or bad, little is shocking me anymore. Months ago, or while I was living in the states, had someone said something to this effect to me, I would have stopped what I was doing and probably cried, and ran out to buy presents for this woman. Now, it has merely become part of life. There are people everywhere here that simply don’t have food, and don’t know what to do about it. It did strike me, and certainly it has been on my mind since, but only in that I have been reminded of it over and over again in many of the situations I have encountered since the event. One of my community members told me a story about a woman we are friendly with that made the comment to someone else (my community member overheard it) that she and her family haven’t eaten in over a day and a half, and then saw him and made a joked about it. I guess if we didn’t laugh we might cry, right? I would love to be shocked by it, but I guess the lessons you learn also come at a bit of a cost as well.
Well, we also have been doing baseball (they actually listened for a whole hour this week), and I can see an improvement. Although its nothing huge, but kids are answering more questions, and seem to be coming more consistanty, which is half the battle. Next week we scrimmage against the other team in town. Should be interesting to see it all come together. At least when we have both of the teams we coach play each other it will be a good place to see our deficiencies as coaches.
Take care.
We simply told her that we weren’t sure how to respond to the question, and after a few moments of awkward silence, began our discussion for the day about self-esteem and faith. Now, I certainly do not write this for donations or for sympathy, after all, I am the one that signed up to put myself in these situations, I merely describe these events for the comment I am making. That unfortunately, for good or bad, little is shocking me anymore. Months ago, or while I was living in the states, had someone said something to this effect to me, I would have stopped what I was doing and probably cried, and ran out to buy presents for this woman. Now, it has merely become part of life. There are people everywhere here that simply don’t have food, and don’t know what to do about it. It did strike me, and certainly it has been on my mind since, but only in that I have been reminded of it over and over again in many of the situations I have encountered since the event. One of my community members told me a story about a woman we are friendly with that made the comment to someone else (my community member overheard it) that she and her family haven’t eaten in over a day and a half, and then saw him and made a joked about it. I guess if we didn’t laugh we might cry, right? I would love to be shocked by it, but I guess the lessons you learn also come at a bit of a cost as well.
Well, we also have been doing baseball (they actually listened for a whole hour this week), and I can see an improvement. Although its nothing huge, but kids are answering more questions, and seem to be coming more consistanty, which is half the battle. Next week we scrimmage against the other team in town. Should be interesting to see it all come together. At least when we have both of the teams we coach play each other it will be a good place to see our deficiencies as coaches.
Take care.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Locos niños
Another quick note to keep everyone posted on life down in Honduras!
This first encounter wasn’t anything earth shattering, but it was certainly moving for me!
Mike and I were walking across town Saturday to go visit someone. The man we going to visit is a delegate of the word that we work with sometimes, and we both decided just to stop in for a bit. As we were walking, being that it is rainy season, the sky decided to open up and give us a bit of a shower. It wasn’t bad at first, just a sprinkling, but then it meant business! Neither of had brought an umbrella (which you should always have on you during rainy season here), and so we decided to stop at a local pupleria (like a convenience store) and stand under the overhang until the storm passed. We waited outside for a few minutes until the man running the store greeted us, and invited us in. We had never met the man before but he saw we were in a bit of a jam, and so was willing to give us shelter. We entered his store/house (here people just sell things out of their homes) and he pulled out chairs for us to sit in. We chatted about who knows what for about 20 minutes, and the air started to clear so we were on our way. Although it isn’t life changing, I just really enjoyed the warm attitude the man had, and thought it to be a great experience, and thought I would share it!
Sunday we went with a group of about 75 kids to ‘Missionarios Infantil’, or a type of kid’s missionary day. We loaded up two big yellow school busses with kids, parents, some CCD teachers and other people from the community and drive about two hours (although it felt like 3 or 4) to a town where all other types of kids groups were meeting to have a march, rally, and some skits. The kids absolutely loved it, and I enjoyed the kids’ happiness and energy. Although it was exhausting in many ways (it was about a 12 hr day with these kiddos), I am happy we went. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!
Some of the kiddos from Talanga
Me and bessy.... not a great pic, but best I could do for a 5.30 morning
The pope, some cardinals....haha
The march
This first encounter wasn’t anything earth shattering, but it was certainly moving for me!
