Just A Quick Break!

Thanks first of all to those who are faithfully checking this blog. I thought after I took so long to post that last post that no one would read this again. So thanks.

A TLC update. We have had two of the little girls from the group that I work with (for the most part). Oprah was adopted by a wonderful young couple from Denmark. It was so nice to see her interacting so well with her new family when they came to get her. It was also very sad to see her go. Grace also left, but went to live with her granny. It was very hard to see her go! Stuart who is the oldest of this group will be moving up to the next group up near the beginning of April. I will still see him lots at school, but it will be very different without his quiet little leadership in our group.

Right now I am on a little vacation. It's really needed. I didn't really realize how tired I was until I had more than 1 day off in a row. It's very nice to be able to just relax and do whatever I want to within a day. Me and a friend travelled down to the south coast of Africa (mossel bay). So far it has been amazing. I went Sky Diving the other day - which was amazing! We met some cool people and went for a canoe trip up the river with them. Other than that we have just been relaxing, reading and going to the beach! It is really really beautiful here! And the Indian Ocean is much nicer than the Pacific (sorry all you qwanoes folk).

ANyway. I am getting back to Johannesburg on the 27th of March - which will mean it will then be Exactly 2 months until I come home!!

THanks for your faithfulness and prayers.
Have an amazing Spring!

It's been a Long While!

Sorry, for anoyone who still checks this blog! I have been absolutly horrible at posting on here. I have some stories of stuff that has happened recently. Here they are:


Two days last week I spent the majority of the day at the hospital with different children for various different reasons. Something really cool happened yesterday while I was waiting in a long line at the eye hospital. We always have to arrive very early to the hospital appointments (like 3 1/2 hours before the doctors even come to work) because there are just sooooo many people that if you don't get their early then you will be waiting (literaly) all day! So I was sitting waiting in line (this is prior to the doctors arrival) one of the sisters/nurses all of a sudden said something to the entire waiting room (about twice the size of the sun room at church - full of people (all black obviously)) and she had a little drum. Suddenly they all stood up and started singing! It sounded totally AMAZING! (they were singing in Zulu/Tswana), when they were done they all prayed outloud for several minutes and then sang another song. When they sang the second song there was this woman who was wailling and crying. It was sooooooooooo cool to experience. I was thinking the whole time, whilst I was trying to savour the moment, that nothing like that would ever happen at home!

Also Saturday was my day off, so I went out with a few friends for the day. We went for breakfast at this amazing restauraunt called Moyo, we sat on the upper deck areas on these amazing lounge chairs with the view of this amazing park with a huge lake. They come around with this pitcher and bowl of rose water and wash your hands while they sing to you. And the food was amazing! And we had amazing cappuciono there also! Then we went to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, it was very interesting! Then this after noon we went with one of the workers from TLC and she gave us a tour of Soweto (where she lives). Soweto is kind of the heart of Aparthaid, there are 4.3 million black people that live there, and most of it very poverish. We saw the girls house and the sight of the Soweto Uprising/ Hector Peiterson Museum. The Soweto Uprising was a rally that these schoool children held in the 70's because they wanted to take their shcool studies in their own language but the white people were changing it so they must learn in Afrikaans. They had this big march (that was supposed to be peaceful) but soon after they began the police felt thretened and started shooting people and throwing tear gas into the crowds (these are kids/teens remember!) The museum is all abou it, it was VERY interesting! I also saw Nelson Mandella's home.


This was a while ago, but it's kind of funny now and I don't know if I ever told you about it.

