Hello all! So sorry that I've now been in South Africa for 2 months and haven't posted an update for half of my time here! Life's been a little more than a little busy and I actually haven't even been on my computer in the office very much because of hosting visitors and kids in hospitals... Here are a couple of highlights from the last month:
- A sweet baby boy arrived just under a month ago and has become our most recent miracle. He is a two year old angel who has Downs Syndrome which it at the root of some significant heart defects. Two weeks ago today we took him to the hospital with a fever and he ended up being admitted and then suddenly crashing that afternoon. After being on a ventilator for 2 days the doctors suggested that we take him off and let him go because there was little chance of him ever making a meaningful recovery. Our whole staff was so broken over having to watch a baby die, and this little one's mom even came to kiss him goodbye at the hospital. Well, to make a long story short, after rotating a constant bedside shift with him for 2 days he began getting BETTER rather than slowly slipping away. He is now a giggling little ball of smiles and hugs and, though still oxygen dependent, is going in for open heart surgery tomorrow morning to try and repair the 2 large holes in his heart to give him a chance to make it to his third birthday and beyond. The biggest risk will actually come after the operation, when he's back on the ventilator for a few days, when the doctors will watch to see if his pulmonary artery can handle the pressure of normal blood flow. We have all fallen so deeply in love with this baby boy! Please pray for him to live a long and healthy life!!! (I've attached a photo of him with me in his favorite position - sleeping with his head over our hearts :o) )
- The next little story was my first time being pulled over in South Africa! I got caught driving while talking on my cell phone (I was getting an update on the baby - no one cares if you don't wear a seat belt or use a car seat here, but NO talking on a cell phone! :oP) When I pulled over the policeman said "Well, that's a R500 fine (about $55)" and looked at me. I had my wallet and said "I don't have R500 on me (thankfully I'd spend all my money that morning!) I just have R20 and a $5 bill." He said "Well, what do you want me to do?" and I suggested that he mail me a ticket or something. He said "Okay, I'll take the $5 bill, but don't do it again." So, I've paid my first police bribe here, giving me infinite faith in the South African justice system... But, my bank account is definitely thankful that I didn't have to pay the actual ticket price!
- I get to take a little prop plane up to Kruger National Park next week to go on safari with some visitors for a night! Yay for a night of not working :o) And the "younger crew" from work and I are planning a trip up to Victoria Falls (we'd be staying in Zambia) in June, so that's fun to dream about too!
- AND I think I may have found my own little cottage to move into which would be AWESOME! I'm head over heels in love with the little girls in my house, but there really is just NO space or time where I don't feel like I'm at work when I'm at home, so it will be really nice to come visit them A LOT from a place where I don't share a tiny bathroom with two teenagers :o)
Okay, gotta be at the hospital at 6:45 tomorrow morning for the baby's operation so I I better go to bed since I haven't slept more than 6 hours in 5 nights now... I'm a peach of a person at the moment on not enough sleep! Won't go so long between posts again!!!!
Love to all!