Mike and I were walking across town Saturday to go visit someone. The man we going to visit is a delegate of the word that we work with sometimes, and we both decided just to stop in for a bit. As we were walking, being that it is rainy season, the sky decided to open up and give us a bit of a shower. It wasn’t bad at first, just a sprinkling, but then it meant business! Neither of had brought an umbrella (which you should always have on you during rainy season here), and so we decided to stop at a local pupleria (like a convenience store) and stand under the overhang until the storm passed. We waited outside for a few minutes until the man running the store greeted us, and invited us in. We had never met the man before but he saw we were in a bit of a jam, and so was willing to give us shelter. We entered his store/house (here people just sell things out of their homes) and he pulled out chairs for us to sit in. We chatted about who knows what for about 20 minutes, and the air started to clear so we were on our way. Although it isn’t life changing, I just really enjoyed the warm attitude the man had, and thought it to be a great experience, and thought I would share it!
Sunday we went with a group of about 75 kids to ‘Missionarios Infantil’, or a type of kid’s missionary day. We loaded up two big yellow school busses with kids, parents, some CCD teachers and other people from the community and drive about two hours (although it felt like 3 or 4) to a town where all other types of kids groups were meeting to have a march, rally, and some skits. The kids absolutely loved it, and I enjoyed the kids’ happiness and energy. Although it was exhausting in many ways (it was about a 12 hr day with these kiddos), I am happy we went. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!
Some of the kiddos from Talanga
Me and bessy.... not a great pic, but best I could do for a 5.30 morning
The pope, some cardinals....haha
The march
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Update!
Hello everyone!
Things are going pretty well here, very busy, but well. The beginning of the week we went into Tegucigalpa and met the Cardinal! There was a big mass at a beautiful cathedral there, then we met with the Cardinal. He speaks English, which only made the encounter that much more enjoyable, and was very honest and happy to talk with us even though there were many people demanding his time and attention. It was a great experience!
The teachers are on strike again, and so we haven’t gone to school in quite a while. School certainly isn’t my favorite part of the week, but I’m glad to do it and I’m glad to help the kiddos learn. Its challenging at times, and certainly trying, but a good part of what we do. I really feel badly that the kids have to miss out on school when the teachers strike. Although this isn’t the first time that they have striked since we have been here, this time was for three days in a row, and obviously the kids are the ones that pay with poor educations when they keep missing school. The teachers aren’t getting payed, and this is why they are striking. I completely agree that this is great grounds for a strike, but I wish there was another way to settle this without missing school days. The education system here isn’t the greatest, although I think for what they are given they are very resourceful. It’s a very memorize and recite type education, and you can’t really hold them accountable, because this is how the teachers were taught when they were in school. Its also even tougher to try and teach because of this, we are taught to create and imagine, to dream and achieve. Its something else new here to add to the list!
We went to corralitos, one of the aldeas. There we participated in the celebration of the word, which is just a mass minus the communion part, and then visited for a bit with one of the families there. It is a really great and very energetic family, that just happens to include three generations and about twenty people. Its tough to try and imagine such a family living in the states, in a large house with ample beds, food and clothing, but throw in the house they live in and the conditions that endure, and it’s a wonder they are all such great people. I suppose there is no sense in being in low spirits in any circumstances, it wont make anything better, but my goodness. They are inspiring! Every time we go they make us feel right at home, the kids play with us, sign, dance, color, etc, and we always are able to chat about something with the women there, they are so warm! They live simple lives, do their laundry in the river, eat what they have for food, and just simply chat and visit to pass the time in between.
We had baseball this week again, got to love the kids for trying. It’s hard for them to really understand the concepts and get the game as a whole, but they love to just play. It’s a great outlet for them, and hopefully it will help them understand discipline and rules. If not, at least it’s a lot of fun!
Melissa and I are also in the very beginning stages of planning a group for elderly people. When we go on sick visits on Sundays we visit for a bit, say some prayers, and then move on. Melissa and I both have a bit of a soft spot in our hearts for the elderly, and because of this, once a week is not enough for us! Our original idea was just to visit them more often, go to their homes another day of two a week, and if they needed help with anything do it. With my background in nursing and Melissa being a nurse also that was a home health aide, we both thought this would be a great avenue to share our gifts and also accompany people in their daily struggles. We could work towards helping with one struggle that is very easily addressed, loneliness. We met with Prof. Daniel, one of the people we work with very closely here, and also someone that is very active in the community and church. He seemed almost more enthusiastic than us! He thought is was a great idea, and there was definite need here for more attention for seniors. Culturally the elderly are kept in homes here, and when they are sick they have care by their families, but if they are doing alright, and just slowing down a bit, not as productive as they used to be and whatnot, they are just kept in a separate room in their homes and not payed a lot of attention to. It’s a tough concept to understand in a place where family is valued so much, but this is amongst many mysteries in this culture I’m curious about. Prof. thinks we should start by visiting them in the home, building relationships, then try and get them to meet as a group at a different location, to get them moving, bring them out, and give them something to look forward to.
