Final Reflections

I am honestly so sad to be leaving this beautiful country. Parts of me are rejoicing to return to the states -far from starvation and so much need -but I know I will always want to return to Africa.

I dont know if I grew so much here as I just realized the direction I want to generally go in life. Does that mean I have every path planned out in the future?..of course not, but I do know that my heart is seriously intertwined with these amazing people and this amazing continent. I cant wait to go home and really reflect on everything it is that I learned and hopefully be able to translate that into more tangible goals.

I loved every minute of my time here- the ups and the downs. I am so thankful to God for all of my experiences and I cant wait to get home and chat everyone’s ear off about all of them- hahaha- please just grin and bear it!

See you all soon : )

My Last Hurrah!

This morning I and 2 other volunteers completed the last 115 bricks that the project needed. So far the volunteers have made over 3500 bricks which is enough to begin to build a wall around Molota School to keep the children safe and away from all the outside distraction.

After getting home I packed super quickly and loaded a van to head to the country of Zimbabwe. We crossed the border and headed to a 5 star hotel called Elephant Hills Hotel. The hotel was massive – around 300 guest rooms. The only reason we were able to stay in a 5 star is because we got a really really cheap deal on our stay. I couldnt figure out why the deal we recieved was so great until we got to the hotel. It was a gorgeous hotel by all accounts but there was literally NO other guests in the entire hotel! It was a ghost town. It was so quiet and weird to be staying there.

To give you an idea of how strange the hotel was- when we were checking out the next morning I had a $2.00 charge for using the internet and literally not a SINGLE person in the entire hotel (bar, guest services, restaraunt, reception, travel desk) had change for my 20.00 dollar bill. There was NO money in the entire hotel, not a drop. Even when we visited several guest stores in the hotel, we werent able to buy anything because no one had change available -so you either couldnt buy anything or you had to purchase enough items so that no change was necessary!

We did a couple of fun things while in Zim like eating worms and warthog and ostrich meat. We also traveled on safari in Hwange National Park.

yummy!

All in all, I will NEVER return to Zimbabwe ever again. The people for the most part were unfriendly (to the point of me being scared). At one point driving along to the national park(2 hour drive) people along side the road kept crossing their arms in the sign of death to us. I felt like I was in deliverance or something. It was honestly very frightening to be in Zimbabwe. If our van would of broken down at any point it would have been very very very very bad for us.

The country of Zimbabwe is beautiful but honestly after the President there expelled all of the white farmers and destroyed the economy(at one point inflation was over 2 MILLION percent) the money is all gone, the grocery stores are bare, gas stations are empty and the people are rightfully angry- however, their anger is directed at whites which is somewhat misplaced. I am just glad to be back in Zambia today.

Blessing

I felt so incredibly blessed today. In the afternoon after lunch I headed to Ngwenya to teach my very last homecare class. I was a bit worried when I walked into class because only 10 people had showed up (my class is usually 20-25 people). That is very rare because usually we have close to 100% attendance in all classes. I thought everyone was scared to come to class because I was conducting a test and I had warned the class yesterday to prepare. After I had begun the test, everyone else walked in late and I was so relieved! I just wanted my chance to say goodbye and make sure that I was leaving my class in good hands. I have gotten super attached to all those homecare providers.

As I was conducting the test I got a little worried that they would do poorly on the test. I have been throwing mass amounts of medical information at them for the last few weeks and with the language barrier, I thought maybe they werent retaining very much information. It turns out, they ALL aced the test. It made me feel so great!  They have been paying attention and they were all so excited to learn this entire time!

After class I handed out some snacks I bought for them and they all stood over me and began to say the most amazing prayer over me asking God to give me wisdom and direction in my home. It made me tear up. Then as a perfect ending, they all began to sing a blessing over me. It was like out of a movie or something! Their voices were AMAZING and they began to harmonize a traditional african blessing. It was honestly so beautiful- like a recording.

I just felt so privledged to be able to teach the class. I think I learned so much more from all of those homecare providers than they learned from me. What a serious blessing!

My homecare class!

Sad Day

In early May I met a man and his wife on a homecare visit. The man needed to have both his legs amputated immediately(I had a post about him earlier.)

