Well, I have been back in the states only a few days now. I may have said it before, but I will say it again: I will never be the same again since my trip. Best experience ever. A lot still sinking in. Thanks for keeping up!
P.S.
Mary smiled before we were gone. Many times :) win!
Love,
Anna
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Bittersweet
I don’t know how to begin summing up the last couple of days here other than to say that it has already been one hard week and it is only Wednesday. To get you on track, I must explain that there was a little boy around 3 years of age named Andrew who became sick sometime before we left for Livingstone. The first time he was taken to the doctor was because he had a rash on his body. The doctor dismissed it as a fungal thing and sent him back to the Havens with Meagan—a young woman who comes every summer specifically to work with the children here. Not long after this, Andrew started refusing to eat and when he did eat he was throwing up whatever he ate. Meagan took him back to the doctor where they kept him at the hospital for several hard days. Now, Andrew was HIV positive and tested positive for Hep-B at the hospital. He was still refusing foods and vomiting up foods after going to the hospital. His veins were collapsing when they tried to IV him. There was one day, according to Meagan, where they visited him and he was sitting up and looking somewhat better. All of that changed the next day—Monday—when his kidneys began failing. We were told sometime before lunch that he was not expected to make it through the day. In the meantime, Andrew had contracted PCP pneumonia. He was on a feeding tube, oxygen, and drips. A few hours after supper on Monday evening we got the news that he had died. Now, we were prepared to deal with a death while we were there because we had been previously educated about what happens when a Haven child dies. Initially, my response to the news of Andrew’s death was one of peace of mind that he was no longer suffering. I did not cry and really was not too sad. A lot of us responded via emotional eating.
Now, usually when a child dies here, the funeral occurs the same day. Since Andrew died later in the day and had some family planning things for him, it was put off until the next day.
The next day (Tuesday), we got up and started our day as usual. We were told to go about our normal routine and be ready to pause it for Andrew’s funeral. It was very hard to just “do the day” with that looming over us. Not to mention that it was our last day in Namwianga. The morning routine was usual and I loved on the kids a little more than normal. We found out that Meagan was going to pick up Andrew’s body sometime after our lunch, so that mentally prepared us for what was to come in the afternoon.
I had a hard time eating my last lunch—fried chicken, green beans, potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin cake—knowing I was about to witness something I had never experienced. Everyone seemed to be dealing with it in their own way—the silence was very telling as we waited to go to the funeral following our meal.
Dr. Weaver drove us in shifts—I was with the first group. We waited outside of the Havens for what seemed like forever. In the meantime, we joined the rest of our group for cake deliveries of gratitude to each Haven before going outside to wait again. Next thing we know, we hear vehicles pulling up and men singing. Everyone was there and the funeral was about to start. The scene was like nothing I have been through in my life—men in the back of the trucks that drove in were singing, a truck pulled up behind the Havens and stopped. Woman—mostly the aunties—surrounded it singing and weeping and wailing. Then the emotions came. I had been told that they usually just wrap the bodies in blankets here, so I was prepared to see something like that. I moved through the crowd holding my breath and fighting tears as the tailgate of the truck was lowered to reveal a small coffin—Andrew.
The women wept and wailed in ways I have only read about in the bible. Not an eye was dry in that moment. As his coffin was moved onto a table brought out from one of the Havens, I couldn’t control my sadness. Cari and I stood with each other, arms around, crying as Mama Cecilia—one of the older aunties—said “I won’t waste much of your time. This is one of the last times the body can be seen before it is buried.” With that, the coffin was opened just enough so you could see Andrew’s face. Meagan walked over and pulled the blankets off that covered his face before many were walking by—the aunties first, weeping, wailing…one in particular cried out “Bye bye Andrew.” I knew I had to go say goodbye to him for myself, for Andrew, and for people back home that have loved him. So, I left Cari to do so and was joined by Jill. I only gazed at him long enough to utter “I love you”, and he just looked peaceful. Still, it was very very hard, but I do not regret it. We followed a line of people—one woman in particular was still weeping and wailing—to a small grave yard a few steps back behind the Havens. While Andrew was still being viewed, we stood among the graves of other orphans that had died watching men finish digging his grave. In the meantime, all of the aunties stood by and sang songs. I thought to myself “How strong they are to be singing through this.” It was beautiful down to even the cracks of their voices when they cried while singing. The burial was more involved than the viewing. Several spoke—a family member of Andrew’s, Meagan, and maybe a couple of others. His coffin was lowered down, words were spoken, family was invited to sprinkle in some of the dirt on their own, and then it was finished. After the grave was covered, his favorite toy, some flowers, and a bag of Cheetos were placed on top. The Cheetos were from us—one day Andrew ate quite a bit and made us all laugh a lot—so we bought those to leave there.
After the service, we walked teary-eyed back to our desired Havens to finish our last day. I went to Haven 3 of course to spend my last hours with Matt and Bennett. Chitenges were tied, babies were kissed, and it really was a perfect ending to a hard day. The rest of the night was taken up by packing, more shed tears over the day, and teary goodbyes to the night watchmen.
