Blessings via internet.

Ah! God is good! I woke up this morning feeling very homesick for everything: my family, my boyfriend, my friends, NWC, and even Swaziland. To my great comfort and joy and tears, I look online to find emails and comments from my sister, Kameron, his parents, Andrew, staff and friends at Northwestern, and my dear Kittie from my team in Swaziland. Thank you so VERY much for your love and prayers. God is using them to bless me. =)

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Masikati (good afternoon!)

Daswera kana maswera'wo (I spent the day well, if you spent the day well.

Since my last post...

*Naomi, the nurse I am working with has been sick for almost a week, so I have not been able to spend much time with her. 

*Dambudzo, the burn patient, is doing much better! She can talk and she can see! Haha! Funny story. She opened her eyes on Sunday, and I am not sure if anyone asked her if she could see. So the other day I asked the nurses and they put me in front of her face and asked what she saw. "White girl" was basically her response. Ha! 

*I made friends with a kids in the peads ward named Tafadswa. I taught him a typical American handshake and how to say "What's up?" "Not much." He LOVES to do that. And although he pretends not to know any English, on our way back to the hospital after playing with all of the Karanda kids, he started yelling out drill marching orders like: "Attention!" "Forward march!" "Salute!" Silly boy.

*I filled in yesterday and today for a teacher who teaches four 3rd and 5th grade students at the Karanda Primary School. Yesterday was a blast because it was a new experience. Today was not so fun. Not for any particular reason, though - I just heard God saying that I was not meant to be a teacher. 

*Cali and I get up at 6 every morning (our alarm clock go off at six... we don't get out of bed until 6:30!!) to go for a walk. The sunrise is so beautiful! Once we got up with some other short-termers who were here at 4:30am and climbed a water tower to watch the sunrise. Amazing!!

My time here is just beginning. I have just over a month until I go home.

Please be praying...

**that I make the most of my time in Karanda. 

**that Naomi will get better

**that God will continue to comfort me and the rest of the SOS team while we are away this summer.

Thanks again to everyone!

Mangwanani shamwari! (Good morning friend)
Darara kana mararawo. (I slept well if y0u slept well)
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Actually I did get 10 hours of sleep last night - still trying to make up for jet lag.
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I am doing well here. I enjoy Zimbabwe, though I don't think my brain will get over that I am not in Swaziland. Sometimes words or greetings come out that are Swazi words instead of Shona words. There is also a song that the kids sing here that is the same song as one in Swaziland, but of course it is in a different language. It will take some time to learn the words and stamp them into my memory.

Cali and I have been at Karanda hospital for 3 days now. Her days are spent gathering, organizing, and trying to fix broken medical equipment. I will see her running aroun outside to and fro all the time. I think she is making progress! Yesterday she was locked in the library where she works. Haha! She was hidden by stacks of boxes that people piled in there yesterday, and when the man who locks the doors peeked in there and couldn't see anyone, he locked the door. He did shout "Is anybody in here." ... but in Shona, so Cali had no idea that she was supposed to get out. Luckily there were people standing utside of the window, so she had a lovely conversation with them (aboout the weather, Zimbabwe, the US, and of course Barak Obama) until they asked why she was talking to them through a window. My nurse friend named Bote was around to unlock the door for her. Bote told me the story later and she was laughing and laughing and laughing.

The Shona people have a hard time pronouncing my name, apparently. They all call me "Ellen." So one lady gave me the name "Ruvarashe" which means "Flower of God" so it matches my Swazi name.

My days are spent with Naomi in the pediatric ward. The day I arrived a patient was brought in with 40% of her body burned. She is not a kid but that ward has a private room so people are not gawking at her. The story is that she was requested to go somewhere that and he father would be ashamed of her, so she poured parafin all over her clothes and lit herself on fire. (To shame your father is a HUGE deal, so don't think that she had some sort of mental breakdown.) That was 3 days ago. Since then we have kept our eyes on her 24/7 and she is stable. Everyday we wrap her burns with lots of gauze, which takes 2.5 hours. Please be praying that God puts his healing hand on her and delivers her from his pain and loneliness.

Working in a hospital like this brings a lot of sadness. Yesterday especially. Here is an entry from my journal last night:

God have mercy. Please be the kind of God who allows babies into heaven. This baby was never allowed the chance to proclaim your glory. I pray that she is in heaven now drinking utof a well that never runs dry.

While we were in with the brurn patient trying to get fluids into her, Naomi popped her head in through the door and told us to get out in the ward. This infant, just under 4 months old, was rushed into the peads ward. Skinny little thing. Weighed less than Emma Mei did when she was born. Arms no wider than my finger. Temperatue of 205. Dehydrated. No meat on her bones. Tiny, tiny veins so no way to get an IV going. Feet to cold and too small so the pulse-ox would not read. There was nothing to do. We gave her to her umbuya (grandmother) to hold until she stopped breathing. Mercy. I held this baby's feet to warm her up. All the while she was trying to pull her own. Shame shame.

All of this tragedy- burn patient and dying baby- in only 3 days. Only God can give me the strength to make it 5 more weeks!

