Hey everyone!
I made it home safe and sound from Benin this afternoon! I had good flights and smooth transitions between the two!
Thanks for your prayers and support!! I will post some pictures soon...after I sleep a bit!!
Later!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Heading home!
Hey everyone, it's Josh again posting for Ann.
I spoke with her briefly today because she wanted me to let everyone know that she is doing fine and is starting her travels back home tomorrow. It sounds like she had a great but exhausting last couple of days. She promises to update when she gets back to the states. Be praying for her as she travels over the next few days!
I spoke with her briefly today because she wanted me to let everyone know that she is doing fine and is starting her travels back home tomorrow. It sounds like she had a great but exhausting last couple of days. She promises to update when she gets back to the states. Be praying for her as she travels over the next few days!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Finally an update!!
Hi everyone!
I apologize for the huge delay in updates!! The connection has been awful here!! I am using Dr Martin’s cell phone to connect today!
I am going to post all the updates that I have written since last week- its super long so don’t read all of it if you don’t want to!! I am leaving N’Dali Thursday morning so I will try to make one last post on Wednesday before I go! I will be traveling to the city of Cotonou all day Thursday and doing some sight-seeing on the way! My plane leaves Friday evening so I will get to spend all day Friday hanging out in Cotonou! Should be fun! My plane gets to the states Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for safe travels for me!
Here is my weekend update:
This weekend has been pretty good and has gone by quickly! Saturday morning I spent some quality time with Mama Ben at the market and then I went with her to the hair salon and watched her get her hair done for over 2 hours! It was long but it was fun to chat with all the ladies in the salon! Saturday afternoon I washed clothes that I’ll need for the trip to Cotonou and for the way home and then I walked around Dr Martin’s neighborhood with Mama Ben and the kids! It was a nice Saturday!
Sunday has also been good! Dr Martin told me a few days ago that he wanted me to sing for everyone in church but I am thankful that I didn’t have to! We never prepared a song in time for church today so instead I gave a little thank you talk at the end of the service! At this church, before anyone starts giving announcements or does a sermon they always yell, “Alleluia!” and everyone yells back “Amen!” So I decided to do the same before I started talking! It was funny to watch the reactions on peoples’ faces! It must have been funny for the congregation to watch a white girl yell “Alleluia!” I could tell by the look on their faces afterwards that they weren’t expecting it! Ha! Everyone laughed and yelled “Amen” back so it was all good!
Sunday afternoon I spent with Sonsona; we hung out at her place for a bit and then drove around N’Dali on the motorbike! It’s really cool how God has changed my heart about her…I used to be so mad at her everyday because she was one of the nurses who was not always kind to the patients, but now I am getting to know her and am learning that she actually works very hard and she has become one of my closest friends here! Amazing!! I never would have guessed that during the first few weeks of June!
Que Dieu vous bénisse! (God bless!)
Update for Friday:
Hey,
Today has been busy at the clinic! This morning after devotions we took the group photo of all the staff at the clinic! We got almost everyone in it and had to teach a patient how to use my camera so everyone could be in the picture! It was pretty funny but the sick guy figured it out and the picture turned out well!
I got to teach pregnant women today using the pamphlets I made! The morning ended up being a little more disorganized than I thought…I wasn’t planning on the midwife wanting to help but she decided that she wanted to help translate so we taught in one big group instead of little ones. It was frustrating because I knew that not all the women understood, but I went around and spoke with the women afterwards to make sure they understood and they did. I got a picture with all the women holding their pamphlets and that was definitely a special moment today- all my hard work paid off! All in all it turned out ok and hopefully the women will remember what they’ve learned!
The rest of the morning was alright- I helped the midwife with prenatal consultations which is a tiring task! The midwife had a bad attitude all morning so it just made the morning difficult! I really like working with pregnant moms though so I enjoyed helping where I could!
I’m not sure what this weekend will look like…I found out yesterday that I might be singing in front of the entire church Sunday as a final farewell! Ah! Other than that probably just chilling with the Osse family and getting ready to go!!
Take care and have a good weekend!
Updates from last Wednesday and Thursday
Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today have been pretty good! It seems that the days have become a little longer…probably because I know I will be coming home soon!
Yesterday was a busy day! I went to a village in the morning with Philippe to watch him give a health and Bible lesson. It is always fun to visit villages and go around and greet people knowing only the word for “hi!” and “I’m fine!” Ha it was a great visit though and at the end of the lessons the women and children danced for me! Philippe told me I should dance with them so I jumped in and Philippe got a video of the whole thing. It was pretty funny!!
After we got back I finally printed off all my pamphlets for the pregnant women and went to the copy place to make copies for tomorrow! (Dad I kept thinking about you and thinking that I was in the “DigiCopy of Africa” ha!) I then had a nice long lunch break that included a nap and came back to help with a delivery! A baby boy was born feet first so it was tough to get him out…Dr Martin helped though and the baby was just fine! I was definitely tired afterwards though! I took the nurse Sonsona home so she could shower and change before she had to work all night. While I was with her she gave me the gift that her friend, Ymoru, gave me. This was by far the most bizarre gift I have ever received! It was a big statue of a village woman with a plate on her head with 4 people in it. So strange! The best and weirdest part is that my name is on the bottom by the woman’s feet! I laughed so hard when I saw it because it is just so strange! I am excited to bring it home and show everyone!
Today has been a bit of a slower day. I helped out in the clinic this morning and then worked on a Powerpoint presentation a bit for Dr Martin. This afternoon after I ate lunch and chilled for a bit I went back to his house to lay in the sun! I spent about a half hour in the sun and Mama Ben kept telling me it was too hot and too sunny! Ha! It was funny though and I sure didn’t mind relaxing in the sun! This afternoon there isn’t much to do at the clinic…I have finished most of my little projects for Dr Martin and there aren’t many sick people today. I know tomorrow will be busy though so I don’t mind a break in the action!