Suppose you could call the climactic ultimate test in patience. So it was supposed to be a normal 10 hour day so I was supposed to have 3 hours of break. I was to go to the hospital to take one of the babies to a therapy appointment. I was scheduled to leave at 7:00 (meaning my first hour break was 6-7). But really I had to leave at half past 6 to go with the school run so I could get dropped off on time. So I arrived at the hospital around 7:30. The appointment went well, and when it was done about 9:30, I called for a ride to be picked up and brought back to TLC. When Chrissy (another volunteer) arrived, she had another baby with her, and said I'm really sorry but you need to take this baby to see a doctor and I will take the other baby home.
I figured that it wouldn't take that long do see a doctor (maybe a couple hours). Chrissy told me that our pediatrician from TLC had phoned doctor LaLa (that's his name.. heha) and that he was waiting to see the baby in ward 31 and that I didn't need to get a registration stamp in ward 54 (which can take AGES!). So I assumed that the doctor would know what he was looking for because he had spoke to the pediatrician. Well I got to ward 31 and Dr. Lala was on break. So I waited and he finally came, the sister told him that i was waiting, and he said oh right - well it doesn't matter, he can see any doctor. So the sister said now I must go to ward 54 to get a stamp and then wait in the line. So I did as fast as I could (thankfully ward 54 wasn't THAT busy so it didn't take to long). I went back to ward 31 and it didn't take super long to get through the queue so that was good. Then he finally saw a doctor (who I swear looked like she was 12 years old!) and I just had to tell her what I knew about the case because I was expecting to see Dr. Lala.
This is what is up with the child. He had Hydrocephalus when he was born so they put in a shunt to drain the fluid from his brain. But they didn't really do it fast enough so he has some brain damage (which also may have caused his severe epilepsie), and because of that he also doesn't have a good sucking reflex so we feed him through a tube into his belly. Poor little guy!. So he has little seizures all the time, but the pediatrician thought that having him on epilim would at least decrease the seizures, but it hasn't been working so she wanted him to see a doctor (as well as he has been vomiting lately).
So I told the doctor basically what I knew, and she figured that yes he should be admitted, so she took his bloods and gave him a drip in his hand and sent me to ward 36 which is pediatric admissions.
**you must understand something, Baragwanath Hospital is -supposedly- the largest hospital in the world (i am inclined to believe this). And everything is in little buildings that are spread way out! So none of these things are really close together and I am carrying a car seat with a crying baby and a bunch of hospital files and a diaper bag. **
When I got to 36 it took quite a while for someone to see me, when they finally did, they figured the baby should have an x-ray and a CT scan. So I, once they worked out all the logistics and ordered the scan, ran off with the baby to x-ray and that took a while because they had to do it twice and then I ran off to diagnostics for a CT scan. Just as the doctor was about to give the baby the sedative through his drip, it fell out. So they had to re-drip him. But it took almost an hour because they tried in his other hand, then both arms, then his leg, then both sides of his head before they Finally got another one to go. So they gave him a sedative and we could finally do the scan. They told me I must hold this piece of wet cotton in his mouth while they did the scan, I was like... ok. So there I was standing in the room and then suddenly everyone else walks out and goes behind this big metal sliding door and I am left in the room (probably getting Mass amounts of radiation poisoning). Before you freak out, I was wearing one of those protective bib things, so don't worry, I am sure won't be turning into a mutant anytime soon.
So then it took another hour to get the results for the scan. By this time I am getting close to passing out from hunger (this was about 5:30pm, the last time I had eaten was two pieces of toast at 6:20am). Vivien had called me then and said I must be starving and that she was sending someone withe some food, so that was good, Lizzie brought me something to eat.
So the doctor said that from the scan it looked like maybe his shunt was blocked, but that he should see the neurologist. So we went back to 36 and the neurologist came and looked at the scan. He said that it looks like he miight have an infection from the shunt but it didn't seem to be blocked. So then they FINALLY admitted him and are going to see him again today to see if there is actually an infection.
So I finally left the hospital around 7:45pm. So I spent the better part of 12 hours straight at the hospital, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! I was sooooo drained when I got home. But seriously the night before I (for some reason) I thought I needed to go to bet at 7:30, I wasn't even tired... now I know why!



Now this week I am on night shift. And on the 18th of March I will be leaving for a short vacation to Mossel Bay (southern coast of Africa) and having hopefully a good rest (and a few adventures!)

Thanks for all your prayers,
Andrew

A couple of Adventures

Here are two adventures that have happened resently...

