**Disclaimer: These precious kids at CACZ are under the guardianship of Social Services. Many of them are 'hiding' from abusive situations. I cannot publicly share photos of their faces. If I get permission to post any of our kiddos, I'll do so. Otherwise, come for dinner when we get home, and you can eat your out your heart of cuteness!
Our plan landed in Lusaka at 5:40 this morning. By 7:30, we had cleared customs and immigrations with no questions asked and had arrived at House of Moses. We brought 300 pounds of donations into the country, so I was a little nervous about customs, but they never batted an eye. Praise You, Jesus!
Kevin was waiting for us with huge hugs all around. I've missed this guy, and was so excited for Isaac to meet him. Matildah was home with a sick baby Tyler, but hopefully we'll see them both soon.
We walked in the door to HUGE hugs and smiles from so many house staff and nannies that remember me from 3 years ago. I can't really put into words the joy that these moments brought me. Poor Isaac was probably wondering what he had gotten himself into with all these ladies chattering on and hugging and jumping.
Before we could even unpack, we had helped bottle feed the infant nursery (upstairs babies) and porridge feed the toddlers (downstairs babies). Isaac crashed for a nap, and I rested for a bit before a darling Dutch-Canadian and her college aged daughter from Every Orphan's Hope came by just to help feed babies lunch. Meggie and Anna were dolls, and they said they'd come back. They live here full time, so hopefully we'll see them again.
We have 9 infants (birth-6 months) and 12 toddlers (crawling-2 years) with never enough hands but always enough love. Even with all of the familiar adults, there are new faces to learn. Andrew is one of the newer nurses, and I love his passion for empowering Zambia with knowledge of health care. The babies are already picking favorite with Isaac and me, and one or two of the older ones are learning our names. Sigh.
Peter is our night guard, and I remember him well. You always know when he has come to work because his belly laugh fills the entire compound. Just joy!
It's only Isaac and me for these three weeks. For whatever reason, God allowed a HUGE lull in volunteers for June. There have been large teams here nonstop since April and it picks back up in July right after we leave. At first, I thought it might be a little weird to be the only extra hands, but I'm quickly learning just how wonderful this is. While the staff is trying to serve Isaac and me every time we turn around (and make us FAT!), we're able to spend more time in conversation getting to know them as individuals. Their families are fascinating. Their love for these children and their Lord is obvious in all they day. Isaac and I are going to have to get creative to figure out ways to serve them in return. After all, we came to help the staff, not the other way around! And, since we're the only ones here, I made Marie promise we'd only get American food if we just absolutely needed it. Tonight was nshima (boiled corn meal...I'll make it for you when we get home if you ask), chicken, cabbage, and beans. Yum!!
Kevin was waiting for us with huge hugs all around. I've missed this guy, and was so excited for Isaac to meet him. Matildah was home with a sick baby Tyler, but hopefully we'll see them both soon.
We walked in the door to HUGE hugs and smiles from so many house staff and nannies that remember me from 3 years ago. I can't really put into words the joy that these moments brought me. Poor Isaac was probably wondering what he had gotten himself into with all these ladies chattering on and hugging and jumping.
Before we could even unpack, we had helped bottle feed the infant nursery (upstairs babies) and porridge feed the toddlers (downstairs babies). Isaac crashed for a nap, and I rested for a bit before a darling Dutch-Canadian and her college aged daughter from Every Orphan's Hope came by just to help feed babies lunch. Meggie and Anna were dolls, and they said they'd come back. They live here full time, so hopefully we'll see them again.
We have 9 infants (birth-6 months) and 12 toddlers (crawling-2 years) with never enough hands but always enough love. Even with all of the familiar adults, there are new faces to learn. Andrew is one of the newer nurses, and I love his passion for empowering Zambia with knowledge of health care. The babies are already picking favorite with Isaac and me, and one or two of the older ones are learning our names. Sigh.
Peter is our night guard, and I remember him well. You always know when he has come to work because his belly laugh fills the entire compound. Just joy!
It's only Isaac and me for these three weeks. For whatever reason, God allowed a HUGE lull in volunteers for June. There have been large teams here nonstop since April and it picks back up in July right after we leave. At first, I thought it might be a little weird to be the only extra hands, but I'm quickly learning just how wonderful this is. While the staff is trying to serve Isaac and me every time we turn around (and make us FAT!), we're able to spend more time in conversation getting to know them as individuals. Their families are fascinating. Their love for these children and their Lord is obvious in all they day. Isaac and I are going to have to get creative to figure out ways to serve them in return. After all, we came to help the staff, not the other way around! And, since we're the only ones here, I made Marie promise we'd only get American food if we just absolutely needed it. Tonight was nshima (boiled corn meal...I'll make it for you when we get home if you ask), chicken, cabbage, and beans. Yum!!
1 comment:
Thanks for the update! Love on those babies for me!
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