Happy Mother's Day!

I have been wanting to write about the tias I love so much for quite some time. In light of Mother's Day, I think this is the perfect time! But first...***Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there. Mom, know I love and cherish you. I think of you often as I am learning to mother 300+ here in Moz. It is hard work, that I know for sure. Thank you for doing it. Thank you for putting me to bed every night; thank you for singing me Sound of Music songs when I was scared or upset; thank you for calling me Sweet Pea; thank you for always cooking me dinner even though I never told you what I wanted; thank you for helping me with my homework even when it was midnight and the project was due the next day; thank you for all those nights in high school when you picked up books off my head and woke me up to study more; thank you for the many many trips you made to Clemson to cheer on the Tigers just to see me; thank you for being you and loving me; thank you for letting me come to Africa and follow this dream. And to everyone else who has taken care of me, loved me as a mom loves her children, raised me up to this place...you know who you are and love you all too and pray blessings over each one of you!

Now on to our tias. Tia means aunt in Portuguese. It is also a term of endearment and respect here. All of the women who spend 4 days and nights with our children only to switch with another team and come back 4 days later are called tias. I find it lovely. It reminds me that these women are family to us and to the children we know and love.

2 of our Bercario tias with Fernanda.

Why are these women so special you might ask? Well, because they have their own families. They have children, husbands, houses, and neighbors. They leave their lives every other 4 days and come to live in ours. They treat our children as if they are their own. They call them their sons and daughters. They kiss them, hug them, comfort them when they cry, worry about them when they are sick, pray over them, but most importantly they love them! They are moms.

One of our Baby House tias dancing with the girls at church!

Honestly, they are my heroes. They work harder than anyone I have ever met. They change diapers for 35 babies. They dress and redress, feed and re-feed. They somehow navigate the chaos of 24 hour care of 35 babies in one house. The tias in the Bercario (nursery) have learned how to live on little sleep while feeding several babies every 3 hours around the clock. They all deal with our elementary level Portuguese skills. They constantly decipher what I am saying to them. They are patient and kind. They know how to love with their whole hearts, just like moms do. They rejoice when we gain new children. They cry with us when we lose children. They say goodbye with kisses every 4 days just to come back with smiles and more kisses 4 days later. They sing songs with our children. They rejoice with us as they take their first steps, say their first words, learn to clap...all the things moms long to experience with their children! They do all of these things for our children only to return home to do it for their own as well.

The trials of feeding Fernanda...so many times she vomited...so many times they just tried again!

Seriously, they are my heroes! I say I have two lives right now...one in America and the other here in Mozambique. It's hard for people in one to understand the other. It's tough to have two lives, to love people on two sides of the globe. But how much harder must it be to have two lives in the same city? If I have ever wanted to grow up to be someone...it is the tias I have come to know and love here in Mozambique...they are strong Christians; they are amazing mothers; they work harder and longer than I have ever known anyone to sustain...they are my heroes! Just take a look at the incredible women I am able to serve along side....

More dancing at church...maybe the kids' favorite part of the week!The smiles of a loving "mom" and a beloved little girl!
They can always bring smiles from tears!Bath time...babies in sand equals many, many bathes!Her face says it all!
They are my heroes!

A Happy Goodbye!

Friday I was able to say a happy goodbye. My little community boy with the burnt arm...he graduated on Friday! His burn has healed so very well in about 5 weeks that I felt it was time for him to learn to clean it himself and not need to come back every few days to see me! His mom was delighted as I showed her what she needed to do to keep it clean. I gave them all they'll need and told them to come back if there are any issues...but I'm confident he will do just fine! No skin graft need, no serious infections...just some prayers, simple wound care supplies, and the result of a happy, healthy little boy!

Here's him with his family (mom and little sister...there are 3 other kids at home) on graduation day!!!!Here's me and him...what an amazing outcome!

From this....

...to this in about 5 weeks! Praise God!

Even in a dirt floor house, even with his mom leaving for a whole week, God has allowed me to help this little one. I'll miss having him around every few days but I'm so excited of him that he has full function of his arm and will grow up just fine...this may seem normal to all of you, but here burns like this can cause malformation, amputation, or even death! One more of God's children will continue to grow up! That is something to celebrate!