On my way to fetch Amy from school, I was again stopped at a Police Road Block. They were searching everyone (possibly for weapons), looked in the boot and then checked out my license. The lady was confused by my license, and so I explained where I was from and what I was doing in Africa. She asked for my passport, but I explained that I don't carry it with me, but that it was back where I am living. She took me across the road to talk to a different officer. The officer repeated all her questions, then suddenly became "angry" (they really like to hassle foreigners) He was saying, "this is not ok, you are a visitor in this country, you shouldn't be driving, I am going to give you a R1000 fine and you must pay it now." I explained that I didn't have R1000 (but I wouldn't have given it to him anyway). He said, "Then you must wait until I am done here, then you will come with me to the station and we will lock you up until someone can come and pay this fine for you." Before I could really respond, he and the lady started kind of play fighting, but they were talking in Zulu or something so I couldn't understand. She was trying to grab my license from him, but he kepy running away laughing; this went on for about 5 minutes. Finally she went back across the road to my car. He called my over and asked again if I had R1000, I told him no, all i had in my wallet was R20. He said, you can go give the R20 to the girl and she might let you go. He gave me back my license and I went back across the street. I tried to give the lady the money, but she said, "no not here". So she walked around to the back of the car, and I went and discreatly passed her the bill... she let me go. Of course I don't agree with this, however I didn't really have many options.

Another adventure...

Today someone spotted a snake on the far side of the pool. There was a great fuss as someone tried to catch the snake and get it into a pail, luckily the snake was cornered against a building. Finally once it was caught, we discovered that it was a spitting cobra! Scary, hopefully none end up in my bedroom!

Well that's a couple of the happenings here.

A driving lessosn

I have been so bad at updating this blog, and I apologize for that. I guess actually a lot has happened since my last post. First of all I must admit that it is hard for me to believe that I have been here for a month and a half already! The time is slipping buy unnoticed. A couple weeks ago I did an entire week of driving, which meant that I drove every day and drove for most of the day. Leading up to the week I thought that I would enjoy driving, but as the week progressed I decided that I really really didn’t like it at all! It was really hard for me, because I kind of felt like I just wasn’t doing anything; however a good lesson came from that experience. I was reminded that I am here to serve and if it meant that I would be doing a lot of driving, then I would have to learn to accept that. After I came to terms with that, our other driver returned from holidays, so I expected that I would be relieved of the driving duties for the time being. But after his return then it was decided that we would split the driving (something I was alright with). So for about 2 weeks we shared the driving, and now they have added a third driver, so it’s even less for all of us. But driving honestly isn’t all I do here.

About 2 weeks ago I joined the Preschool teaching team. There is a school on site here and some of the older kids from the nursery and from the main house attend preschool there. There is a real teacher for all of the older kids, but the preschoolers are taught by volunteers. I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach. There are two teachers each day, one teacher will take the older kids and one teacher takes the younger kids. The kids are split up for a couple hours and then they come together and we have a snack and then play outside for the remainder of the morning. Mostly I have been working with the older preschoolers. At first I didn’t like it at all (partially because I wasn’t really sure what to do with them). Finally, however, my creative juices started flowing and now I am really enjoying it. Usually they will just have some free time to play with toys at the beginning and then we will do a craft or something, and then we usually play a game. Tomorrow I have planned a Jungle Safari for them, so that should be interesting. I am really glad that I have kind of found a place where I belong here, and teaching is definitely it. On days that I am not teaching, I am working with the nursery children or with some of the preschoolers (but outside of school). Right now we are working 11-12 hours a day and 6 days a week, so sometimes they days get a little long, but God has blessed me with a lot of energy!

Some other happenings around TLC:

One of the little boys who was in on of our nurseries went back to live with his mother (about 2 weeks ago). A couple days after he left, we found out that he was taken to the hospital and passed away while there, really that is all we found out about the situation. So it was a sad time here for a while.

Last week we received another baby. There were three children who were taken from their alcoholic mother and sent into care homes, we received the youngest child because he was severely sick and TLC is equipped to care for children like that. His two older siblings were sent into another care facility. He is about 5 months old.

About 3 weeks ago the school on our property was broken into and many of the computers that had been donated were stolen. There is word that someone is willing to replace them.
Two of the little babies here have recently been adopted to families in Denmark, and there are several other adoptions in the works right now.






Well I figured I should let you all know that I am still alive, and what I have been up to!

TIA! Eh?

