I am Pete the Cat

5/29/10
Today we completed our first week of therapy for the children at the Haven. I have been working with 3 wonderful students. There are three house called the Haven (Havens 1,2,3). Haven 3 houses the medically fragile children (don’t let this fool you…they are very lively). These children have been tested for HIV, TB and various other diseases. Haven 2 houses all of the energetic children…lol. They vary in age; however, the oldest is 4 I believe. Haven 1 houses mostly babies and toddlers. We have recently received two more babies. One of the children came earlier this week at 2 days old. He has a Tonga name that I cannot pronounce but in English it means “problem”. We think he was named this because his mother passed from hemorrhage after childbirth. He is very sweet and handsome. Sarah, one of the speech students, told the Aunties that we will have to find another name for him. He may be renamed Hunter. He is thriving. The other baby came today. His name is Alfred. He is 4 weeks old. One of the Aunties said that his mother is “mad” so he has been taken away (meaning there are concerns about her mental capabilities).
This morning one of the Aunties, Beaut, taught me how to “shatangi” (shuh-tang-ee) a baby. In case I didn’t tell you in an earlier blog, “shatangi” is the cloth that you see women wear here. You can wear it as a head cover, a skirt, make it into a shirt, etc. Zambian women have to wear skirts that are longer than their knees. We bought shantagi that we wear as skirts; however, we do wear tights underneath. Anyway, Beaut taught me how to throw a baby on my back and put the shatangi across around them to carry. So today I carried Beauty on my back for about 5 minutes. The African babies know exactly what to do when you “throw” them on your back (you literally grab them by the arm and sling em back there… but don’t worry they really are okay. No worries) I would have kept Beauty on my back for a longer amount of time; however, the whole cloth diaper thing was a concern. Speaking of which, I am an old professional at folding and changing children who wear cloth diapers. It takes me no time at all now. For future reference, I am shatangin’ all of my children and would suggest that you all do the same. It really frees up the hands and you always know where your child is. It is very nurturing for the child too. There is no limit to the things you can do when you shatangi!
The theme for therapy this week has been animals. We will start another theme next week. I think that we have sung enough animal themed songs to last us a year. It has been great for the children though. We are seeing more eye contact, tracking, smiles, facial expression, communicative intent, vocalizations, babbling and gestures. It has only been a week and the children are really responding to all of the language stimulation. We like to get the children out of their rooms so most of the time we will bring them to the common area for talking time. The toddlers are put into jumpers for leg strength and the babies are put into the feeding table (sits 8). We have beanie baby animals, laminated animals, cards and a book with animals inside. We are mainly trying to get them to imitate movement (oral (popping lips, rounding lips), clapping, raising hands, waving, etc.), imitate sounds, imitate inflection in sounds, initiate interaction, babble, attend to the activity (tracking animals, etc.) and more!! We would like to see the older children imitate movements, attend to the activities, imitate sounds, imitate words (more, up, down, walk) , imitate phrases (if appropriate), demonstrate understanding of simple commands (stop, go, walk), etc. Overall we are trying to stimulate their language as much as possible. We have done a lot of repetition; however, the children have responded well to it. The Aunties are teaching us how to use certain Tonga words too. Cada means sit down. Pepe means no. EE means yes….and that’s all my brain can remember right now. We have seen improvement in all of the areas we are targeting:) Yea!! We have a ways to go, but there has been progress in many of the children. We are planting and God will water and help our efforts to grow in their own time!!!
This morning I read Exodus 4:11 to the speech students I supervise….Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say… I always try to remind myself that God is behind and in front of everything that I do. He is in control of everything, even my therapy sessions. We are depending on God to be our mouths, our hands, our feet, our ears and our eyes. We ask that the love that He has for the children will continue to be shown through us while we are here and even we are away (I see many ways that I can continue to help while I am away). I smile and am very excited to see how He is prospering our work. There are challenges but overall it is allllll good (like Pete the Cat).
I am turning into Pete the Cat (if you don’t have this book then you should check it out…soon) I do love my Reebok Shaper White Shoes by the way…
Quick shout out to my CMS peeps….It is almost the end of the School Year!!! I know there is lots to do but count it down ladies!....Even though I am totally confused about what day it is out here…It has to be close to the end right?!