Horrified...

Ok, so the point of this post is for you to understand the reality of life for people in Mozambique just a bit better. I heard this story a few weeks ago, and it has stuck with me. I can't get the horrifying picture out of my head for the life of me. I have been asking the Lord for a wake up call to show me that I have not grown callous in 9 months of developing country life. NO ONE COULD GROW CALLOUS TO THIS STORY...
Another missionary told me this story about one of her boys who's older brother has just started showing up to visit him recently. She thought that we had left the older children in the home to care for their mother who was sick. Her understanding was that she has always "walked" on her hands and knees but was capable of caring for her family before she got sick. And that someday soon her other children would return to live with their mother. The real story was brought to her attention not long ago.
The brother who has shown up is not well dressed, usually dirty, and has asked for food consistently saying he can't go to school because his mom needs help and they have no food in the house. Come to find out "traditional medicine" or witch doctors are actually the cause of this situation. Our little boy's mom was sick. She was brought to a witch doctor in the community. The treatment prescribed was to put both of her legs in boiling water and hold them there.....can you imagine being strapped down and having your legs burned so badly that now that the skin has finally healed you have to "walk" on your hands and knees because all of your muscles and tendons have been shrunk and no longer work properly. Can you imagine? And the part that really got me was that when she was screaming because of the excruciating pain of her flesh being burned off the witch doctor said that was the spirits leaving her so she would no longer be sick. And you was held in the burning water until she stopped screaming...or passed out from the pain more likely.
These are the things that make me angry...babies dying because lack of knowledge, mother's legs being burned to the point of being unrecognizable because of a curable illness, children growing up in a huge center because their parents just don't want them...these things make me angry. These things make me want to love. These things make me want to see change in our broken world. These things make me look to the Lord for His guidance and faithfulness. I pray they do the same for you.

Oh how I love children?!

So this morning I got up REALLY early to help Sheri (another nurse) take 21 of our children to get measles vaccines because we have had 2 cases in and around our center in the last week. So, we are doing our best to prevent a measles outbreak! (Prayers for protection from this would be greatly appreciated!) My job was to give out medications and pick up the Baby House kids who were coming with us...there were 3. Doesn't seem like a tough job...
In this picture is Manuel (our newest little guy...you can read about him in the previous post) and Augustinho Pequenio (or little in Portuguese because we have 2 Augustinho's at the moment). Augustinho P is 18 months old and a VERY active naughty 18 months. When I walked into the Baby House at 6:30am Manuel had a towel tied around his neck acting as a LARGE bib that covered his entire body and his bowl of papinha or breakfast cereal sitting in front of him on the floor. Augustinho (who is 10 months younger than Manuel) had Manuel's spoon in his hand and was literally feeding him. I just started laughing and nicely told Augustinho..."Thank you, but I can help him." This is why I LOVE children...babies and toddlers especially!
So we made it through breakfast, I gave them their medications, and we were ready to head out the door...on time even! I picked up Manuel and put him on my back to tie him on (with my capalana as a real Mozambican mama would). A nice smell appeared and I held Manuel's bottom to secure him to my back...it was squishy...VERY FULL diaper. The tias quickly took him from me, stopped bathing the other 30 children, washed him off, changed his clothes, and passed him back to me. Those women are my heroes! (This the second time in 3 days they have taken a child with an exploding diaper away from me and handed them back a few minutes later squeaky clean!)
Oh the adventures of working with children.....!!!!!!! :)

***And if you are wondering...vaccinating 21 children in less than an hour in one room is quite the experience. We brought them in in groups of 5 doing the youngest frist, but number 5 of each group certainly needed to be held down. Lollipops helped a bit but there were many tears. At least we made it through, and we pray this means no more measles on the center! Here's some pictures of the kids waiting on the bus this morning before we left...they all kept saying, "We are going to get shots, but I'm not scared."

(These are siblings, Narcisso, Mae- who lives with us in the Baby House, and Alfiado...what a cute family!)

Our New Little Man...Manuel!

