The First Week

Okay, despite possible popular belief, I am actually alive and well and living at the Mission of Namwiango, walking to the Haven everyday, and doing language therapy with babies and toddlers. That really is happening. Here is what has been missed:

5/22/16 – Day 1 / Really only Sunday afternoon:

Sunday we got up from the hotel and all piled like a tin of sardines into our bus, plus all of our luggage for everyone, and headed on our way to the Mission of Namwiango where we would be staying while working at the Haven (the Haven is aways away, which we walk to and fro). As we finally pulled up at the mission after our two hour long extremely bumpy van ride, we were (temporarily) home! Before getting off the bus, the Hardings, which had been there about a week and a half before us, shared with us some culture etiquette tips: 1. Don’t look people in the eye when meeting them and 2. (prefaced with “This one is super weird but…”) – always walk backward into a building to show respect. It is what strangers have to do until they are accepted by the community and it is a huge sign of distrust if one is to disrespect this.

Such helpful little pals…

After getting our house and rooms assigned, we went and unpacked. I joined my newfound friend Kelsey Davis (shout out to Morgan, her sister whom I am friends with at ACU), Rebecca (HU girl), and Kelly (HU girl) in the Pippin House along with Taylor and our Ole Miss pal Madeline. My room is shared with Taylor and Mads, so the party never stops (it actually stops at 10:30pm because we’re all exhausted and promptly fall asleep). BUT we do have mosquito nets, which adds a layer of fun to regular sleepovers. After settling in a bit, we all made our first trek over to the Haven, about a thirty-minute walk (FUN FACT: we walk about 8 miles a day here in Zambia). I time lapsed our walk, but it plays super fast because if I slow it down it becomes ten minutes long on account that the actual walk is about thirty minutes each way, a bit under a mile and a half.

Once there, we started with afternoon language with the itty bitties (babies and tots), which is essentially just playing with them and singing songs for an hour and then doing individual child-centered play for the second hour. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Imagine, sitting outside on a little veranda, basically outside, having adorable children all around you just learning and going through developmental milestones, and you get to play, feed, rock them to sleep, copy weird sounds they make, and crawl with them everywhere they go. Love it so much. After the Haven, we came home, had supper, chilled and vegged out, and then went to church. Also loved it. It happened to be a candle night and we sang songs about light and how we are the difference. It was beautiful, especially the singing of the congregation. Their praise choir got up towards the end of the service and sang a special song. Absolutely beautiful. Then, we came home, had a meeting with Megan (head hancho lady who kind of runs the Haven) about culture and the Haven and finally, finally, FINALLY, hit the hay early! So excited to break out those mosquito nets.

MEETING WITH MEGAN: Megan explained how she would like us to handle the first week of therapy and requested that we not take any pictures of the kids. She said this because the kids that are at the Haven are not sad little kids that are unloved and unwanted. For those of you who have no idea what the Haven is, it is a transitional orphanage. The kids are loved and taken care of by “aunties” who are the women that run the Haven and take care of the kids. Each auntie is assigned 1, 2, 3, or 4 children to be primarily in charge of and they truly become “their children.” Each child is kept there, loved on, and raised until their true family is able to take them back into the home, granted that they have a safe home to return to. Usually these kids are taken to the Haven because the family cannot take care of the child well enough currently, the family is sick, the mother needs to recover from birth, or some other extraneous reason. While the children are there, they not only taken care of and loved on as if they were the aunties own’, but they ALL, EVERY DAY, get classroom time. Megan used to be a teacher and when she moved to Zambia to work at the Haven, she created a beautiful language classroom that is also extremely culturally appropriate and provides the child with whatever they need: baby massage, tummy time, language time in English/Tonga, etc. Currently they have about fifty kids, which is a low number.

5/23&24/16 – Day 2&3 / WOW I’M TIRED.