Today we drove into Lusaka. I have eaten, showered my last shower in Africa, and am finally emotionally able to write out all of this. We fly home starting tomorrow. Much love and thanks to you all for your support and love during my time here :)
Anna
Now, usually when a child dies here, the funeral occurs the same day. Since Andrew died later in the day and had some family planning things for him, it was put off until the next day.
The next day (Tuesday), we got up and started our day as usual. We were told to go about our normal routine and be ready to pause it for Andrew’s funeral. It was very hard to just “do the day” with that looming over us. Not to mention that it was our last day in Namwianga. The morning routine was usual and I loved on the kids a little more than normal. We found out that Meagan was going to pick up Andrew’s body sometime after our lunch, so that mentally prepared us for what was to come in the afternoon.
I had a hard time eating my last lunch—fried chicken, green beans, potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin cake—knowing I was about to witness something I had never experienced. Everyone seemed to be dealing with it in their own way—the silence was very telling as we waited to go to the funeral following our meal.
Dr. Weaver drove us in shifts—I was with the first group. We waited outside of the Havens for what seemed like forever. In the meantime, we joined the rest of our group for cake deliveries of gratitude to each Haven before going outside to wait again. Next thing we know, we hear vehicles pulling up and men singing. Everyone was there and the funeral was about to start. The scene was like nothing I have been through in my life—men in the back of the trucks that drove in were singing, a truck pulled up behind the Havens and stopped. Woman—mostly the aunties—surrounded it singing and weeping and wailing. Then the emotions came. I had been told that they usually just wrap the bodies in blankets here, so I was prepared to see something like that. I moved through the crowd holding my breath and fighting tears as the tailgate of the truck was lowered to reveal a small coffin—Andrew.
The women wept and wailed in ways I have only read about in the bible. Not an eye was dry in that moment. As his coffin was moved onto a table brought out from one of the Havens, I couldn’t control my sadness. Cari and I stood with each other, arms around, crying as Mama Cecilia—one of the older aunties—said “I won’t waste much of your time. This is one of the last times the body can be seen before it is buried.” With that, the coffin was opened just enough so you could see Andrew’s face. Meagan walked over and pulled the blankets off that covered his face before many were walking by—the aunties first, weeping, wailing…one in particular cried out “Bye bye Andrew.” I knew I had to go say goodbye to him for myself, for Andrew, and for people back home that have loved him. So, I left Cari to do so and was joined by Jill. I only gazed at him long enough to utter “I love you”, and he just looked peaceful. Still, it was very very hard, but I do not regret it. We followed a line of people—one woman in particular was still weeping and wailing—to a small grave yard a few steps back behind the Havens. While Andrew was still being viewed, we stood among the graves of other orphans that had died watching men finish digging his grave. In the meantime, all of the aunties stood by and sang songs. I thought to myself “How strong they are to be singing through this.” It was beautiful down to even the cracks of their voices when they cried while singing. The burial was more involved than the viewing. Several spoke—a family member of Andrew’s, Meagan, and maybe a couple of others. His coffin was lowered down, words were spoken, family was invited to sprinkle in some of the dirt on their own, and then it was finished. After the grave was covered, his favorite toy, some flowers, and a bag of Cheetos were placed on top. The Cheetos were from us—one day Andrew ate quite a bit and made us all laugh a lot—so we bought those to leave there.
After the service, we walked teary-eyed back to our desired Havens to finish our last day. I went to Haven 3 of course to spend my last hours with Matt and Bennett. Chitenges were tied, babies were kissed, and it really was a perfect ending to a hard day. The rest of the night was taken up by packing, more shed tears over the day, and teary goodbyes to the night watchmen.
Today we drove into Lusaka. I have eaten, showered my last shower in Africa, and am finally emotionally able to write out all of this. We fly home starting tomorrow. Much love and thanks to you all for your support and love during my time here :)
Anna
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Father's Day and frightening Giraffes
Happy Father’s Day to the Dads!
Today has been great! I got up, had breakfast, and went to church with everyone. I went to children’s church for the last time and almost cried. I am going to miss them a lot. After church, we enjoyed a fantastic meal—chicken dressing. I don’t know how to describe it other than chicken and stuffing were involved and it was amazing. We also had salad made with lettuce cut right from the garden a few steps away. De-lish.
After lunch, I went to the Havens with a few others. I only stayed in Haven 3 and had a fabulous time for two hours. I brought a chitenge to hold some kids in for photo opportunities.
I discovered today that Matt is terrified of stuffed animals—particularly stuffed animals in the form of a Giraffe. So, all I had to do was hold it near him and he screamed. There is video footage. Pretty hilarious.
I had to help prepare dinner—leftovers—so for the salad Liz and I went out to the garden with a basket and a knife and literally cut it out of the ground.
Not a lot more has happened since then. We are now sitting around and will go to church soon.