I apologize for the huge delay in updates!! The connection has been awful here!! I am using Dr Martin’s cell phone to connect today!
I am going to post all the updates that I have written since last week- its super long so don’t read all of it if you don’t want to!! I am leaving N’Dali Thursday morning so I will try to make one last post on Wednesday before I go! I will be traveling to the city of Cotonou all day Thursday and doing some sight-seeing on the way! My plane leaves Friday evening so I will get to spend all day Friday hanging out in Cotonou! Should be fun! My plane gets to the states Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for safe travels for me!
Here is my weekend update:
This weekend has been pretty good and has gone by quickly! Saturday morning I spent some quality time with Mama Ben at the market and then I went with her to the hair salon and watched her get her hair done for over 2 hours! It was long but it was fun to chat with all the ladies in the salon! Saturday afternoon I washed clothes that I’ll need for the trip to Cotonou and for the way home and then I walked around Dr Martin’s neighborhood with Mama Ben and the kids! It was a nice Saturday!
Sunday has also been good! Dr Martin told me a few days ago that he wanted me to sing for everyone in church but I am thankful that I didn’t have to! We never prepared a song in time for church today so instead I gave a little thank you talk at the end of the service! At this church, before anyone starts giving announcements or does a sermon they always yell, “Alleluia!” and everyone yells back “Amen!” So I decided to do the same before I started talking! It was funny to watch the reactions on peoples’ faces! It must have been funny for the congregation to watch a white girl yell “Alleluia!” I could tell by the look on their faces afterwards that they weren’t expecting it! Ha! Everyone laughed and yelled “Amen” back so it was all good!
Sunday afternoon I spent with Sonsona; we hung out at her place for a bit and then drove around N’Dali on the motorbike! It’s really cool how God has changed my heart about her…I used to be so mad at her everyday because she was one of the nurses who was not always kind to the patients, but now I am getting to know her and am learning that she actually works very hard and she has become one of my closest friends here! Amazing!! I never would have guessed that during the first few weeks of June!
Que Dieu vous bénisse! (God bless!)
Update for Friday:
Hey,
Today has been busy at the clinic! This morning after devotions we took the group photo of all the staff at the clinic! We got almost everyone in it and had to teach a patient how to use my camera so everyone could be in the picture! It was pretty funny but the sick guy figured it out and the picture turned out well!
I got to teach pregnant women today using the pamphlets I made! The morning ended up being a little more disorganized than I thought…I wasn’t planning on the midwife wanting to help but she decided that she wanted to help translate so we taught in one big group instead of little ones. It was frustrating because I knew that not all the women understood, but I went around and spoke with the women afterwards to make sure they understood and they did. I got a picture with all the women holding their pamphlets and that was definitely a special moment today- all my hard work paid off! All in all it turned out ok and hopefully the women will remember what they’ve learned!
The rest of the morning was alright- I helped the midwife with prenatal consultations which is a tiring task! The midwife had a bad attitude all morning so it just made the morning difficult! I really like working with pregnant moms though so I enjoyed helping where I could!
I’m not sure what this weekend will look like…I found out yesterday that I might be singing in front of the entire church Sunday as a final farewell! Ah! Other than that probably just chilling with the Osse family and getting ready to go!!
Take care and have a good weekend!
Updates from last Wednesday and Thursday
Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today have been pretty good! It seems that the days have become a little longer…probably because I know I will be coming home soon!
Yesterday was a busy day! I went to a village in the morning with Philippe to watch him give a health and Bible lesson. It is always fun to visit villages and go around and greet people knowing only the word for “hi!” and “I’m fine!” Ha it was a great visit though and at the end of the lessons the women and children danced for me! Philippe told me I should dance with them so I jumped in and Philippe got a video of the whole thing. It was pretty funny!!
After we got back I finally printed off all my pamphlets for the pregnant women and went to the copy place to make copies for tomorrow! (Dad I kept thinking about you and thinking that I was in the “DigiCopy of Africa” ha!) I then had a nice long lunch break that included a nap and came back to help with a delivery! A baby boy was born feet first so it was tough to get him out…Dr Martin helped though and the baby was just fine! I was definitely tired afterwards though! I took the nurse Sonsona home so she could shower and change before she had to work all night. While I was with her she gave me the gift that her friend, Ymoru, gave me. This was by far the most bizarre gift I have ever received! It was a big statue of a village woman with a plate on her head with 4 people in it. So strange! The best and weirdest part is that my name is on the bottom by the woman’s feet! I laughed so hard when I saw it because it is just so strange! I am excited to bring it home and show everyone!
Today has been a bit of a slower day. I helped out in the clinic this morning and then worked on a Powerpoint presentation a bit for Dr Martin. This afternoon after I ate lunch and chilled for a bit I went back to his house to lay in the sun! I spent about a half hour in the sun and Mama Ben kept telling me it was too hot and too sunny! Ha! It was funny though and I sure didn’t mind relaxing in the sun! This afternoon there isn’t much to do at the clinic…I have finished most of my little projects for Dr Martin and there aren’t many sick people today. I know tomorrow will be busy though so I don’t mind a break in the action!
Finally an update!!
Hi everyone!
I apologize for the huge delay in updates!! The connection has been awful here!! I am using Dr Martin’s cell phone to connect today!
I am going to post all the updates that I have written since last week- its super long so don’t read all of it if you don’t want to!! I am leaving N’Dali Thursday morning so I will try to make one last post on Wednesday before I go! I will be traveling to the city of Cotonou all day Thursday and doing some sight-seeing on the way! My plane leaves Friday evening so I will get to spend all day Friday hanging out in Cotonou! Should be fun! My plane gets to the states Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for safe travels for me!
Here is my weekend update:
This weekend has been pretty good and has gone by quickly! Saturday morning I spent some quality time with Mama Ben at the market and then I went with her to the hair salon and watched her get her hair done for over 2 hours! It was long but it was fun to chat with all the ladies in the salon! Saturday afternoon I washed clothes that I’ll need for the trip to Cotonou and for the way home and then I walked around Dr Martin’s neighborhood with Mama Ben and the kids! It was a nice Saturday!