Who knows what will happen, but it’s an idea in the works, and something I’m very excited about!
Well, that’s life around here. We keep on hacking with the language and hope its getting better little by little. We keep visiting, participating in church groups and going to meetings, going to the AIDS hospice, and being inspired daily.
Thanks again for all of your support!
Things are going pretty well here, very busy, but well. The beginning of the week we went into Tegucigalpa and met the Cardinal! There was a big mass at a beautiful cathedral there, then we met with the Cardinal. He speaks English, which only made the encounter that much more enjoyable, and was very honest and happy to talk with us even though there were many people demanding his time and attention. It was a great experience!
The teachers are on strike again, and so we haven’t gone to school in quite a while. School certainly isn’t my favorite part of the week, but I’m glad to do it and I’m glad to help the kiddos learn. Its challenging at times, and certainly trying, but a good part of what we do. I really feel badly that the kids have to miss out on school when the teachers strike. Although this isn’t the first time that they have striked since we have been here, this time was for three days in a row, and obviously the kids are the ones that pay with poor educations when they keep missing school. The teachers aren’t getting payed, and this is why they are striking. I completely agree that this is great grounds for a strike, but I wish there was another way to settle this without missing school days. The education system here isn’t the greatest, although I think for what they are given they are very resourceful. It’s a very memorize and recite type education, and you can’t really hold them accountable, because this is how the teachers were taught when they were in school. Its also even tougher to try and teach because of this, we are taught to create and imagine, to dream and achieve. Its something else new here to add to the list!
We went to corralitos, one of the aldeas. There we participated in the celebration of the word, which is just a mass minus the communion part, and then visited for a bit with one of the families there. It is a really great and very energetic family, that just happens to include three generations and about twenty people. Its tough to try and imagine such a family living in the states, in a large house with ample beds, food and clothing, but throw in the house they live in and the conditions that endure, and it’s a wonder they are all such great people. I suppose there is no sense in being in low spirits in any circumstances, it wont make anything better, but my goodness. They are inspiring! Every time we go they make us feel right at home, the kids play with us, sign, dance, color, etc, and we always are able to chat about something with the women there, they are so warm! They live simple lives, do their laundry in the river, eat what they have for food, and just simply chat and visit to pass the time in between.
We had baseball this week again, got to love the kids for trying. It’s hard for them to really understand the concepts and get the game as a whole, but they love to just play. It’s a great outlet for them, and hopefully it will help them understand discipline and rules. If not, at least it’s a lot of fun!
Melissa and I are also in the very beginning stages of planning a group for elderly people. When we go on sick visits on Sundays we visit for a bit, say some prayers, and then move on. Melissa and I both have a bit of a soft spot in our hearts for the elderly, and because of this, once a week is not enough for us! Our original idea was just to visit them more often, go to their homes another day of two a week, and if they needed help with anything do it. With my background in nursing and Melissa being a nurse also that was a home health aide, we both thought this would be a great avenue to share our gifts and also accompany people in their daily struggles. We could work towards helping with one struggle that is very easily addressed, loneliness. We met with Prof. Daniel, one of the people we work with very closely here, and also someone that is very active in the community and church. He seemed almost more enthusiastic than us! He thought is was a great idea, and there was definite need here for more attention for seniors. Culturally the elderly are kept in homes here, and when they are sick they have care by their families, but if they are doing alright, and just slowing down a bit, not as productive as they used to be and whatnot, they are just kept in a separate room in their homes and not payed a lot of attention to. It’s a tough concept to understand in a place where family is valued so much, but this is amongst many mysteries in this culture I’m curious about. Prof. thinks we should start by visiting them in the home, building relationships, then try and get them to meet as a group at a different location, to get them moving, bring them out, and give them something to look forward to.
Who knows what will happen, but it’s an idea in the works, and something I’m very excited about!
Well, that’s life around here. We keep on hacking with the language and hope its getting better little by little. We keep visiting, participating in church groups and going to meetings, going to the AIDS hospice, and being inspired daily.
Thanks again for all of your support!
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