He Will Not Leave You or Forsake You

Warning: this is a long post. I know blog posts aren't supposed to be this long. I feel like there is so much more that I want to keep everyone informed about, but there is just no way I can get it all down for you guys. I wish you could see the sights, smell the odors, and hear the sounds...essentially, I wish you could be here with me to experience all this. It is all so new...exciting and scary, joyful and heartbreaking, relaxing and taxing. The first night (Wed) here was pretty rough for me. I was pretty scared of what the next 2.5 months held in store. I felt alone (even though I was in a house with 4 others and though Nate was by my side the entire time). I laid in bed under the mosquito net, listening to the many dogs howling all night long (yes, all night...everyn night) trying not to cry and asking God, "What am I doing here? How am I going to be here for 2.5 months?" But, God is faithful and the next morning, not by my searching for it, I landed in Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.

That last part "he will not leave you or forsake you" is what I clung to the night before while I was trying not to lose it. Since that Thurs morning, it's been truly amazing. I've met a great group of people who are also here short term, and I've been exploring.

Thursday, I did a lot of walking.There are a few paved roads, but to get anywhere else (like to our house), you have to go uphill or downhill a dirt road with lots of holes and rocks (and mud if it's been raining). Thursday evening we played ultimate frisbee  (yes, I participated in a "sport"...crazy) with a group of visiting white NGOs (non-governmental organization workers) mixed with some local Tanzanian guys, and then we ate dinner at an Indiana Restaurant called Big Bite with a group.

Friday, Nate went to the hospital, and I went to this place called "The Plaster House" with Amy, the wife of one of a visiting ER resident. She's been going there Mon-Fri for the last 5 months or so. Sadly, they just left today and are eventually heading back home to the states. Anyway, she took me along. The Plaster House is a place where children stay while they are in the process of getting mainly orthopedic surgeries. (Some are there for other types of surgeries, but mainly ortho.) Because of the fluoride in the water they drink, their leg bones get really deformed. Somehow they learn to walk on them anyway, which was truly amazing to see. Here's a very blurry photo that I cropped to zoom in to the feet.

You can see the left foot is turned in...he's not turning his foot this way, that's just the way it is. This was not even close to the worst that I saw...yet this kids find a way to walk and don't complain at all.

I'm going to hopefully post more pictures soon of these kids so you can see their sweet faces, but I want to make sure it's allowed first. They come from remote villages to have these surgeries, but have to stay for weeks or months sometimes because transportation to and from the villages is not possible. Most of them are there without their families. They usually arrive and are too malnourished to have surgery right away, so they feed them for a few weeks to literally fatten them up for surgery. Post-surgery, they return to the plaster house until all their follow up is taken care of. The kids were truly precious. They are so starved for attention and love/fascinated with white people. They greet you when you get there and flock to you. I sat down in chair and they just climbed on my lap. The first kid who did that climbed on my lap and laid her (hard to tell the genders here since they keep everyone's hair short) head on my shoulder. The kids were fascinated with my watch and even more so with my painted fingernails. I don't usually have painted fingernails, but I did...I'm guessing they have never seen painted nails. They kept grabbing my hand and touching my nails...some tried to see if it would come off. Some of the older girls there got  a pink marker and colored their own nails pink. Here's a picture:

Not sure if you could tell which hand was mine (hint: it's the white one). :) We just played with the kids for a few hours and then left. I will definitely go back at least once a week. It's kind of far, so I will need to get a ride with Janelle, another girl who just started going and lives down the street from us. I'm excited for Nate to go out to Selian Hospital to do surgeries there on some of these kids or at least meet them even if none are ready for surgery during our time here.