Monday-
I was up at 4:45am to fix breakfast because we ladies were going to head out at about 7:15am to distribute clothing and toys we brought. So I was creeping around the kitchen with my headlamp on trying not to make a sound while I made biscuits and gravy with tvp and fried potatoes along with oranges and bananas. Breakfast was on by 6:45am so we got to eat well before we left.
Well it ended up that we didn’t leave until after 8am but we were on our way. Teresa, Angie, Vanessa, Christina, Isabel, Isabelle, and I all helped Memere sort through dress sizes and sort out pants and sweatshirt sizes. It took us about an hour to get set up and then the kids arrived. These children were all orphans and there was over 100 from the Lupalilo school. Girls received a dress, 2 sweatshirts, and 1 pair of pants; while the boys received 2 sweatshirts and 2 pairs of pants. We all did a different type of clothing to make it go faster and as each child came in you had to hold the clothing up and try to match a size to the child. I knew that the kids are always dirty and sort of have a smell but that is how most of them are. I was surprised to realize that many of them also smelled like urine too. It is very sad to see all their clothes worn and in tatters but that is all they have. All the kids seemed very happy to get some new clothing to wear and they each received either a toy or some candy as they left the room.
We worked it at until after noon and then I assisted Memere in attempting to extract some fluid from a little girl that has a huge fluid pouch under her left cheek and on her neck. Her mother is Hiv positive and so is the little girl; it is very sad. No one else in the room wanted to be that close to the big needle and syringe so I did it. The little girls name was Vicky and she is probably 5-6 years old; she began crying the minute that needle pierced her skin. The removal of fluid was slow because the needle was really not big enough. I bet Memere had that needle in place for 7-10 minutes getting some fluid. The fluid was very syrupy and brownish in color and I wish we could have drained the whole thing but not to be now. Then she bandaged Dismo again (a little boy that has seizures and fell in the fire and was severely burned) because his leg hasn’t healed in months. He also told Memere that he had funza’s so she dug 2 out of his foot.
Then we loaded up and headed out to Mago for lunch. We arrived to a meal of rice and lentils which was very good.
I jumped in after lunch to wash our laundry but a big storm was moving in fast so Chris helped me along with Lisungu and Beth (she offered). I was lucky enough to get it all washed, rinsed, and through the wringer and hauled up to the house before it poured. Chris had to string laundry line in the house and get the fire going. All three families had laundry hung up in the house and it made it quite humid inside.
We started working on getting things packed up but it was slow going and the darkness crept up way to fast.
Tuesday-
Well I had a hard time sleeping but the rest of my family had a good nights rest! I also awoke feeling nauseated and I was thinking I was going to be sick all day. Well I stayed home from the distribution and took a handful of charcoal and felt bad for a while. But a couple hours later and I felt just fine and have been all day. I made mung bean soup and homemade biscuits for lunch and Vanessa cut up carrot sticks and Miriam made potatoes. Then we have all spent the rest of the day packing and cleaning house. It was hard trying to decide what to leave with Brent and
We just had fruit salad and left over soup for dinner with bread and we are all tired and I just can’t believe we are leaving. We are all sad to leave our new friends here but we are excited to see other parts of
The sewing ladies finished Chris and Mat’s shirts today and Mat’s looked great but Chris’ shirt was a bit off. Oh well, he will make do and we appreciate how hard they worked.