Sunday has also been good! Dr Martin told me a few days ago that he wanted me to sing for everyone in church but I am thankful that I didn’t have to! We never prepared a song in time for church today so instead I gave a little thank you talk at the end of the service! At this church, before anyone starts giving announcements or does a sermon they always yell, “Alleluia!” and everyone yells back “Amen!” So I decided to do the same before I started talking! It was funny to watch the reactions on peoples’ faces! It must have been funny for the congregation to watch a white girl yell “Alleluia!” I could tell by the look on their faces afterwards that they weren’t expecting it! Ha! Everyone laughed and yelled “Amen” back so it was all good!
Sunday afternoon I spent with Sonsona; we hung out at her place for a bit and then drove around N’Dali on the motorbike! It’s really cool how God has changed my heart about her…I used to be so mad at her everyday because she was one of the nurses who was not always kind to the patients, but now I am getting to know her and am learning that she actually works very hard and she has become one of my closest friends here! Amazing!! I never would have guessed that during the first few weeks of June!
Que Dieu vous bénisse! (God bless!)
Update for Friday:
Hey,
Today has been busy at the clinic! This morning after devotions we took the group photo of all the staff at the clinic! We got almost everyone in it and had to teach a patient how to use my camera so everyone could be in the picture! It was pretty funny but the sick guy figured it out and the picture turned out well!
I got to teach pregnant women today using the pamphlets I made! The morning ended up being a little more disorganized than I thought…I wasn’t planning on the midwife wanting to help but she decided that she wanted to help translate so we taught in one big group instead of little ones. It was frustrating because I knew that not all the women understood, but I went around and spoke with the women afterwards to make sure they understood and they did. I got a picture with all the women holding their pamphlets and that was definitely a special moment today- all my hard work paid off! All in all it turned out ok and hopefully the women will remember what they’ve learned!
The rest of the morning was alright- I helped the midwife with prenatal consultations which is a tiring task! The midwife had a bad attitude all morning so it just made the morning difficult! I really like working with pregnant moms though so I enjoyed helping where I could!
I’m not sure what this weekend will look like…I found out yesterday that I might be singing in front of the entire church Sunday as a final farewell! Ah! Other than that probably just chilling with the Osse family and getting ready to go!!
Take care and have a good weekend!
Updates from last Wednesday and Thursday
Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today have been pretty good! It seems that the days have become a little longer…probably because I know I will be coming home soon!
Yesterday was a busy day! I went to a village in the morning with Philippe to watch him give a health and Bible lesson. It is always fun to visit villages and go around and greet people knowing only the word for “hi!” and “I’m fine!” Ha it was a great visit though and at the end of the lessons the women and children danced for me! Philippe told me I should dance with them so I jumped in and Philippe got a video of the whole thing. It was pretty funny!!
After we got back I finally printed off all my pamphlets for the pregnant women and went to the copy place to make copies for tomorrow! (Dad I kept thinking about you and thinking that I was in the “DigiCopy of Africa” ha!) I then had a nice long lunch break that included a nap and came back to help with a delivery! A baby boy was born feet first so it was tough to get him out…Dr Martin helped though and the baby was just fine! I was definitely tired afterwards though! I took the nurse Sonsona home so she could shower and change before she had to work all night. While I was with her she gave me the gift that her friend, Ymoru, gave me. This was by far the most bizarre gift I have ever received! It was a big statue of a village woman with a plate on her head with 4 people in it. So strange! The best and weirdest part is that my name is on the bottom by the woman’s feet! I laughed so hard when I saw it because it is just so strange! I am excited to bring it home and show everyone!
Today has been a bit of a slower day. I helped out in the clinic this morning and then worked on a Powerpoint presentation a bit for Dr Martin. This afternoon after I ate lunch and chilled for a bit I went back to his house to lay in the sun! I spent about a half hour in the sun and Mama Ben kept telling me it was too hot and too sunny! Ha! It was funny though and I sure didn’t mind relaxing in the sun! This afternoon there isn’t much to do at the clinic…I have finished most of my little projects for Dr Martin and there aren’t many sick people today. I know tomorrow will be busy though so I don’t mind a break in the action!
I apologize for the huge delay in updates!! The connection has been awful here!! I am using Dr Martin’s cell phone to connect today!
I am going to post all the updates that I have written since last week- its super long so don’t read all of it if you don’t want to!! I am leaving N’Dali Thursday morning so I will try to make one last post on Wednesday before I go! I will be traveling to the city of Cotonou all day Thursday and doing some sight-seeing on the way! My plane leaves Friday evening so I will get to spend all day Friday hanging out in Cotonou! Should be fun! My plane gets to the states Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for safe travels for me!
Here is my weekend update:
This weekend has been pretty good and has gone by quickly! Saturday morning I spent some quality time with Mama Ben at the market and then I went with her to the hair salon and watched her get her hair done for over 2 hours! It was long but it was fun to chat with all the ladies in the salon! Saturday afternoon I washed clothes that I’ll need for the trip to Cotonou and for the way home and then I walked around Dr Martin’s neighborhood with Mama Ben and the kids! It was a nice Saturday!
Sunday has also been good! Dr Martin told me a few days ago that he wanted me to sing for everyone in church but I am thankful that I didn’t have to! We never prepared a song in time for church today so instead I gave a little thank you talk at the end of the service! At this church, before anyone starts giving announcements or does a sermon they always yell, “Alleluia!” and everyone yells back “Amen!” So I decided to do the same before I started talking! It was funny to watch the reactions on peoples’ faces! It must have been funny for the congregation to watch a white girl yell “Alleluia!” I could tell by the look on their faces afterwards that they weren’t expecting it! Ha! Everyone laughed and yelled “Amen” back so it was all good!