Kuku and her husband and Brave my translator

He was finally admitted to the hospital 2 weeks ago where he died of a heart attack. In the afternoon I went to see his widow and take her a couple of bags of groceries. I found her in TERRIBLE shape. She had no food. She was down to her last bit of corn kernals that she was feverishly grounding to make some kind of gruel.

Through a translator the woman proceeded to tell me that she was grateful but she needed to complain as well. She said her husband died like a dog in the hospital and no one came to check on them. I felt very badly for her but at the same time I was angered by what she was saying. 

When we tried to help her husband weeks ago we bought them tons of groceries for the hospital stay and we managed to get a van to travel to their house to pick them up to take them to the hospital. We also worked out a visitation schedule so the volunteers were looking after them in the hospital. They both refused to go the hospital at that time. Afterwards when her husbands condition was too critical to ignore, another homecare agency run by the Catholic Church brought them to the hospital without our knowledge.

The woman (Kuku) was upset that the Catholic homecare agency just dropped them off without giving them groceries or visiting them during their stay in the hospital where her husband eventually died.  

Kuku then proceeded to tell us that we needed to help her and get her into the old people’s home or sponsor her. My heart went out to her and I wanted to help so badly but I was upset about her attitude. She seemed to be saying that we owed her.

That sounds so harsh but after spending a few months here, I find people are terribly ungrateful- Not that my help should be so appreciated but its hard to find the strength to be kind to someone who is so demanding. It was off putting but at the same time I realized a lesson I needed to learn. Unfortunately I have displayed the very same attitude so many times- Someone has done me wrong so now the world owes me- It was a good lesson. I will do everything I can to help Kuku and try to make sure she gets some help.

Despite someone’s attitude at times, we are called to help them and care for them, no matter what. I was so upset with myself today for being upset with this woman who was obviously so hurt. Where did compassion and understanding get lost. I was very humbled by my own bad attitude today.

Oars of Steel!

This morning I joined the other volunteers on a rafting trip down the Zambezi River. The others had left the previous day to go camping and rafting but I only wanted to raft for a day so our coordinator arranged for me to meet up with the group early this sunday morning.  Our driver Benny and I piled into the van and he preceeded to drive me WAY into the middle of nowhere. I was suppose to meet everyone at this really remote lodge in the middle of the bush. It was a 20 minute drive alone just to reach the lodge (via dirt path) after the turn off from the main road. Benny then just dropped me off and told me to wait at the lodge.

I sat there for ages and there was not a single guest in site. I guess the lodge was closed and there was no one around and I was in the middle of nowhere by myself. Yeah–i started freaking out a bit. Eventually the group pulled up in their rafts and I boarded.

We rafted for 6 hours and I saw tons of wildlife. The raft guide kept telling us stories about how territorial hippoes can be and the fact that we were rafting right next to them was scary. At one point we were so close to a hippo I actually saw inside his huge mouth! The guide obviously at that point yelled “paddle faster!!!!!!”

The scenery was amazing and at the end of the trip were we literally only a few thousand feet from the very edge of the falls. I gotta say the current kept speeding up and I was sort of terrified that we would get caught up in a really intense current and I would be the first dumb American to go over the falls! Thankfully we managed to make it to the shore! It was a great trip!

Quads and Crocs…oh my!

June 6th

Ok I had a seriously great day today! I woke up early and went quad biking through the bush. I had never ridden a quad so I didnt know what to expect. When I got to the quad bike trail head, the guide kept trying to explain how to start the bike, but between his broken English and my lack of knowledge about accelerators and peddles, it was quite a laughable situation! I did manage to get the bike started but I reved the acclerator too quickly and I lunged forward! At that point I realized just how dangerous the activity I was about to engage in really was (sorry mom!) !

Zimbabwe is on the other side of the river

The ride was amazing although I crashed directly into a tree at one point when I took a turn too wide! The guide ran back to check on me (well, at least  I thought he did) but instead of asking me if I was ok, he yelled at me and told me that if I didnt stay on the trail I would drive into the Zambezi River later in the ride~!  TIA!

After my ride I headed to Livingstone Crocodile Farm. OMFG! The crocodiles I saw were HUGE! One of the crocs (aptly named Godzilla) weighed 1000 kg’s – that is literally a TON!

Godzilla was a tad grumpy...