Love.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Low-key day
Today was pretty good. We had breakfast this morning in Livingstone before heading out for a little shopping. I am really excited about giving gifts!!!! I left with the first group, came back to Namwianga, organized, visited Mrs. Moono (MOH-NO), and cleaned up. We all had dinner together and have just been relaxing tonight. Tomorrow we will put in some time at the Havens. I am looking forward to seeing the kids again J Love you and see you soon!
Anna
Friday, June 17, 2011
Stressful market shopping and beautiful things
This morning I had some breakfast and joined a a group to walk to some markets for shopping. The markets here are a lot different than the ones in Kalomo and Choma. The stalls were in a line of a building and there were about 40. People watched us and talked us into their little shops trying to get us to buy stuff. I found myself extremely stressed out--kind of like the stress you get in the states when lured into a mall kiosk except more intense. Anyhow, I ended up giving money and items to trade for what seemed like a lot of random things. But that is okay. I now have most of my gifts for people back home, so that is good. After shopping, eating, and making the trek back to the hotel, I quickly gathered things for Victoria Falls. Next thing I know, I am looking at the biggest waterfall EVER. Ponchos donned, we trekked around the trails getting wet and having a good time. I thought I had seen something excellent until I made the 600+ yard hike down to the Boiling Pot. The Boiling Pot is a big swirling pool that the Zambezi pours into in a gorge. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed. I went with Tessa and Ashley, and although I started to panic and fear for my life on the hike down, I don't regret climbing down. After we made the strenuous--for Ashley and I--hike back up, we joined others for more stressful market shopping. After being basically conned into getting things, we went back to the hotel to clean up before heading to another hotel for our sunset cruise. We boarded a three story boat that had tables and chairs for us to eat dinner at. Dinner consisted of three courses--all finger food. Meanwhile, we just relaxed and took pictures. The sunset was beautiful to see on the water. We headed back to the hotel afterward and now I am hanging out with Ben, Tessa, Cari, and Ashley. Good times. Headed back to Namwianga tomorrow! Love you all!
Anna
Anna
This Entry Brought to you by Ashley, Anna, Ben, Tessa, and Cari from room 139
Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow. Forever. Africa.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU!!!!
Well, I don’t even know where to start now…Yesterday we drove to Livingstone, Zambia. Upon arriving, I checked into a nice hotel and then was off to lunch—Olga’s: The Italian Corner. Yes, legit Italian food in Africa. It was quite good and how much I consumed is shameful. Okay, I had a taste of bruschetta and a couple of other appetizers followed by a whole pizza and a scoop of gelato. So good. After that we quickly popped into a few shops before meeting up with the rest of the group at the hotel. Then headed to a super nice hotel---The Royal Livingstone—where we had tea and endless desserts. They do this thing called “High Tea” during certain hours of the day where you order a tea and then go to a room of desserts. It is like a buffet. They serve the tea in fancy china. We ate outside facing the Zambeze River. The mist of the Falls could be seen in the distance. It was beautiful! The night would not have been complete without the many monkeys that seemed to come out of nowhere and wreak havoc on the patio. Yes, things were broken and sugar was stolen. Hilarious! We then left in shifts for Victoria Falls! We are going again tomorrow to see them during the day, but we went last night for the lunar rainbow and—surprise—a lunar eclipse! Now, the lunar rainbow comes from the light of the moon shining through the mist of the falls. Very awesome. Speaking of awesome, the sound of the falls was more than awesome. I remember my first peek at them in the dark—my stomach turned in awe. “God made that”, one of our group stated. I agreed in silence. I opted not to get wet last night because it was COLD. Instead, I sat at the top of the falls with Bweave, her daughter, her best friend, and a few others in our group. We watched the rainbow change here and there and waited for the lunar eclipse. Well, a lot of us were freezing, so we left before the eclipse and caught bits and pieces of it at the hotel. I felt pretty sick after eating so much, so I went to bed pretty soon after. This morning, we were up early for a nice—and SUGAR FREE (for me)—breakfast before leaving for the safari in Botswana around 7:30. I’ll spare the details of crossing over into another country and back, but it was interesting. We did so by boat. So, we rode on these awesome safari trucks to this beautiful place called the Chobe Marina Lodge in Chobe. We loaded onto a boat and went on the water part of the safari until lunch. We returned to the Lodge for a great lunch before getting back on the awesome safari trucks and driving to Chobe National Park. We saw a lot of animals—giraffe, antelope, various winged creatures, lizards, crocs, elephant, hippo, baboons, warthogs, mongoose, and probably other things I have pictures of but cant remember. I do know that we saw no cats or zebra L I was a little bummed about that, but “The Circle of Life” was blaring in my mind and kept me focused! Haha. We finished up and returned the way we came—just with less energy. When we got back, I went to Olga’s for dinner and had pumpkin ravioli for the first time—I loved it! I have since returned, showered, and am planning on getting up with a few of the girls to go shop a bit in the morning. Later tomorrow we will go back to the Falls and then get on a boat to see the sunset on the Zambeze J And that is my life since leaving Namwianga/Kalomo. We go back on Saturday, and I look forward to seeing the kids again before headed to the states. Let me hear from you all! Love you!
Anna J
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