Weeks 6/7

This is a picture of me signing with one of the kids last week at St. Malumba

At St. Malumba School

Me in my African Outfit for Independence Day (10/24)

Monday - I spent a good amount of time at Dr. Jain's office observing him and learning so much from him. He is so willing to share information with us and wants us to ask him anything. He showed us his book that he writes every single surgery down. In the first 2 1/2 years he did 1,713 surgeries (about 2 a day) wow!! The other thing he taught us was all about Appendicitis. Then we learned how to do an appendectomy, because he is getting ready to do one in the next few weeks. Hopefully, we will get to go and observe.

Tuesday - I went to Martin Hospice. I don't know if I have said this before, but Hospice here is different than in the states. People who are chronically ill go there when they have an exacerbation of their illness. The staff work hard together to get the best outcome of the patients. For the most part, people go home after a week of staying and getting better.

Behind Martin Hospice, there is a daycare for vulnerable children. I spent about 3 hours sitting, reading and interacting with the kids. That was so much fun being with the kids. They are such a blessing.

Today was also the day that I got my computer :) Thanks mom and dad

Wednesday - Class

Thursday - Chikuni - We went there and met with a Traditional Healer. Interesting, needless to say. He shared a lot of things with us and I learned a lot about what some people here in Zambia believe in. We then took a tour of Chikuni Mission Hospital. After the tour, we went to Monze School of Nursing. It was neat to see another nursing school here in Zambia.

Thursday was a very long and tiring day...we were gone for about 10 hours and sat on the bus for about 6 of the 10.

Friday - Class and Town, then we went out for the first time at night.

We went to 'Miss Rotary Independence 2009,' a beauty pageant. The winner would go on to the Miss Zambia pageant. It was really neat to see all of the different outfits. This lasted over three hours, and when we left at midnight, it was still going on! (unfortunately, we did not get to see who won the contest... :(

Saturday - Zambian Independence Day

Today we went to town and took part in the celebration ceremony. There was a lot of dancing, music, and a few speeches. I am so glad that we were here to celebrate Independence day. It was neat to see the passion of the Zambians for their country. They were celebrating 45 years of Independence. In celebration of Independence, we had a Turkey for lunch. (A few weeks ago, we witnessed the butchering of this turkey here on the compound, ha ha) As usual, lunch was delicious.

On Saturday evenings, we have activity night. This week, it was my job along with Lauren and Janna to plan it. We had the Zammy Awards, and gave everyone an award. We made home-made apple crisp and then played Shout About Movies. I think the night was a success. We all had fun and laughed a lot.

Sunday - Today the plan is going to church and doing a lot of homework (now that I have my computer, I can write all of my papers. I am praying for motivation and no distractions. So that I can get a lot of work done.

The plan for Monday and Tuesday is to go to Zimba Mission Hospital for the final time. I would appreciate all your prayers as the last two times working there have been emotionally draining. I know that with God's help, I will be able to see Him through all the hard times. I need His strength.