The croc guide kept jumping in the pens with the crocs and hitting them with sticks which INFURIATED the crocodiles. They kept hissing wildy and snapping. To be honest, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  Steve Irwin is smiling down…

I guess 2 of the largest crocs were collected from the Maremba River (where I farm) and they were certified man-eaters!

This guy was nuts

HUSSLE!

well armed!

Friday June 5th

Today was quite a workday for me! In the morning I spent hours mixing cement and sand and then creating bricks out of a cinder block mold. The molds are very heavy and once we fill them with the cement they weigh a ton! The locals who help us make the bricks always tell me how strong I am! (quit laughing everyone! Its true!) We were able to make 100 bricks this morning. The volunteers all have competitions and the record for making bricks in the morning is 145!

After lunch I headed to the farm to help out the ladies there. Usually we water the fields but today the ladies handed me a really heavy and old hoe. I proceeded to hack away at grass that was as tall as me to clear the field and make it ready to farm. Mind you, I had make bricks all morning and it was 85 degrees and there is no shade in sight! I actually tried to put a bandaid across my nose today to block the sun but all the locals laughed at me and it fell off when I began to sweat..UGH! Red Nose….growing redder by the minute!

During farming there was around 10 local kids running around the farm and they all began to shout. I ran to see what all the fuss was about and sure enough there was a 6 or 7 foot crocodile hanging out right by the banks of the river where we pump water. I was glad we were clearing the field today instead of watering! The kids told me that the crocodile comes and goes all day long. While I was looking at the crocodile I turned around and all of these 7 or 8 year old kids began to brandish kitchen knifes! The never explained why they were all so well armed but once again….TIA!!!!

First Aid Fun

June 4th

This morning I was able to walk through Maramba neighborhood with a few of the homecare ladies. I was pleasantly surprised because one of the local  providers that was with us was very knowledgeable and she was able to manage care and record management on her own. Usually the homecare ladies that accompany volunteers just stand there and hand patient records to us to complete.  It was encouraging because it proves that with proper training the local homecare providers can indeed manage their homecare systems efficiently of their own efficacy. It also helped to reinforce the reason I am training the providers in the first place and I have to say it gave me so much encourgement!

In the afternoon I and the new volunteer Hannah taught our homecare class in Ngwenya. I was able to wrap up the section over managing HIV related illnesses today and next week we begin first aid! I am SO STOKED about 1st aid! I am planning on having local patients venture into class and I am going to teach my class how to bandage wounds and splint fractures and also how to spot infection and sepsis etc. I love this kind of stuff so much!

It is quite bittersweet however because next week is my last week teaching the providers and I have really enjoyed it. I am going to miss my class! I am also so sad because my time here is coming to an end quicker than I ever expected. Ive spent a good amount of time here and I am so blessed by all of it!

The Slave Tree

After dinner tonight all of the volunteers piled into our overland truck and we headed to what locals call the “slave tree.”  Its a huge bilbao tree that has an amazing view of sunset over the Zambezi River. The tree was incredibly large and completely carved up with past patrons initials. I asked one of our coordinators why it was called the slave tree. Apparently in the 1700 and 1800′s slave traders would meet at this very tree to buy and sell african slaves. After I knew that bit of horrible history the tree became very eerie and sad.

 

“Would that we could give a comprehensive account of the horrors of the slave trade with an approximation to the number of lives it yearly destroys. For we feel sure that were even half the truth told and recognized, the feeling of men would be so thoroughly roused, that this devilish traffic in human flesh would be put down at all risks.” ~David Livingstone

Time flies…..*sigh*

I cant believe just how quickly time has passed these last few months. Its already June and my thoughts have turned to home, Seattle, and just life decisions in general. I feel a bit like Im at a crossroads. Its taken me a couple of years now to really begin to move forward in life and start to plan once again for the future- God willing. I’m scared to go home and get back to “real life.” Its been such a positive experience here and its really given me an opportunity to think about a lot of things that I have been avoiding and putting off.  I’m excited to see my family next month and begin work but I also feel like I’m starting life over –again…ugh…sigh. Before I left Seattle I sold almost everything I owned and moved out of my lovely apartment. I currently have no viable mailing address so all of mail is being forwarded to my parents house in Texas! Its so daunting to think about going home. I think I will definately need a bit of time to re-adjust!