Today is saturday, so not much work to do today. Go in to help with the burn patient. AWANA will be starting "just now", maybe I will see what the kids are up to.

Fun words I want to stamp into my vocabulary:
*just now - means anytime from now until when i leave to go home
* the loo - bathroom
*trolley - shopping cart. medicine cart. drink cart on the airplane
*jersey - sweater
and the list will surely grow!

Cali is making french toast that will be ready just now, so I better go help.

Go in peace.

IT IS SO GREEN HERE!

At least in Harare.

WE have been in the capital for 2 nights.
*Played volleyball pretty much right when we landed.
*Orientation
*language learning
*eating traditional meal (sadza= corn mush. veggie sauce. meat sauce)
*drinking LOTS of tea.

Tea is very important here. I was not aware. I drank 4 cups before lunch yesterday. Is it OK to refuse if they as if you want a cup? Not sure... so I always accept.

Today we will go shopping for our food for when we are at Karanda.
We leave for the hospital tomorrow morning.
Internet is expensive! and loads very slowly.

God bless you all!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

My flight out of Chicago is at 10ish pm. That is in one hour!!!!! I can't believe this is the day I leave for Zimbabwe! Crazy!



Briefing this week has been a ton of fun! but draining -- I am pooped! There were are about 10 short term missionaries all going to different locations. Although we won't be a team serving together in the same country, we bonded as a team and became family to one another. The sessions we had were very similar to our SOS meetings at Northwestern, not so much training for our assignments, but learning about different cultures, etc.



Last night we went to "Little India" in Chicago. Learn some Hindi language and walked around. Cali (the girl traveling with me to Zimbabwe) and I spent about 20 minutes in a Hindu dress shop looking at all the different styles of sarees. We talked with a 20 year old girl who left India to come to Chicago just a month ago. She is very lonely and is looking for friends. She seemed happy to talk with American girls her age. She wanted out cell phone numbers so we could hang out often, not knowing we were just visiting. I would have liked the chance to become her friend.



We spent the rest of the evening downtown Chicago at the Big Bean and and Navy Pier. I love Chicago! Especially the big bean. Maybe I will live here one day!







Today has been a busy day getting ready to go... but now I am about to leave. To God be the glory!!






I need to go.. but guess who i saw today? Take a look:







The Barbster!!!


It has taken forever to post this. First the internet went out at TEAM in CHicago. Then the computer booted me off at the Chicago airport. Then no internet at a missionaries house. Now I can.

What did Zimbabwe?

Let's see. What did it weigh?

carry-on: 25 lbs.
checked bag: 40 lbs.

===under the limit! score!


I made it here to Chicago safely. My friend Jac from high school is kind enough to let me crash in her dorm room until my briefing starts on Tuesday. I meet up with TEAM in Wheaton, Illinois - which is about an hour or more from Northwestern University, so I get to take the train! (EXCITED!).

Last night was the premiere for all the big video projects the film students have been working on all year. Jac was very much involved in that, so we attended. It was fun to get dressed up and meet all of her college friends.

Soon we will be going down town Chicago to check out the sights. (Like the big bean!) Plus the beach is right on campus, so maybe we'll go play in the sand. But it raining... and probably will keep raining for the next couple days. Lame.

God bless everyone!

What not to pack.

I am pretty much done packing. Woo hoo! It is a very stressful task, maybe even more stressful than finding an SOS location!

Pack what you need --- but don't overpack!
Batteries. all sizes.
Toiletries [or in my case doyletries].
underwear.
toenail clippers.
crystal light to-go packets >so your water doesn't taste like metal.
pens.
sudoku.
liquids in 3oz bottles.
all the proper documents. passport copies. immunization records. insurance. emergency contancts.
finding places to store cash.
and on and on and on and on.


Saturday. That's only two mornings left. How is that possible? Time flies.
and it hasn't hit me that I am going to Zimbabwe. I mean... yesterday my boyfriend was teaching me how to shoot a semi-automatic 22 rifle [i hit the bulls eye and knocked down, like, 10 pins]... and in now I am leaving home. Crazy!
Though I suppose I won't get to Zimbabwe for another week.
I am going to fly to Chicago on Saturday to visit my good buddy Jac from high school.
Briefing with my organization begins on Tuesday.
Fly out of the country on Friday.
SOOOOO.... it is completely okay that I don't feel like I am going to Africa... because I won't get there for many days.

I also spent some time adding some playlists and audio books to my ipod. It will be a long plane ride. I have Kite Runner some Jane Austen to keep me company. =)

Tomorrow will be spent sifting out unneeded item in my suitcase, and buying last minute necessities.

Please pray:
*I can make the most of the time with my family.
*I remember the reason I am going on an SOS.
*Safe travels in airplanes.


Maybe I will send another update from Chicago before I leave for Zimbabwe.
OH! and. I received an email today from TEAM saying that the internet connection in Zimbabwe is very very poor... so I probably will not update very often. but I will try. so don't check this blog everyday or anything. =)

Love you guys!
God bless!

P.S. Check out the picture of me shooting the gun. Just call me Sally Shooter!