Meet Manuel! He came to us on Monday and is the newest member of our Baby House.
He is 2 1/2 years old, although he is currently wearing 9-12 mo clothes. He weighed in Monday at only 7.1kg (15.5 pounds). But, he has grown a bit in the last two days! Pray with us for a little growth daily as we feed him fortified foods and as many calories as we can cram in him!
He is not yet walking and cannot stand on his own. His malnutrition has obviously been an ongoing problem. Here is Manuel compared to Dionisio...who is 3 weeks younger than him! A staggering difference...especially in height!
This little guy has stolen my heart already! He is full of smiles, laughter, and joy! Who wouldn't fall in love with that face???
Please join us in praying for his adjustment into the Baby House, good test results as we look into reasoning behind his malnutrition, growth daily, strength, and his little spirit to remain strong and joyful! We are entrusting yet another life into the the hands of our Lord...He is our provider! May He continue to heal our broken hearts over Graca while we watch yet another life blossom in His hands!

A Weekend of Heaven!

A weekend of heaven it was! Erin and I spent a long weekend away from the center about the middle of April. It was glorious, filled with silence, no children playing outside your window at 6am, no medical issues to solve, only peace and quiet! We spent lots of time chatting, sleeping, watching movies, listening to sermons, lying by the pool, eating great food, and just plan having fun!
Let me see if I can reinact the best moments for you...then you might be able to understand the amazingness of our weekend!

Amazing moment #1- discovering we had count them 2 king size beds! We walked in and I'm pretty sure what we both did first was flop down on our beds! Amazing, comfy, king sized beds!

Amazing moment #2- A relatively large moth came to visit us. Apparently it thought our great little house should be it's home as well. Erin immediately freaked out...she doesn't like creatures at all and certainly not flying ones! She was ducking, screaming, running...all in one. I resolved to catch the moth in our trash can...but I didn't really contemplate the fact that it had such a large opening. Well the moth flew directing at Erin..."attacking her" were her words. Finally it landed again and I was able to trap it and get it back OUTSIDE where critters belong! Many laughs followed this removal! (The cellphone in the picture is for size comparison!)

Amazing moment #3- On one of our walks up to the main house for dinner we discovered fruit trees. In Moz they have normal fruits we eat in the US...bananas, apples, oranges (although they are green), pineapple...but they also have what I refer to as "African fruits". This means its something that probably tastes good but I don't know how to open it, how to eat it, or if it's safe. We decided to pick one each and see what we could discover. Erin's was something we both thought we had seen the tias eating/Erin had seen in the community. Here is how Erin thought best to open it:
Yes, she is banging it against our door step! It did open and this is what we found...
It wasn't ripe. You are suppose to be able to suck the pulp off the seeds...no such luck. Guess we should have left it on the tree. I don't have any fantastic pictures of mine, but it was VERY oddly shaped and looked like a frog with warts all over it! Before I could get it off the tree the stem was already pouring milky white stuff...kind of like poinsettias when you break a leaf. I finally got it busted open and my best guess is they make glue with it. I think it should have been called the glue fruit. The white stuff just continued to seep out everywhere you broke the skin and it was so sticky my fingers were sticking together...hence "the glue fruit"!

Amazing moment #4- We certainly had not left Mozambique. Just take a look at these pictures and see if you see what I saw?

Ok, now take a look again. The first one is a picture of one of the windows in my room. Yes it does have a hole drilled right through it...the perfect place for mosquitoes (possibly malaria carrying mosquitoes) to get in! The next two are of the top of our front door. Yes, it did have 8 skrews through it that connected to NOTHING and served NO purpose...we racked our brains and could think of nothing. If you have any ideas please tell me?! These again caused many laughs as we shared our many stories you only have once you have lived in a developing nation.

There were countless more amazing moments including the best butternut squash soup I have EVER had (maybe the best soup I've ever had), a LONG afternoon visit to the trampoline, and mornings spent sleeping in and then walking through the community to go get breakfast from a little stand! Basically it was a blessing of a weekend. Of course I was excited to get back to the kids...but vacations NEVER last long enough!