Sunday afternoon I spent with Sonsona; we hung out at her place for a bit and then drove around N’Dali on the motorbike! It’s really cool how God has changed my heart about her…I used to be so mad at her everyday because she was one of the nurses who was not always kind to the patients, but now I am getting to know her and am learning that she actually works very hard and she has become one of my closest friends here! Amazing!! I never would have guessed that during the first few weeks of June!
Que Dieu vous bénisse! (God bless!)
Update for Friday:
Hey,
Today has been busy at the clinic! This morning after devotions we took the group photo of all the staff at the clinic! We got almost everyone in it and had to teach a patient how to use my camera so everyone could be in the picture! It was pretty funny but the sick guy figured it out and the picture turned out well!
I got to teach pregnant women today using the pamphlets I made! The morning ended up being a little more disorganized than I thought…I wasn’t planning on the midwife wanting to help but she decided that she wanted to help translate so we taught in one big group instead of little ones. It was frustrating because I knew that not all the women understood, but I went around and spoke with the women afterwards to make sure they understood and they did. I got a picture with all the women holding their pamphlets and that was definitely a special moment today- all my hard work paid off! All in all it turned out ok and hopefully the women will remember what they’ve learned!
The rest of the morning was alright- I helped the midwife with prenatal consultations which is a tiring task! The midwife had a bad attitude all morning so it just made the morning difficult! I really like working with pregnant moms though so I enjoyed helping where I could!
I’m not sure what this weekend will look like…I found out yesterday that I might be singing in front of the entire church Sunday as a final farewell! Ah! Other than that probably just chilling with the Osse family and getting ready to go!!
Take care and have a good weekend!
Updates from last Wednesday and Thursday
Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today have been pretty good! It seems that the days have become a little longer…probably because I know I will be coming home soon!
Yesterday was a busy day! I went to a village in the morning with Philippe to watch him give a health and Bible lesson. It is always fun to visit villages and go around and greet people knowing only the word for “hi!” and “I’m fine!” Ha it was a great visit though and at the end of the lessons the women and children danced for me! Philippe told me I should dance with them so I jumped in and Philippe got a video of the whole thing. It was pretty funny!!
After we got back I finally printed off all my pamphlets for the pregnant women and went to the copy place to make copies for tomorrow! (Dad I kept thinking about you and thinking that I was in the “DigiCopy of Africa” ha!) I then had a nice long lunch break that included a nap and came back to help with a delivery! A baby boy was born feet first so it was tough to get him out…Dr Martin helped though and the baby was just fine! I was definitely tired afterwards though! I took the nurse Sonsona home so she could shower and change before she had to work all night. While I was with her she gave me the gift that her friend, Ymoru, gave me. This was by far the most bizarre gift I have ever received! It was a big statue of a village woman with a plate on her head with 4 people in it. So strange! The best and weirdest part is that my name is on the bottom by the woman’s feet! I laughed so hard when I saw it because it is just so strange! I am excited to bring it home and show everyone!
Today has been a bit of a slower day. I helped out in the clinic this morning and then worked on a Powerpoint presentation a bit for Dr Martin. This afternoon after I ate lunch and chilled for a bit I went back to his house to lay in the sun! I spent about a half hour in the sun and Mama Ben kept telling me it was too hot and too sunny! Ha! It was funny though and I sure didn’t mind relaxing in the sun! This afternoon there isn’t much to do at the clinic…I have finished most of my little projects for Dr Martin and there aren’t many sick people today. I know tomorrow will be busy though so I don’t mind a break in the action!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hello!
Yesterday was a busy day here at the clinic. When I came to the clinic yesterday morning a woman came via motorbike very pregnant. The nurses examined her and found out she was ready to deliver! She delivered her first baby within 20 minutes of arriving. She was pregnant with twins so the second baby arrived one hour later and I got to turn her head and pull her out! That was pretty exciting! After that there were just a ton of sick people today so I was helping the nurses and checking on the babies so it was a little nuts!
Sunday night I had a fun night at Dr Martin’s; I taught everyone how to do cartwheels and handstands- including Dr Martin! He already knew how to do them so I got a video of him doing gymnastics! It was pretty funny! I don’t think I will ever get tired of hanging out with him and his family!!
Today has been an interesting day! I helped out at the clinic for a few hours and then Philippe, one of the staff at the clinic, took me to the village of Sinisson to watch how the village women make cheese! It was really interesting and I got to watch each step! The little old lady started with just milk over a fire and used leaves and parts of a tree to make the milk hard and eventually turn into cheese. I have videos and pictures of each step of the process! When she was done she gave me the cheese she made and I got a picture with her and her husband inside their hut! It was a fun morning! I slept for awhile when I got back…apparently I got tired just watching the women?! This afternoon I have been working on a Powerpoint presentation for Dr Martin of all our village pictures and favorite Bible verses. It is almost finished and is looking pretty good! He always has some little project for me to work on!
That’s all for now! I’m getting pretty excited that I will be coming home next week!! Yay!!
Yesterday was a busy day here at the clinic. When I came to the clinic yesterday morning a woman came via motorbike very pregnant. The nurses examined her and found out she was ready to deliver! She delivered her first baby within 20 minutes of arriving. She was pregnant with twins so the second baby arrived one hour later and I got to turn her head and pull her out! That was pretty exciting! After that there were just a ton of sick people today so I was helping the nurses and checking on the babies so it was a little nuts!
Sunday night I had a fun night at Dr Martin’s; I taught everyone how to do cartwheels and handstands- including Dr Martin! He already knew how to do them so I got a video of him doing gymnastics! It was pretty funny! I don’t think I will ever get tired of hanging out with him and his family!!
