Today we had breakfast together on the back porch. We had oatmeal, coffee, bread, fruit, and coffee. Soon after, we got ready to visit the babies and have a look around the Haven. For some reason, Cari and I were the only ones near the jeep when we saw the Pharmacy students and a couple of teachers in the jeep. No one else was in it, but we assumed we were supposed to go with them. Dr. Weaver said that they were just going to look at the clinic—which is where the pharmacy students will be during our summer here—but then she said it was fine if we rode with them. Next thing I know, me, Cari, and the pharmacy students are bopping along in the back of “khaki Jackie” (the name of the Jeep). Dr. Weaver was our trusty driver, and yelled “BUMP!!” every time we got to a speed bump or pothole on the dirt road to the clinic. At one point, Cari was thrown across some laps when Dr. Weaver braked suddenly. It was quite a humorous moment. Later, we picked up the Speech Path crew and headed to the Haven, which is a mile or so away from where we stay. The Haven is an orphanage where there are three houses—one for babies, one for sick babies, and one for toddlers. All of the houses are close together with a play area in between. We went into the Haven first and immediately were led to rooms full of babies lying side by side in little wooden beds. We were welcome to hold any of them, feed any of them, and just get acquainted with them today. The first baby I picked up and held for a while was Jessie. She was very calm, alert, and had the prettiest eyes. She was wearing the cutest little dress—very girly. I put her down after a while to pick up a crying baby named Tim. I fed him until he went into “food-induced-coma-land, then laid him back in his bed. I held several other sweet ones who I have many pictures of. Some were bigger, some smaller. Others seemed to have trouble staying healthy. Many had very skinny limbs. At one point we did walk over to the toddler house, but they were eating. They seemed very happy to see us. We will see the sick ones later. What stood out to me the most was when we would put on child down to go to another one, the other would start crying. One in particular, Megan, clung to my leg after I sat her on the floor to walk away to another baby room. Pretty soon, Megan’s entire room was crying. It became very clear to me that these kids starve to have all of their senses stimulated. We aren’t just here to hold them; we are here to nurture something that delves deep into their very souls. We are here to serve them by facilitating a better quality of life, and I am excited about that. After visiting the kids, we all walked together back to have lunch at the house. After that, we went into town in groups to do some shopping. I realized again that I am in a third world country. A man approached some of us asking for like 500 kwacha (which is less than a dollar). I realized later how little he was asking for and how that might have been so much to him. I also saw that people really do anything for money because they are desperate. It was very eye-opening. After shopping, we returned back to the house to see about showering (which is better when in the afternoon because they are solar showers). Liz, Ashley, Lauren, and I gathered our things and headed over to the showers. There were only three stalls, separated by curtains and walls—it was very much like camp. So, my shower was hot and nice but midway into my shower, I heard Ashley shriek. A frog was in the showers. Then I heard Lauren scream and exclaim it was outside of my shower near my bag. She was just sort of hanging around waiting to shower, so she was in a better position to escape the house but less motivated to shower at that point. I tried to hurry because the last thing I wanted was to try to out-hop a slimy frog while half-dressed and etc. Eventually, Ashley got done showering and somehow got it out of the showers. Oy! First shower in Namwianga: very eventful, but you know what? It was nice to be clean. Oh, and by the way, they provided us a bar of Dial soap. Dad, you should be proud. It is all good. A few local girls ranging in ages 8-10 and a baby showed up and said they wanted to play with us. Tessa gave them a coloring book and markers and we sat outside with them until dinner. Dinner was great. We all talked about what struck us the most today and it was interesting to hear what everyone said. After dinner, we all retreated to the main part of the house to hang out and play games. The power went out at some point and we have been sporting head lamps in the meantime. We went outside for a bit to look at the stars—they were amazing. Very beautiful. All in all, a full day I hope I will not forget. Hope all is well back home and around the world with you all. Love.
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