Blood Diamond anyone? Hmm? Ok anyway, So I have been here for 2 and half weeks already! Hard for me to believe! I have continued to work in the nursery for the majority of my time here. I have done some work with the older kids and that has been really good. I have a couple of favorites (it's hard not to), and hopefully I will post some pictures of them soon. The last few days I have been tagging around doing some of the driving and learning where the airport, the schools, and such are, because next week I am on driving all week (Nico, who usually drives, is going to be gone for the week). Driving in Africa is interesting, for one thing they drive on the opposite side of the road, however that's really not hard to get used to at all. The one main scary thing is that people walk all over the road! I am scared of hitting some one! There is rumor that soon I will be taking over one of the Pre-school teacher positions when one of the other volunteers leaves to go home. That is something I am really looking forward to! It is finally spring here, which means that it is finally raining! And when it rains here... It RAINS! For the past couple days in the evening we have had the most spectacular lightning storms that I have ever seen; not even comparative to anything we have in SK. Also the rain means that it has cooled off a bit. I am told that for most of the spring there will be a thunderstorm every single evening! As time goes on here, I am beginning to learn some of the kids stories. There is a little girl here who has such horrible psychological problems, due to the fact that she was laying on the bed besider her mother, when her mother was shot! Thankfully she has been able to see a psychologist, very quickly (something that doesn't happen often here). There is another little boy here named Rowan, who has an abnormally large head, but is two years old and can't even sit up. He was left basically for the past 2 years in a hospital, just surviving, with no one to help him. Since he has come to TLC, he is receiving help and is really healthy now, and is on his way to crawling, very far behind where he should be, but at least now he is moving along. There are so many other stories to tell and so many more for me to learn, and I will continue to share those with you over the next couple months. Thank you again for your prayers! Oh and Happy - late - Thanksgiving!

"Try the Crocodile... You'll like it!"

This post is long over due, however I am happy to be writing to you from warm (haha) South Africa. I arrived here just under a week ago, and so far things have been going really well. Things here are a little different that what I expected, but all things considered it is a wonderful place. I had only a little trouble getting here, and that happened after my plane landed in S.A. The lady at the customs office was very suspicious of my reasoning for coming into the country (even though I had an approved Visa). Eventually, however, she let me in and I started my journey. After I was picked up, we went out for a while and ended up arriving at TLC around 12:30 pm (which for my body clock then was about 3:30 pm). The first few nights I had trouble sleeping because my body wasn't used to trying to sleep at such an odd hour, but when I finally got too tired, then I was able to sleep through the night. Now things are much better, and I feel much more rested. I started out working in the nursery for little babies that are around 8 months to a year. I have spent almost all of my working hours there so far (as well as washing all the bottles and dishes that the babies use, and preparing some of their meals etc.). Today I moved up a bit and worked with some of the older kids. Basically they are exposing me to all of the different areas and then letting me decide where I would like to work. There is a chance that I will eventually take over the driving job from my roomate Nico when he leaves. That would mean that I would do a lot of driving around Johannesburg, taking some of the kids to school, karate, church, etc. Last night I was finally able to get out, as many of the volunteers went out for supper at the Royal Boma. The Boma is like a big buffet restaurant that serves authentic African Cuisine, so as the title says, I tried Crocodile; it was alright, tasted like chicken and fish combined. I wasn't brave enough to try the giraffe sausage though. Things are going really well. I am learning a lot and doing things that I never really thought I would do. But through my times of Bible study and the testimony of the work done here, God is teaching me a lot about servanthood and humility. I am sure there is a lot more to write. But I will save for another post. As for now, thank you for your prayers!

Banishing the Butterflies...

Although the title mentions butterflies, I really am not that nervous... Yet. But, here I sit, the very fist leg of my journey - over. Although I sit in the airport, realizing that very soon I will be in Africa.. still it hasn't sunk in! I think I don't fully realize what an incredible journey God has planned for me. The fact that everything still worked out so well, even thought I left MOST of it to the last possible minute; has been great confirmation that I am in the right place. It will be interesting to read back to this post, in June, and see how I have changed. I have expectations and pre-conceptions about what Africa will be like; past experience, however, tells me that those will be quickly changed. My Grandpa told me before I left, "make sure you write down your first impression of Africa when you arrive." I am sure the comparison of my first impression and my views on Africa after leaving will be drastically different. I guess time will tell!