Today has been an interesting day! I helped out at the clinic for a few hours and then Philippe, one of the staff at the clinic, took me to the village of Sinisson to watch how the village women make cheese! It was really interesting and I got to watch each step! The little old lady started with just milk over a fire and used leaves and parts of a tree to make the milk hard and eventually turn into cheese. I have videos and pictures of each step of the process! When she was done she gave me the cheese she made and I got a picture with her and her husband inside their hut! It was a fun morning! I slept for awhile when I got back…apparently I got tired just watching the women?! This afternoon I have been working on a Powerpoint presentation for Dr Martin of all our village pictures and favorite Bible verses. It is almost finished and is looking pretty good! He always has some little project for me to work on!
That’s all for now! I’m getting pretty excited that I will be coming home next week!! Yay!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Weekend update
Hi everyone!
It is a hot Sunday here today…very sunny and humid! I think I am finally getting some sun, though, so I’m happy!
This weekend has been a good one! Saturday morning I went running with Sonsona and then went over to Dr Martin’s house for awhile to hang out with his family. They got out their “beach chair” for me and I got to lay in the sun for an hour- I was so excited! Ha that was my first time all summer! Dr Martin’s wife (we call her Mama Ben) kept saying, “Ann are you crazy? Why are you laying in the sun? You are going to get sick!” I tried to explain to her that this is a normal activity for white people but she still didn’t get it! Ha! I watched a bit of Spiderman 2 in French with the kids and then visited the Seminary of N’Dali with Mama Ben. The seminary was just a bunch of houses and huts with one building that had classrooms. Several families lived around the classroom building and we visited a few of the women who lived there. I then spent some time chilling in my room- I ended up getting a bad headache so I was thankful I didn’t have any major plans yesterday. I spent the evening with Dr Martin’s family and then went to bed!
Today I went to church with the midwife, Hortense. She goes to a different evangelical church than Dr Martin but it seemed pretty much the same. The main difference was that the service was in Bariba, not French. I didn’t understand a lot of it but it was still fun to observe the people there and how they worship! I then went back to the catholic center for lunch and then visited the nurse, Sonsona. She took me on a motorbike ride to see the cotton factory that is just outside of N’Dali. We wanted to walk around but the guard wouldn’t let us in! He told us to come back tomorrow- bummer! I got a picture with him outside of the factory and he thought that was pretty funny! It was still a fun visit even though we didn’t go inside!
I’ll be heading to Dr Martin’s soon to hang out with the kids (we’ve been playing a lot of Mancala and the card game Memory lately!) and then have dinner! Then it’s the start of my last full week at the clinic- time is flying!!
It is a hot Sunday here today…very sunny and humid! I think I am finally getting some sun, though, so I’m happy!
This weekend has been a good one! Saturday morning I went running with Sonsona and then went over to Dr Martin’s house for awhile to hang out with his family. They got out their “beach chair” for me and I got to lay in the sun for an hour- I was so excited! Ha that was my first time all summer! Dr Martin’s wife (we call her Mama Ben) kept saying, “Ann are you crazy? Why are you laying in the sun? You are going to get sick!” I tried to explain to her that this is a normal activity for white people but she still didn’t get it! Ha! I watched a bit of Spiderman 2 in French with the kids and then visited the Seminary of N’Dali with Mama Ben. The seminary was just a bunch of houses and huts with one building that had classrooms. Several families lived around the classroom building and we visited a few of the women who lived there. I then spent some time chilling in my room- I ended up getting a bad headache so I was thankful I didn’t have any major plans yesterday. I spent the evening with Dr Martin’s family and then went to bed!
Today I went to church with the midwife, Hortense. She goes to a different evangelical church than Dr Martin but it seemed pretty much the same. The main difference was that the service was in Bariba, not French. I didn’t understand a lot of it but it was still fun to observe the people there and how they worship! I then went back to the catholic center for lunch and then visited the nurse, Sonsona. She took me on a motorbike ride to see the cotton factory that is just outside of N’Dali. We wanted to walk around but the guard wouldn’t let us in! He told us to come back tomorrow- bummer! I got a picture with him outside of the factory and he thought that was pretty funny! It was still a fun visit even though we didn’t go inside!
I’ll be heading to Dr Martin’s soon to hang out with the kids (we’ve been playing a lot of Mancala and the card game Memory lately!) and then have dinner! Then it’s the start of my last full week at the clinic- time is flying!!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Hi!!
Bon soir ma famille et mes amis!
I’m sorry that I haven’t written in several days! Life has been busy and the internet connection has been bad…Typical week in Africa! I hope you all enjoyed the pictures Josh put up for me (Thanks Josh!!!) Now you can kind of get an idea for what this place looks like!
Now I have to try to remember the events from this week…Wednesday I helped give vaccinations. We didn’t have many women and children come this week so it didn’t take long! One of the nurses was sick Wednesday so I chauffeured her to the hospital lab to get results from a test and then took her home. I was at the clinic a lot this week so I liked little outings like that! Wednesday night after eating at Dr Martin’s, I drove the motor bike back to the catholic center (usually I take the car at night) and I followed Dr Martin because he wanted to bring medicine that he bought to the clinic after I made it back safely to the catholic center. I was on a main road near the catholic center when all of a sudden my motor bike started slowly down and then stopped. I tried to accelerate but I wasn’t able to move! My motorbike had run out of gas in the middle of the road! Thankfully we were past the main busy road in town where there are a ton of huge trucks and motorbikes! I was also thankful that Dr Martin was right in front of me and all I had to do was yell his name and he stopped and ran out and helped me! God is good and He is definitely watching out for me! That could have ended up way different if I was alone! Praise God!
Thursday was an intense day…Dr Martin had a meeting with all the staff because several of them weren’t working like they were supposed to. He told three of them to go home and not work for one week. He wants them to think about whether or not they still want to work here. Everyone was in a weird mood all morning and it wasn’t the best day to work. I did get to help deliver a baby boy yesterday morning which was good! He was strong, cried a lot and wasn’t underweight! The past few deliveries have been scary- lots of small babies and lots of babies needing resuscitations. I also got to work more since several of the staff weren’t there. I bandaged wounds by myself and just ran around more doing random things for the nurses which I liked! Thursday afternoon and evening I worked on my brochure for the pregnant women. I stayed with Dr Martin until almost 9pm at the clinic! It was a long, late night last night! I am just about finished with it and I was hoping to give the brochures out today for the prenatal consultations but unfortunately it’s not quite ready! Next week I can, though! It has been raining a ton over the past few days so when it let up last night, these huge flying ant-like bugs came out in the thousands! I have never seen so many bugs like I did last night! Each room in the clinic was filled with them last night since we were a big light source for the bugs! It was SO nasty and I got a video of the bugs swarming around Dr Martin! Eww!