Monday was our first real, full day. It was really hot, so I account the tiredness for that. Monday was also kind of the first day that kind of hit me with the fact of just how long this is going to be. A month does not seem like a long time until it is. And now it is. That was profound, I know. So so so so so so so stoked to be here, but the totality of it just now hit me. Our first real day of therapy on Monday was a little scary because we kind of just jumped in and started without a whole lot of information, so that was a bit discouraging and frustrating, but as SLPs, our environments get changed often and quickly, so it was great practice to be flexible, or as our professors would say, “To wear our cloaks of flexibility.” I was given a little girl named Flavia and a little boy named Lot for individual therapy time which is about an hour. Both are adorable and slowly stealing my heart. During individual time with Lot, he loves this game where he screams, “Baloonie!” and points to the sky, so I turn and scan the balloon-less sky and hear him giggle and I turn back down and tickle him saying, “There’s no baloonie!” It never gets old. Ever.

During the afternoon time, I have a little boy named Cha Cha who is the CUTEST thing with his adorable chubby checks and huge smiles. I also sometimes have a little girl named Petra who just loves to cuddle and lay her head on your chest and then play and giggle and smile with her six baby teeth and squirm all over the floor attempting to crawl. We play squirm tag and then she rolls over and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Monday at lunch we discovered a truth: WE DONE GOT PRANKED. Some of the other ACU girls had found out the the “cultural etiquette tips” were actually some of the Hardings pranking us HAHA It was a decent prank, so I was not upset about it. Totally something I would have done had I been in their shoes. Props. I fell for it super hard, totally walked backwards into most of the buildings and reminded other people to do the same. BWeave (head hancho lady of the Hardings/our trip) even saw me at one point and gravely nodded at me and said, “Thank you.” Wow so good.

5/25/16 – Day 4 / Kind of getting the hang of this thing

Mallory’s typical day:

5:30/6AM – workout

6:45 – get ready/shower

7 – quiet time

8 – breakfast

9 – walk to the Haven

930 – group therapy

1030 – individual therapy

1130 – shima (cornmeal dish/eating time for the kiddos)/bath time/feeding babies time

1230 – walk back to the mission

1 – lunch

2 – walk back to the Haven

230 – singing time/language group with itty bitties

430 – walk back to the mission

5 – supper

6 – 10ish – hang out, watch out door movies, journal documentation, play cards, blog

A Lesson in Tonga ft. Professor Kelsey Davis:

Etiquette/Random Tongan:

“Muabuka buti?” – How did you rise?           “Kabotu” – I’m fine

“Kwasiya buti?” – How are you? (eveing)     “Kabotu” – I’m fine

“Mwana” – baby         “Bana” – babies          
“Tulabonana” – we will see each other

“Twalumba” – we thank you              “Ndalumba” – I thank you      
“Kamwamba” – Hi (adult)                “Kwamba” – Hi (child)                        
“Ndalmoba” – I am looking for…   “Ndusa” – Sorry

“Ulikabotu” – How are you?           “Jesu” – Jesus                        
“Leza” – God                       “Mukupa” – milk         “Napi” – diaper

Commands:

“Kkala” – sit       “Ima” – stand        “Koza” – come        “Leka” – stop

“Ya” – eat            “Pa” – give             “Bikka” – put

Body Parts:

“Mutwe” – head              “Impemo” – nose                   “Meso” – eyes

“Matwi” – ears                “Mulomo” – mouth                “Maanza” – hands

“Minwe” – fingers           “Masusu” – hair                      “Muida” – tummy

“Maulu” – legs                 “Matako” – booty                   “Taco” – 1 buttcheek

5/25/16 – Day 5

Wednesday we had a great day of therapy and then we watched an outdoor movie in honor of one of the supervisors that was leaving. Naturally we watched the Lion King and had hot chocolate. Chance, one of the other supervisors, always makes popcorn each night and tonight was no exception. So much fun.

