Little love...

Alyssa

2006-2010

You were so tiny when I started working as one of your caregivers.

I was always so nervous that I would do something wrong: forget a medication, not clean tubing well enough, fall asleep and miss some subtle change in your breathing.

Time passed and my nerves began to settle. You grew from tiny baby to little girl and I grew to love you. You were so sweet and dear to me.

I would sit there all night long and think and pray and pray. Why didn't God heal you? Why didn't He help me help you more? I wanted you to enjoy a night of sweet sleep, but sometimes nothing I did seemed to help you settle. There were a few tears sometimes, too. This is an imperfect world and my heart ached for what should be.

There were lots of other questions that ran through my mind in all the nights I watched over you. I thought about how people go on and on about what makes a meaningful life, about what it means to be a contributing member of society.

Does the ability to walk or talk define a life? The ability to go to school and get a job one day in the distant future? What consumerist garbage.

God used you to teach me that it is love that defines a life.

And you were (and are) very, very loved.

I was never sure how much you could understand this, but I know you understand it perfectly now and I am so glad for you.

You are missed, little love.

Thursdays...

I keep meaning to tell you about my Thursday activities. Thursday is the day that I have a class with our community's traditional birth attendants. We only began about a month ago, but it has been the highlight of every week so far.

From right to left we have Fanesse, Azalea (both birth attendants), Eunice (ASAM staff who was translating for me) and yours truly.

I wish you could meet Fanesse and Azalea. They are such sweet ladies. When I asked them why they were chosen as birth attendants, they told me it was because they had good hearts.

Our second week of classes only Azalea showed up. I was so disappointed. Was this little project going to fail in its second week?

A few minutes into class Fanesse came bursting through the door, huffing and puffing. She was sorry to be late, she said. She had been working in her corn fields.

I was quite overjoyed to see her.

Fanesse and Azalea are both illiterate so we use pictures to go through our lessons. We laugh a lot, and chat, and it is wonderful.

On the 30th of this past December, Fanesse, Azalea and I delivered a baby together. It was such a great way for us to work together and bond a little before classes started. We don't deliver babies at the clinic...ever...so things were slightly funny and crazy with a little bit of improvising required. Can you imagine a delivery room in Canada stocked with a candle, a flashlight, and some women's skirts? Here is Azalea and I with the mom, baby boy and grandmom.

Thursdays are the best.

(Carey, thanks again for the great photos! Lynn, you too!)

Back to the beach...

South Africa is rather lovely, friends. Also, ever lovely, is the Indian Ocean. The first day of our trip ended at the beach.

It was really wonderful. I never get tired of the ocean. One day, maybe, I will live by the water.

This is a shot for all my fellow "Roman Holiday" fans.

Thank you for your prayers for rain and for my paperwork. From what I hear, Mucombeze has seen some rain this week. Please keep praying for the crops.

I went to the High Commission of Mozambique today and it sounds like I may be able to get a three month permit to get back into the country. However, I will have to leave Mozambique again during that time to get a residents visa. Also, I could only get a seven day visa for South Africa, so by next week I need to be going somewhere! Hopefully back to Moz. Please pray for me as I wait.

(And thanks to Carey for all the great photos!)

A little update...

I thought you might like to know how the boy I mentioned in my last post is doing.

Long story short, he is improving. His leg is much better, but there were also two abscesses on his back. The one seems to be responding well to antibiotics, the other we are watching with an optimistic eye. Today his mother directed us to another abscess forming on his other leg. He is quite the medical mystery.

Every day Lynn or I (or, Lynn and I) go and change his dressing. The doctor put a drain in his leg after the aformentioned traumatic initial draining of the wound.

Paulo fortifies his spirit for yet another dressing change. This guy is pretty tired of all things medical.

Cleaning the wound.




The start of a nice clean dressing.





(It is really hot here. Can you see me glowing?)




And here is Tito, Paulo's cousin. I believe I have introduced you to him before. He says "hello" and "goodbye" with a very confident high five. Love this kid...

PS- Please pray for Mozambique. No rain means no crops means no food.

PS- I am going to South Africa tomorrow. Please pray that I come back in

a few weeks with a shiny new resident's visa.

Bends in the road...

This time last year

I thought that this time this year

I would be snuggled in a coffee shop in Vancouver

Looking at the ocean

Doing my grad school homework

Instead...

Today I spent the morning in a clinic

Holding down one of the boys in our orphan program

While a doctor sliced into his leg to drain a large abscess

Without the benefit of anesthetic

It was rather traumatic for him

Life is funny and always a surprise

I can't even speculate where I will be this time next year.

(But I hope it won't involve an abscess....)

Dear everybody...

Please pray that it rains here soon, and in just the right amount.

We lifted our eyes up...

Unto the mountain

And then we climbed it.

Right to the very top.

And it was steep.

Really steep at times. And I was shocked that I was climbing it because I am afraid of ladders.

And Gabriel was like, "I own you."

A good day.