Today has been a pretty busy day as well. I helped take vital signs of all the women waiting for prenatal consultations, gave shots to some sick people, and helped monitor a woman in labor who had a baby with a slower than normal heartbeat. I listened to the baby’s heartbeat through a big ear cone thingy…It worked but it was hard to use! We ended up sending the mother to the hospital for a C-section because her baby was suffering. This past week at the catholic center my lunches have been pretty bad…usually rice, spaghetti noodles or cous cous with nasty fish on top! Gross! I asked that they would stop giving me fish because I just can’t eat it anymore. I have had it almost every day since June! I’m done! I have been so hungry every afternoon because the meals are small and pretty bad. I went over to Dr Martin’s this afternoon to get a snack and his wife ended up making me fish and yams! Ah! At least her fish is cooked well and seasoned! I just can’t get away from fish yet I guess…
I’m not sure what my plans are for this weekend…I will probably go running tomorrow morning with the nurse Sonsona and then who knows what for the rest of the day! I have left my braids in all week but I think I will take them out tomorrow- my head itches like crazy every day!
I think that’s all for now! I’ll write again when I can!!
I’m sorry that I haven’t written in several days! Life has been busy and the internet connection has been bad…Typical week in Africa! I hope you all enjoyed the pictures Josh put up for me (Thanks Josh!!!) Now you can kind of get an idea for what this place looks like!
Now I have to try to remember the events from this week…Wednesday I helped give vaccinations. We didn’t have many women and children come this week so it didn’t take long! One of the nurses was sick Wednesday so I chauffeured her to the hospital lab to get results from a test and then took her home. I was at the clinic a lot this week so I liked little outings like that! Wednesday night after eating at Dr Martin’s, I drove the motor bike back to the catholic center (usually I take the car at night) and I followed Dr Martin because he wanted to bring medicine that he bought to the clinic after I made it back safely to the catholic center. I was on a main road near the catholic center when all of a sudden my motor bike started slowly down and then stopped. I tried to accelerate but I wasn’t able to move! My motorbike had run out of gas in the middle of the road! Thankfully we were past the main busy road in town where there are a ton of huge trucks and motorbikes! I was also thankful that Dr Martin was right in front of me and all I had to do was yell his name and he stopped and ran out and helped me! God is good and He is definitely watching out for me! That could have ended up way different if I was alone! Praise God!
Thursday was an intense day…Dr Martin had a meeting with all the staff because several of them weren’t working like they were supposed to. He told three of them to go home and not work for one week. He wants them to think about whether or not they still want to work here. Everyone was in a weird mood all morning and it wasn’t the best day to work. I did get to help deliver a baby boy yesterday morning which was good! He was strong, cried a lot and wasn’t underweight! The past few deliveries have been scary- lots of small babies and lots of babies needing resuscitations. I also got to work more since several of the staff weren’t there. I bandaged wounds by myself and just ran around more doing random things for the nurses which I liked! Thursday afternoon and evening I worked on my brochure for the pregnant women. I stayed with Dr Martin until almost 9pm at the clinic! It was a long, late night last night! I am just about finished with it and I was hoping to give the brochures out today for the prenatal consultations but unfortunately it’s not quite ready! Next week I can, though! It has been raining a ton over the past few days so when it let up last night, these huge flying ant-like bugs came out in the thousands! I have never seen so many bugs like I did last night! Each room in the clinic was filled with them last night since we were a big light source for the bugs! It was SO nasty and I got a video of the bugs swarming around Dr Martin! Eww!
Today has been a pretty busy day as well. I helped take vital signs of all the women waiting for prenatal consultations, gave shots to some sick people, and helped monitor a woman in labor who had a baby with a slower than normal heartbeat. I listened to the baby’s heartbeat through a big ear cone thingy…It worked but it was hard to use! We ended up sending the mother to the hospital for a C-section because her baby was suffering. This past week at the catholic center my lunches have been pretty bad…usually rice, spaghetti noodles or cous cous with nasty fish on top! Gross! I asked that they would stop giving me fish because I just can’t eat it anymore. I have had it almost every day since June! I’m done! I have been so hungry every afternoon because the meals are small and pretty bad. I went over to Dr Martin’s this afternoon to get a snack and his wife ended up making me fish and yams! Ah! At least her fish is cooked well and seasoned! I just can’t get away from fish yet I guess…
I’m not sure what my plans are for this weekend…I will probably go running tomorrow morning with the nurse Sonsona and then who knows what for the rest of the day! I have left my braids in all week but I think I will take them out tomorrow- my head itches like crazy every day!
I think that’s all for now! I’ll write again when I can!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Pictures and Videos!
Hey Everybody! Ann mailed me a memory card with several pictures and videos that she wanted posted on her blog so that we could all better understand her experience! Here they are!
-Josh
Hi friends and fam!
It has been a very hot and humid past two days, which makes working in the clinic without any fans or air conditioning very tiring! Uff da!
These past two days have been pretty average days at the clinic- no births and or anything else like that to report! I’ve just been helping out with injections and little things like that. One exciting piece of news is that I had the idea over the weekend to put together a pamphlet of information for pregnant moms about all sorts of random things like what their diet should be like, when to come to the clinic, and vaccinations they should get. There have been several deaths of babies over the past 2 weeks due to mothers not knowing the signs of complications or just lack of knowledge. So this has inspired me to put something together to hopefully prevent deaths of babies due to uneducated mothers! I made a rough draft of the pamphlet yesterday and when I showed Dr Martin he looked up at me with a huge smile and said, “God bless you!” So I guess he liked it! He told me to start typing it up on the computer, so that’s what I have been up to! I am excited to have a project to work on since it has been the same old same old at the clinic everyday! I am hoping to making 3 different versions- one in French and the other two in the two most common tribal languages here in N’Dali. I think this could really impact the clinic if it works!
