Last days in Namwianga

Our last two days in Namwianga were filled with different emotions.  We had gotten back from Livingston on Saturday and were back to therapy.  We had a good day back and were waiting to hear about how Andrew had done while we were gone.  On Monday night, we got the news that he had died due to complications of his illnesses.  He had tested positive for HIV and was on treatments,  his body was not accepting the nutrition from the food he ate, he had stopped eating, his veins collapsed with the IV, he tested positive for Hep B, and he had pneumonia.  Andrew was a sweet 3 year old boy who had struggled for life when he was a baby.  I was looking through my pictures, and I did not have a lot of Andrew but I had about 10 pictures from one Saturday that I took while holding Andrew for about 2 1/2 hours.  He went to the hospital later that day. 

Tuesday was full of sadness.  We did our last group therapies that morning and came back for lunch.  I was with the feeding group and was able to see a lot of improvement with the HIV and TB babies from the beginning until now.  After lunch, we left to go back to attend Andrew's funeral.  He looked very peaceful during the viewing which was done behind Haven 2 on a table from the Haven.  We walked down to the plot where he was buried which was down a hill behind Haven 2.  This place was full of names of children who had been lost.  The funeral was sad but Andrew is in a much better place now.  As I walked away, I looked and saw a gravestone where Quintyn's twin brother Tanner had been buried.

After the funeral, we were given that last 45 minutes to do whatever we wanted at the Haven, so I went and got Quintyn and we just talked.  I did not make him do tummy time or practice holding his head up.  I just held him and then it was time to go.  I walked back into the room where he sleeps and said good-bye to every child in the room, then kissed Quintyn good-bye and walked out.  I walked back with Dr. Tullos the super short way and just thought about my time at Namwianga.

If I could do it all over again, would I? ABSOLUTELY!!!!  Without at doubt. 

Thank you again for all the support that I was given.
Much Love,
Shanna

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Much Love,
Shanna

Sunset

I’m not sure this week actually happened… I should be pinched to make sure. We got to spend time with the wonderful children on Monday and Tuesday and got to experience an amazing time here in Livingston. Today I woke up and hung out with some other people. Then we came back to the hotel and went to Victoria Falls where I got soaked. I also slipped on a step and fell on my bottom which was dry because of the poncho before falling but not so much afterwards. We crossed a bridge with hand rails while being splashed by the falls and falling off would mean certain death. I walked quickly and did not stop. Other people stopped, took pictures, and observed; however, I have a frontal lobe and amygdala that like to work in situations like that so I did not. I also saw a rainbow over the falls which was neat as well. Afterwards, I went out to the market where I think I may have overpaid for a couple of things I’m sure. It was overwhelming and I am horrible at bargaining. After that, we came back to the hotel to put our stuff up and change clothes, if needed, and we then headed back to the lodge that we went to yesterday for our sunset cruise. It was great. It was on the Zambezi River and was beautiful. They served us finger foods and desert on the cruise. We saw some more hippos and a crocodile as well. And now, I am back at the hotel room. We go back to Namwianga tomorrow to see our beautiful children at the Havens.

It has been so much fun in Africa. This is a great vacation spot for anyone who is looking for a wonderful place to go.
Much love,
Shanna

Arrival...how did I forget....

We got here to Livingston on Wednesday in 2 shuttles.  I was assinged the first shuttle so we left Namwianga around 9 and headed to Livingston.  We got here and got our hotel rooms and then went and ate at Olga's (an Italian restaurant).  It tasted amazing then we came back about the time the second shuttle made it here.  We got together and went to the Royal Livingston which is located on top of Victoria Falls for high tea.  It was beautiful and fancy and I felt like royalty in a T-shirt and jeans.  We then went Victoria Falls to see the moon bow.  It is where the moon creates a rainbow at night over Victoria Falls.  Breathtaking is the only word that comes to mind.  It can only be seen in a few locations in the entire world and we got to see it. It is God's beauty on earth.  We walked over the bridge in the dark and got soaked.  It was so cool. 

Well we are about to head back to Victoria Falls to get ready for our sunset cruise, so I will post tonight, so until then...

Much love,
Shanna

I sat in the middle of 4 countries

Thursday we got to go on a safari (both land and river) which was amazing. We saw giraffes, hippos, elephants, crocodiles, codoos, African fish eagles, appalas, monkeys, lizards, lots of birds, and I’m sure I missed some, but some were so close that you could see their eyes. It was pretty awesome.

We got picked up at the hotel and taken to Botswana so we had to get our passports out and stamped to enter in. We then got on a little boat that took us across the river and we got to sit between 4 African countires. Amazing! We got to the other side of the river and loaded on safari trucks and headed to the lodge. After we got to the lodge, we loaded on a booat to start our water part of the safari. The boat had 2 decks which several of us took advantage of. We got to see elephants, hippos, birds, crocodiles, some kind of huge lizard, and some other land animals. After the water safari, we headed back to the lodge for lunch. They served goat along with chicken and fish for meat and several different side dishes and desert. The deserts weren't great and the sauce for the goat was gross but the worse part was that I got stung inside of my mouth by a bee and Reagan dug to get the stinger out of my cheeck.  After lunch, we loaded the safari trucks and off we went. We entered into the land reserve in 3 different trucks and began our journey. Each truck had a guide that told everyone about the animals we saw. We saw elephants, giraffes, monkeys, appalas, codoos, birds of all sorts, hippos, carcasses of dead animals, and I’m sure I left some out. After the safari we headed back the same way and made it to the hotel. Some people separated for dinner and activates for the night.  I ate at Olga's Italin Cousine that took a long time but it tasted great. 

Today I am going shopping and then back to Victoria Falls for a sunset cruise this afternoon.

Until next time...
Much Love,
Shanna

Lunch and Dancing

We went to the Kasebe church today for church and a celebration lunch with Lenard. It was amazing. After church, we went to lunch where there was a band and dancing. I danced with a 3 year old boy who was better than me.

Also, today Anna learned sometimes white people scare African children.

Much love,
Shanna

It's been a while...

Hey Everyone! Well it is Thursday morning and I am up and dressed an hour early which isn’t abnormal. Well I am trying to think about what all has happened since the last time I bloged. The pharmacy students that were with us left yesterday for Livingston and will be back on Sunday to finish packing and will then be headed home. Reagan (Dr. Weaver’s daughter who is an OT), Ashley (OT grad student), Tammy (Dr. Weaver’s friend), the film crew, and some Harding professors (Stockstills & Hoppers) all got here on Tuesday, so it’s been a packed house which is fun.

The Havens have been great. There has been a lot of improvement with the kids both with language and with feeding exercises. It has been fun working with my group of Tessa, Ben and Jill. This week we are doing language stimulation therapy all day.

It rained on Tuesday a little which was the second time it has done so since we have been here and here lately it has been really cloudy. Dr. Tullos has been taking pictures of it because he said that he hasn’t seen weather like this any of the times he has been here. This is suppose to be their dry season and is suppose to be cool. It’s still hot in my opinion. Other people say it must be in the 70’s and 60’s which I do not believe. I think it’s more like mid to high 80’s during the hot part of day and high 70’s to low 80’s when the sun is down which I know is cooler than Arkansas, so I am not complaining J Yesterday, some people in our group saw a snake and said it was a Cobra, but Ian corrected them and it was a large green garden snake. I don’t really care for poisonous snakes and until now I haven’t really thought about it too much. You have to get the anti-venum for a Cobra bite quickly and there is no anti-venom for the Maumba bite.
Today is Ian’s birthday and he is 14. We get to have a party tonight for him.

Anyways, I am going to head out…
Much Love,
Shanna