5/26/16 – Day 6

Thursdays are African meal days! Today at lunch we had grilled chicken, shima, relish, and coleslaw. SO GOOD. Thursday night we went over to Megan’s house to talk about this weekend’s up coming festivities. For those who decide to (duh me), we get to stay with an Auntie at their home/village over night(s) and truly live in their shoes. So Megan gave us some information on cultural do’s and don’ts’s and some things to prepare us. I think it might have scared everyone more than assure them hahaha Megan told us that we would learn to cook shima, we would get to do whatever the aunties do at home with their family, play with village kids, wash clothes outside, learn to make a fire, bathroom outside, and do a lot of sitting around and talking because that is what this culture is all about: quality time.

Megan told us to be prepared to be a spectacle and for the whole village to come and see us because we are white we will be a spectacle wherever we go. She also said when she did her internship bonding days (times she would go live with a family in their village to be immersed in the language and culture) that among learning to do all the things of their culture, the aunties will take care of us. And they might make us bath. Not bathe, bath. She used it like a verb haha She told us that they may have us all bath and we might all have to bath together. At this point in the meeting everyone’s face looked perfectly petrified while also laughing hysterically. I was laughing hysterically and stated that everyone was going to be everyone’s bridesmaids down the road after this because there’s not much else you can do to become close and bond other than live in the bush and bath together.

So while we all ran that through our minds and while still all giggling, we went over packing and how we shouldn’t bring too much but to also not bring too little or the aunties will be like, “Why are you wearing the same clothes.” How we should drink water, but not too much because we will have to wake up our aunties in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom because she does not want us going outside alone in the middle of the night. In short, it will be quite an adventure and such an experience. I’ll try to take pictures. For those of you who worry about safety, I will be going with Kelsey, Jeanie, and Chloe as well. And I’m decently strong J The chef inside of my soul is excited to learn to make shima so I can make it for all of you at home.

5/27/16 – Day 6

We had our last day of therapy for the week! Weekend rest time! It’s been a great, but long week. I am so excited for this weekend. We get to walk to walk home with Bena Franco Saturday night (about an hour and ten minute walk) spend the night, hang out all day Sunday and go to church with them, spend the night, and then walk to the Haven Monday morning to start the week. It is going to be SO tiring, but I am so stoked to actually see what a piece of Africa looks like. Bena Franco’s village is more like a little neighborhood. Just like in America, people live differently here as well. Some people do live like what Americans and others tend to assume, huts in a village in the bush, but others live in compound sort of like neighborhoods in a village. Anyway, I am just so thrilled and honored to get to see a piece of real Africa.

After therapy we went to Eric’s House. It is a boy’s home that is across the road from the Haven. The people that started Eric’s House also started the Haven, the Merritts. So Friday evening they asked if we would like to come sing. Apparently it is an honor. Megan has told us before she will be somewhere like a hospital and all the people will say, “Hey, sing us a song, you are a white person” or something like that. It’s an absolute honor, not something racial, but she has had to stand up in front of 100 people before and sing by herself. SO. We did not have to do that haha We took Khaki Jacki (super cool Land Rover) for a spin and drove there. The stars were perfect, so bright. Wish I could take a picture, but Apple is not that advanced yet. So, we went to Eric’s House and sang with the boys, the locals, whoever wanted to come, and sang for about an hour and then the kids sang us some songs in Tonga. It was beautiful. One of the older boys was wearing a HSU t-shirt which made everyone laugh at the irony of that. Then we went home and chillaxed! A big group of us actually stayed up late just talking and telling random stories about our childhoods. So much fun. Then we all went to bed, Kelsey, Madeline, Taylor and I went to our house and discussed and fretted over what this weekend might be like, and then Madeline, Taylor, and I tried to watch She’s the Man in bed, but promptly fell asleep.

Such a great first week. Crazy that we only have two more here at the Haven then our last week we are in Livingstone doing tourist things until we fly out on Thursday. It’s already almost June! It is the strangest feeling have time crawl but also fly by. Also, apologies for the lack of pictures, but our wifi is very persnickety, so I will add those to this blog as I can and as the wifi allows! That’s all for now!

Love and miss you all a ton.

Mallory, or in Afrikkan, “Mallory” (alias Margret)