I think that is all my news for now! Take care and I will write again soon!
It has been a very hot and humid past two days, which makes working in the clinic without any fans or air conditioning very tiring! Uff da!
These past two days have been pretty average days at the clinic- no births and or anything else like that to report! I’ve just been helping out with injections and little things like that. One exciting piece of news is that I had the idea over the weekend to put together a pamphlet of information for pregnant moms about all sorts of random things like what their diet should be like, when to come to the clinic, and vaccinations they should get. There have been several deaths of babies over the past 2 weeks due to mothers not knowing the signs of complications or just lack of knowledge. So this has inspired me to put something together to hopefully prevent deaths of babies due to uneducated mothers! I made a rough draft of the pamphlet yesterday and when I showed Dr Martin he looked up at me with a huge smile and said, “God bless you!” So I guess he liked it! He told me to start typing it up on the computer, so that’s what I have been up to! I am excited to have a project to work on since it has been the same old same old at the clinic everyday! I am hoping to making 3 different versions- one in French and the other two in the two most common tribal languages here in N’Dali. I think this could really impact the clinic if it works!
I think that is all my news for now! Take care and I will write again soon!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Update for this weekend!
Hello,
I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend!
I have some catching up to do! Saturday was a fun, busy day. I went running in the morning with two of the nurses from the clinic and one of their nephews. One of the nurses was trying to convince us that she can run for an hour but in reality she was only able to run for about 2 minutes and then she walked and then sat and waited for us to be done…It was pretty funny!! I then went to the hair salon after that and got fake blond hair braided in with my hair. It sounds pretty hideous but it doesn’t look TOO bad…I look like a hippie and I think I’ll only leave it in for about a week! Its super itchy and feels like hay is in my hair! I washed all my clothes by hand during the afternoon with the help of Dr Martin’s wife. It was a lot of work but it was nice to be outside and do something productive! And now I have enough clean clothes to make it to the end which is nice! I spent the evening at Dr Martin’s house hanging out with his kids and watching the news.
Today has been a pretty relaxing Sunday. Church was long as usual this morning, but it was Children’s Sunday so lots of kids were singing and dancing all morning. It was fun to watch! When I went back to the Catholic center for lunch, it was some kid’s first communion so his huge family was there eating lunch. A small marching band was also there playing music for him which seemed really random to me! I got some funny pictures of the sisters dancing along to the marching band, though! I then read a bit this afternoon and just relaxed in my room! I’ll go to Dr Martin’s soon for some hang-out time and dinner! Then it’s back to the grind tomorrow!
I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend!
I have some catching up to do! Saturday was a fun, busy day. I went running in the morning with two of the nurses from the clinic and one of their nephews. One of the nurses was trying to convince us that she can run for an hour but in reality she was only able to run for about 2 minutes and then she walked and then sat and waited for us to be done…It was pretty funny!! I then went to the hair salon after that and got fake blond hair braided in with my hair. It sounds pretty hideous but it doesn’t look TOO bad…I look like a hippie and I think I’ll only leave it in for about a week! Its super itchy and feels like hay is in my hair! I washed all my clothes by hand during the afternoon with the help of Dr Martin’s wife. It was a lot of work but it was nice to be outside and do something productive! And now I have enough clean clothes to make it to the end which is nice! I spent the evening at Dr Martin’s house hanging out with his kids and watching the news.
Today has been a pretty relaxing Sunday. Church was long as usual this morning, but it was Children’s Sunday so lots of kids were singing and dancing all morning. It was fun to watch! When I went back to the Catholic center for lunch, it was some kid’s first communion so his huge family was there eating lunch. A small marching band was also there playing music for him which seemed really random to me! I got some funny pictures of the sisters dancing along to the marching band, though! I then read a bit this afternoon and just relaxed in my room! I’ll go to Dr Martin’s soon for some hang-out time and dinner! Then it’s back to the grind tomorrow!
Update for Thursday & Friday
Hi everyone!
Happy early July 4th! I wish I could come home for the weekend and be at the lake with my family!!
The past two days have been good. Thursday I went to the village of Sinisson with the nurse Jechonias to visit sick people there. There were tons of little villages spread out all over the African bush! We visited several of the little villages and didn’t find too many sick people which was good. I scared many little village children with my white skin- I got a picture of one of them running away crying! Ha! Each little village was composed of just one family. There was one little village we visited where one man had four wives and I think about 40 children?! A few of them were sick so we spent the majority of our time there! It was a good morning all in all and it was nice to be out of the clinic and outside in the fresh air!
The afternoon I spent helping at the clinic and then spent the evening with Dr Martin and his wife. Kadi went and got the kids today from the city of Parakou where they go to school so it will be fun to see them tonight!
Today (Friday) has been a normal day- not many sick people at the clinic but lots of pregnant women came for prenatal consultations. I didn’t help with those today but I instead taught an aide at the clinic, Paul, how to use Powerpoint and Excel. The rest of the day has been pretty slow- not a ton to do around here and it’s been very very hot and humid so the day has been dragging on. Thankfully tomorrow is Saturday and I will get a break from the clinic and will get a chance to catch up on sleep!
I hope everyone is well and has a great holiday weekend! I am thinking of you all and am excited that I will be coming home in a few weeks!!
Happy early July 4th! I wish I could come home for the weekend and be at the lake with my family!!
The past two days have been good. Thursday I went to the village of Sinisson with the nurse Jechonias to visit sick people there. There were tons of little villages spread out all over the African bush! We visited several of the little villages and didn’t find too many sick people which was good. I scared many little village children with my white skin- I got a picture of one of them running away crying! Ha! Each little village was composed of just one family. There was one little village we visited where one man had four wives and I think about 40 children?! A few of them were sick so we spent the majority of our time there! It was a good morning all in all and it was nice to be out of the clinic and outside in the fresh air!
The afternoon I spent helping at the clinic and then spent the evening with Dr Martin and his wife. Kadi went and got the kids today from the city of Parakou where they go to school so it will be fun to see them tonight!
Today (Friday) has been a normal day- not many sick people at the clinic but lots of pregnant women came for prenatal consultations. I didn’t help with those today but I instead taught an aide at the clinic, Paul, how to use Powerpoint and Excel. The rest of the day has been pretty slow- not a ton to do around here and it’s been very very hot and humid so the day has been dragging on. Thankfully tomorrow is Saturday and I will get a break from the clinic and will get a chance to catch up on sleep!
I hope everyone is well and has a great holiday weekend! I am thinking of you all and am excited that I will be coming home in a few weeks!!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Update for Tuesday!
Hi!
Today has been a pretty uneventful day compared to some of the other days I’ve had! It was so hard to get out of bed this morning after the events yesterday! This morning was pretty normal- helped see patients and held a few babies! I also helped give vaccinations today but we didn’t have very many women come. I learned that the mother who delivered the twins yesterday should have had a C-section right away because the delivery was just too difficult. That is standard procedure here in Africa for a baby that is born bottom first…so I’m sure it’s like that in America too. That poor woman! I saw her today and she looked pretty good and she said she got lots of rest last night. However, the baby boy that was born second was having seizures so the whole family went to the hospital this morning to try and find a treatment for him. The father resisted at first for who knows why but thankfully he changed his mind and they went!
This afternoon I had time for a nice solid nap! I definitely needed it! I then visited one of the nurses Sonsona and another nurse Francine who lives nearby. I had the chance to talk with Sonsona today about her past; I learned she grew up Muslim and all her family members are still Muslim except for her older sister and her. No one in her family knows that she is a Christian and she is going to tell everyone when she goes home next month I guess! I talked through a devotion that I will be giving at the clinic with her and shared with her how I do devotions every day. She seemed really interested and listened as I tried to explain everything in French so that was good! I am just praying that God can use me in the ways He wants because I am clueless as to what exactly to talk about with her or share with her!
When I visited the nurse Francine she was in the middle of packing up all her things and using motorbikes to move her table, bed and bookshelf! I couldn’t believe that the guys who were helping her were able to balance all the huge pieces of furniture on their motorbikes! I got some pretty good pictures of the process!
I think that is all for now, I’ll be going for dinner soon and then will be ready for bed!! These days have been pretty tiring but good!
Today has been a pretty uneventful day compared to some of the other days I’ve had! It was so hard to get out of bed this morning after the events yesterday! This morning was pretty normal- helped see patients and held a few babies! I also helped give vaccinations today but we didn’t have very many women come. I learned that the mother who delivered the twins yesterday should have had a C-section right away because the delivery was just too difficult. That is standard procedure here in Africa for a baby that is born bottom first…so I’m sure it’s like that in America too. That poor woman! I saw her today and she looked pretty good and she said she got lots of rest last night. However, the baby boy that was born second was having seizures so the whole family went to the hospital this morning to try and find a treatment for him. The father resisted at first for who knows why but thankfully he changed his mind and they went!
This afternoon I had time for a nice solid nap! I definitely needed it! I then visited one of the nurses Sonsona and another nurse Francine who lives nearby. I had the chance to talk with Sonsona today about her past; I learned she grew up Muslim and all her family members are still Muslim except for her older sister and her. No one in her family knows that she is a Christian and she is going to tell everyone when she goes home next month I guess! I talked through a devotion that I will be giving at the clinic with her and shared with her how I do devotions every day. She seemed really interested and listened as I tried to explain everything in French so that was good! I am just praying that God can use me in the ways He wants because I am clueless as to what exactly to talk about with her or share with her!
When I visited the nurse Francine she was in the middle of packing up all her things and using motorbikes to move her table, bed and bookshelf! I couldn’t believe that the guys who were helping her were able to balance all the huge pieces of furniture on their motorbikes! I got some pretty good pictures of the process!
I think that is all for now, I’ll be going for dinner soon and then will be ready for bed!! These days have been pretty tiring but good!
Monday update (posted today)
Wow I just had an absolutely exhausting afternoon! When I came back to the clinic this afternoon around four, I had barely walked in the door when the nurses told me a woman was just about ready to deliver her baby. I ran in and the head was coming out as I got there! I helped clean up the baby boy (I’m getting pretty good at that!); he was about 8lbs which is pretty impressive for Africa! Right as I was finishing up in that room and leaving another grabbed me and pulled me into another room to help her deliver twins! The woman grabbed my hand and said “Tantie don’t leave!” so I stayed with her and held her hand for about 3 hours! Her labor and delivery was extremely difficult and stressful. Her first baby came bottom first and it took the woman over an hour to get her out…I almost had to drive her to the hospital to have a C-section because it was taking too long. Dr Martin asked if I could drive her and I gulped and said yes! The hospital is almost an hour away and that would have been a very stressful drive. Thankfully Jesus heard our prayers and helped us deliver her! We had to resuscitate her after she was born but she came through and looks beautiful now! The second baby came out with its arm over its head and was very big, so he was a very hard delivery. Dr Martin and I had to resuscitate him for about 15 minutes until he finally breathed on his own. That was so stressful and I think I prayed nonstop the entire time for that little guy. He pulled through and is now breathing on his own! Praise God that both babies and the mother are doing well! It is truly by the grace of God!!
I am about ready to crash- I’m off to dinner soon at Dr Martin’s and then straight to bed! Ha!
I am about ready to crash- I’m off to dinner soon at Dr Martin’s and then straight to bed! Ha!
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